Episode Summary

In this episode, Matt Markins and Mike Handler explore what it means to raise children and disciple the next generation in today’s rapidly shifting cultural landscape — a world they liken to raising kids on Mars. Inspired by a lyric from Elton John’s Rocket Man, Matt shares the moment the metaphor crystallized for him: an environment that feels unsustainable, isolating, and disorienting — yet one our kids are breathing as normal air.

The hosts walk through a vocabulary quiz of modern cultural concepts (transhumanism, the metaverse, the splinternet, metamodernity) to illustrate just how foreign today’s world feels to parents and church leaders. They then introduce the Awana leadership framework — define reality, then give hope — as a foundation for responding wisely.

The core of the conversation centers on two responsibilities every parent and church leader carries: protect and prepare. Protection is the baseline, but preparation — rooted in deep relationship — is what equips kids to thrive as they grow in independence. The episode closes by challenging church leaders to resist underestimating the power of a single moment in a child’s life and to hold a long-term vision for every child in their care.

Next Steps

For Parents:

Identify the key spheres of influence shaping your child (friends, school, home, church, media/screens) and evaluate each one honestly.

Have a conversation with your spouse or co-parent about where you are on the protect vs. prepare spectrum — and whether you’re leaning too heavily on one side.
Ask yourself: When my child is 37, what do I most want for them? Let that vision shape decisions you make today.
Evaluate whether your relationship with your child is deepening over time, recognizing that relationship outlasts authority as kids grow older.

For Church & Kids Ministry Leaders:

Resist the temptation to disempower your own impact by over-emphasizing how little time you have with kids. Every moment matters.

Develop a long-term vision for the children in your ministry — not just what you want to teach them this Sunday, but who you want them to be at 17, 37, and 70.
Consider hosting a child discipleship conversation with your team around the “protect and prepare” framework.
Look into Awana’s Child Discipleship Forum — a resource for conversations at the crossroads of culture, church, and children.

Show Notes

Episode Theme

Inspired by the Elton John lyric: “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids / In fact it’s cold as hell / And there’s no one there to raise them if you did.” — Bernie Taupin, Rocket Man (1972)

Modernity Timeline (Quick Reference)

Modernity — Concerned with defining truth; the age of Enlightenment
Postmodernity — Questioned whether absolute truth exists
Metamodernity — Holds hope for truth and cynicism about it simultaneously; lives in irony

Pop culture analogy used in episode:

Christopher Reeve’s Superman = Modern (clear good vs. evil)
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel = Postmodern (morally complex, kills the villain)
James Gunn’s Superman = Metamodern (whimsical, virtuous, tongue-in-cheek — saves a squirrel mid-battle)

Key Framework: Protect & Prepare

Protect = Table stakes; necessary but diminishes over time as kids grow
Prepare = Intentional, forward-looking; powered by deepening relationship
Authority decreases as children age; relationship can and should grow richer
Goal: raise kids who want to come back and talk to you — not because they have to, but because the relationship is real

Referenced Resources

The Anxious Generation — book on the influence of screens and social media on youth
The Social Dilemma — Netflix documentary on tech and youth mental health
Awana Child Discipleship Forum — conversations at the crossroads of culture, church, and children

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