The Importance of the Younger Generations
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
-Proverbs 22:6
Let me ask you a question: how important is the younger generation to you?
I have heard older people say “Well, times are changing. They aren’t like my olden days!” Yes, times are changing, but that doesn’t give humans the excuse to change (for the worse). Today, alcohol is worse than it ever has been…drugs are more addicting and are being used a lot more today than they were back in the days…sexual immorality is probably the worst it has ever been…and what are we doing about it? What is the church doing about it?
Are you one of those people that get mad at a three year old girl who runs around during church or are you one of those people in the church who look at the sixteen year old boy, who doesn’t come to church but on special holidays, and gets mad at them and there parents for the way they are? The church needs less talkers and more doers. The Pharisees were the biggest hypocrites. They knew Scripture, but they didn’t know how to live it out. I think it’s time that we get back to the basics.
There are two types of anger:
1) Unhealthy Anger - Anger that comes out whenever you are upset with the person. It usually happens whenever your child spills tomato juice on daddy’s brand new, 2013…not even come out yet, he’s that rich Ford F-350 with tan leather seats.
2) Righteous Anger - Anger that comes out whenever you are upset with what the person DID against what was right. This usually happens whenever someone speaks falsely against the truth.
Now, I will ask you again: how important is the younger generation to you?
We live in a society today that tells the youth that they can be who they want to be and “don’t take no crap from nobody” (in Jamaican accent – quote from the movie “Cool Runnings”). The world also tells the men that the only way to being strong is beat someone up or make fun of the 85 pound nerd in your science class and then take his lunch money. Our society today also tells the youth that it’s okay to smoke as much as you want because it won’t hurt anything, it’s okay to drink as much as you want because it won’t do anything to your body, and it’s okay to sleep around with as many people as you possibly can before you are 40 years old, so that you won’t be a single loser in this lonely world. Now, where in the Bible does it say that? Since when have we become so lazy to the point to where we don’t even care about what God has said? This is probably the best piece of advice I can give any young person, or any older person: it’s wrong, because God said so.
You can create a graph on Facebook that shows how homosexuality is okay, how drinking is okay, and how “being who you want to be” is okay, but it all boils down to what God has already spoken. “Well, Stewart, Scripture is never clear about how homosexuality is wrong.” So, I guess when God said he would “hand us over to our own fleshly desires and that men would sleep with men and women would sleep with women all because of sin” is wrong, right? That was just a figure of speech, right? Wrong.
Scripture is not a metaphor or a simile. It’s literal and it’s not to be taken lightly. God has spoken and it is our choice to believe what He says and live a righteous life…or we can disagree with what He says and live the most unfullfilling, boring, unhealthy, graceless life we could have ever imagined.
That’s the beauty of God. He always gives us a choice. And guess what? Even when we make the wrong decisions, He is always there saying “I never left you nor will I ever forsake you” (Deut. 31:8).
The children and the youth of today need strong men and women of God to help them…to teach them…and to guide them through their lives. Even when those act like they have it all together and they don’t want anything to do with you, those are probably the ones that need help the most. So, I encourage anyone and everyone that reads this to find someone younger than you and begin to mentor them. If you are 16 and say “I don’t know anything about life, I’m trying to learn myself!” Then my advice to you is get connected with your local children’s or youth pastor and ask how you can help serve in their area. I’m not saying they are the only two areas that need help, but what I’m saying is never take for granted the time that you can take to invest into a younger person’s life. Don’t ask to get paid to do it. Don’t even look for money when volunteering or helping, because your reward will be this (and I’m going to play out a scene for you): you are in Heaven and you are worshipping the Lord…jumping from planets to plants just because you can, and you are playing the piano, saxophone, guitar, and drums all at once for the daily worship service held at God’s Throne. God calls you by name and asks you to come with Him to the pearly gates. As you walk with God down the golden roads, you see Him ask one of the angels to open the front entrance to Heaven and as you see the gate open, God points at the man or woman walking up and says, “Do you remember him/her when you mentored him? Because you took time to sow into their life, their life was changed.” I mean, how amazing would that be to see that? Your reward is not an extra $100 in your bank account or a cheese pizza. Your reward is the person’s eternal life.
Choose to invest today, because I promise, it’s worth it.
