Resources/Articles
What a Young Person in Christ is Facing Today (2)
The Bible teaches for those in their youth to “Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come” (Ecclesiastes 12.1). With so much swirling around in the heads of young people, how many consider God in all they are facing? When it comes to an education, choosing a career, dating, the church, or truth, how many young people listen first to what God teaches?
When it comes to struggles young people face, from what was revealed in last week’s message, their direction is sometimes confused by the words of others or the inconsistent examples of those they thought would guide them in truth. Here is what challenges some today:
“I really can’t consider a Christian a good, moral person if he isn’t trying to convert me.” That statement really hits the heart. It was in the New Testament where Christians were among the public speaking about Jesus. They were not silent about Him. As a result, those added to the church multiplied (Acts 9.31). If Christians do love and consider their faith a serious conviction, it will compel (constrain) those who adhere to its belief to engage the world, not retreat from it (2 Corinthians 5.14). Let us talk about Christ and spiritual matters. Let us not be afraid to address the tough questions from young people (or anyone for that matter) (1 Peter 3.15).
The message of good news needs to be presented often without the fear of what others say. It is the truth, of which there should be no shame. The need is extreme. The numbers of lost are increasing. There is a need to present a saving message, lest one soul be lost.
One of the students questioned in the survey recalled a Bible class teacher as someone who “didn’t run away from the questions either. The way he taught the Bible made me feel smart.” Many students could tell the difference between the teachers who believed what they taught and were unashamed about the Bible teaching and those teachers who did not. This was especially if the teachers were teaching to persuade you to follow not them, but Christ. The students were drawn to people whose conviction was not mere words or tradition, but a full persuasion. In the survey of these students, those questions in the study “attended church,” just like scores of others do. They left their faith and became unbelievers in reaction to a lack of zeal and teaching to convert others not just to morality, but to Christ.
Let the truth determine the difference between believers and unbelievers. The apostle Paul did not let the pleasing of man decide his faith. Pleasing God always guided his convictions. It was the truth of God he favored always (Galatians 1.10-12). The seriousness Paul placed upon teaching is witnessed in 1 Corinthians 2.1-5. There was nothing vain or shameful in his teaching. There was nothing to hide or regret. Such boldness causes us to think: Either we are serious or we are not. We cannot lead someone to being just moral. We need to lead them to faith, not faithlessness.
The decision toward unbelief was an emotional one. When a young person experiences the death of a parent, an “unanswered prayer,” or childhood abuse, there is anger toward God in allowing these things to happen. Therefore, unbelief replaces the slightest bit of belief. In these cases, deep emotional scars are deeper than true, saving faith.
A young person has a hard time understanding how bad things can happen to good, innocent people. “Why?” is the question, and the answer is oftentimes, “God does not care. Why should I care about Him?” It was the suffering man named Job who would not charge God foolishly when he lost everything except his own life (Job 1.22; 2.9-10). “Everything’s wrong” doesn’t mean there is something wrong with God. Does “everything’s right” suddenly mean something is right about God? Does “everything’s wrong” mean taking a pill will resolve the matter? Does “everything’s wrong” mean immoral thoughts and actions are the answers to what a person should do with his/her life? Turning against God does not answer the question of suffering. Faith is the answer. It is the victory over all things in the world (1 John 5.4). Always remember, at the time man sinned and brought death into the world, God already predetermined a solution to the brokenness of the world. He gave Jesus (John 3.16). Believe in Him, not the world.
The internet factored heavily in converting to atheism. When a young person “Googles” or “searches” a thought or a question to establish a conviction, the answers often number into the thousands and millions. It usually creates more doubt, more confusion, and more uncertainty. Questions are not the problem. It is the location for the answers that is the problem. We are either looking for something doctrinal and factual or we are hunting for something easy, convenient, and adaptable. In Acts 17.11, the Bereans were impressive with truth. They wanted it. They needed it. They found it. Through their search, faith was established. Those Christians were serious about the Bible. It is biblical research which turns up biblically objective answers with rules, not exceptions; commands, not conveniences; truths, not cultural acceptance.
The divinely preserved record of God’s mind is where our hearts need to search. An infinite mind, who knows all about a person from birth to death is where we need to look. One student questioned in the survey said, “Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it would change your life and you would want to change [the lives of] others. I haven’t seen too much of that.” The greatest search for what will change a life is Psalm 139.23-24: “Search me O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Be aware of what is happening to the faith of the young. Make sure you are not contributing to unbelief and falling away from the living God. Would we all should say as the father whose child had a deaf and dumb spirit, “I believe, help thou my unbelief” (Mark 9.24).
