"And the people
served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that
outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for
Israel." (Judges 2:7) "And also all that generation were gathered unto
their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not
the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of
Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook
the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and
followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and
bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook
the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtoreth." (Judges 2:10-13)
Why are we losing so many
young people? Why do fewer young people respond to the Gospel? Why do such a
large percentage of youths who were raised in church quit church when they
leave their parents? Let’s look at a few factors:
A deceptive philosophy
that has ruined many Christian youths is the philosophy that we must compete
with the world to keep our youths, that we must offer them good, clean fun,
recreation, and entertainment or we will lose them to the world. This
philosophy loses both ways, as we can never expect to win competing against the
world when it comes to fun and thrills. Think about it: The high of a hay ride
or a roller coaster ride cannot compare to the high they can get from a
mind-altering drug, and the fun of rafting or roller skating cannot compare to
the fleshly satisfaction they can get from fornication.
All too often a youth
ministry is ministry to youths and not ministry of youths. All the preaching
and teaching of "abstain," "thou shalt not," and
"self-denial" is meaningless when children and youths are not taught
to serve God, and to serve God by serving others, instead of expecting to be
served. Note that service marked the difference between the generations in
Judges 2. How are we applying the principle of serving to our young people's
lives? (Consider Matthew 20:27; Romans 15:1; I Corinthians 15:31; Philippians
3:8)
Attempting to reach
carnal people with carnal things can be dangerous and is not Biblical
evangelism. It is inevitable that someone who supports trying to reach carnal
people with carnal things will give the odd statistic of someone who was
converted this way, but it is important to follow rules and not exceptions.
While we should not condemn all secular amusements and fun, and it is not wrong
to have recreation and fellowship, providing recreation and entertainment is
not the church's mission and should not be the church's focus.
Many Christian young
ladies are no match for Satan's crowd that we bring in hoping they will
convert, and many are being defiled because they let their guard down in an
atmosphere that is supposed to be evangelistic and spiritual. Many youths are
introduced to gross sin in their church youth group while their elders are
hoping that youths will be converted and grow spiritually as a result of segregating
youths from mature influences, replacing parental authority and respect for
elders with peer dependence, and rewarding the rebels and delinquents instead
of rewarding faithfulness.
A popular theory in
Christian circles is that young people must be segregated from the rest of the
church to reach them effectively. But what is the Bible precedent? “There was
not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the
congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers
that were conversant among them.” (Joshua 8:35; also consider II Chronicles
20:13: Ezra 8:21: Nehemiah 12:43; Acts 21:5)
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:6) Here is a principle that prepares children and youths for a relationship with God. It should be noted that the Generation Gap is a modern phenomenon. Teenagers were not given a separate identity or segregated into a different class of people until after World War II. Children and teenagers are building an identity and naturally seeking that identity from those around them, so we should be encouraging fellowship with mature influences. All humans young and old tend to seek an identity from those around them, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the individual, but inexperience tends to make one a bit more vulnerable. Older, mature Christians should be reminded to set an example and to mentor young people and new converts of their own gender, and youths should be reminded of the value of fellowship with those who are older and wiser than themselves (especially of their own gender) and taught to respect their elders in general. (Proverbs 13:20 & Titus 2:1-8) King Solomon raised up a fool who rejected the wise counsel of older men and heeded the foolishness of his young peers because he learned to respect them and trust their insight through regular fellowship. (I Kings 12:8) Contrast this with the example of Christ, who, though He was God in the flesh, enjoyed the fellowship of older men when He was young. (Luke 2:44-46; note also that Christ was not teaching on this occassion but was hearing and asking questions.)
"My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will
also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast
forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." (Hosea
4:6) “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
…Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing
this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (I Timothy 4:13
& 16) What does it mean when God forgets something or someone? Neglect and
indifference toward the Word of God among professed believers is deplorable.
The Bible is God's message to all mankind and provides guidance on every area
of human existence, and applying Bible teachings benefits both believers and
unbelievers; the important difference is that for the unbeliever the Word of
God is convicting and for the believer the Word of God is cleansing. A good
farmer or gardener prepares the soil to make it receptive to the seed he
plants; likewise, doctrinal instruction is needed to lay a foundation for
effective evangelism. All too often the salvation of souls is made the only
object of ministry and witnessing while Bible doctrine is neglected, and then
we wonder why fewer people respond to the Gospel. In many a conservative
Bible-believing church there is as much immorality, among both young and old,
as there is in any bar or nightclub while the church tries to convert the lost
and edify believers with everything but the Word of God.
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) “Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) A popular theory in Christian circles is that a
church cannot be effective without programs. While some programs might be helpful, there is need for caution. All too
often church programs replace united prayer, ministry, and patriarchy, and
otherwise effectively program God out of a church. It is the prayer base that
empowers a church, and it is the word of God that leads lost people to
salvation and saved people to sanctification and service. United and prevailing
prayer, and Bible preaching, teaching, and study is the great need of the hour.
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