What happened to young
adults, and what led to the Generation Gap and the youth culture of rebellion
and decadence that continues today? There was a time in America (and Europe)
when a teenager was normally considered ready for normal adult work and responsibility,
teenage marriage did not involve a high divorce rate, and juvenile crime was
not considered normal behaviour. Up till a few decades ago a young lad could
join the armed forces at fourteen (with parental consent of course), but this
is no longer considered practical. In Bible times a person was considered a
young adult at the age of thirteen, but today we have a person called an
adolescent, someone who is not physically a child but is not considered a young
adult. What happened? Let us look at some of the societal and cultural trends
that led to this:
For much of American
history families and society in general were patriarchal, and adults had moral,
religious, and social responsibilities to provide for, discipline, and train
their children, and care for elderly parents, and parents normally raised up
their children to succeed them, and not to merely succeed. Over time government
expansion and the Industrial Revolution were allowed to interfere with family
relationships and responsibilities. With the Industrial Revolution came Child
Labor Laws, some of which made sense while others were absurd. For example,
laws originally intended to keep a child whose age is still a single digit from
working sixteen hours a day in a sweatshop or coal mine under unhealthy
conditions are now used to keep healthy teenagers from doing light work for
eight hours or less in air-conditioned buildings. The idea that children should
not be taught to work and be responsible and teenagers cannot or should not be
expected to handle work and responsibility became popular and accepted. Free
public education became compulsory continued education, thus encouraging
artificially extended childhood and further enabling indoctrination in
secularism and humanism. If movements and legislation to coerce teenagers into
staying in school were ultimately based on concern for the interests and
welfare of youths, then intelligent and knowledgeable students would be
encouraged to get a GED and seek employment or go on to college or vocational school;
the real issue is government indoctrination and the expansion of government
power. We even have children's courts, or juvenile courts, to impress upon
young minds that they are not fully accountable or completely responsible for
their behaviour.
Secular humanism has been
invading and dominating public schools, colleges, the media, politics,
churches, and religious institutions for over a century.
Humanism replaced
integrity, self-respect, and other gentlemanly (or genteel) and feminine
characteristics with self-esteem, replaced personal responsibility and
accountability with self-esteem and blamed all sorts of sins, personal
problems, and social maladies on lack of self-esteem. Humanism has produced a
generation where academics and work ethics often suffer because of replacing
proficiency with self-confidence and civility and hospitality are often
sacrificed on the altar of self.
Secularism replaced Bible
principles with secular philosophy and denies the need to look to Scripture for
direction in human interactions and relationships.
Women became
masculine and men became effeminate or adopted a macho facade, these extremes being
contrary to God's design for the male as the Lord's representative and the
female as an helpmeet. Feminism encourages women to reject their complementary
role and mimic the sexual attitudes, behaviour, and aggressiveness of men and
thus relinquish their natural power; this merely fulfills male fantasies and accommodates the baser instincts of men while lowering the respect of men for
women instead of encouraging women to be the civilising and stabilising
influence on men that they are designed to be. The rise of feminism has been
destructive to chivalry and femininity, and role reversals anathematized the
need for a woman to be treated like a lady or a gentleman to be respected. The
need for true gentlemen and ladies was replaced by “equality;” equals do not
complement each other, they compete. God's design for communities,
organizations, and the family is hierarchy with a balance between equality of
being and functional subordination.
Materialism has produced
a society of ungrateful, indulgent, and overbearing people without a sense of
thankfulness and appreciation, a generation of selfish expectation where an
attitude that we deserve everything prevails.
Widespread lack of
parental presence, training, supervision, and participation in the lives of
children has had negative effects.
Movies and TV shows often
portray Middle School and High School students as small children in the bodies
of youths and present this either as typical and expected of every teenager or
as an example to emulate. Encouraging extended childhood and discouraging emotional
and intellectual growth jeopardizes future relationships, makes people more
easily persuaded to reject the influence and values of family and church, and
makes people more easily indoctrinated in secularism, humanism, and statism.
In the Twentieth Century,
especially the latter half of the Twentieth Century, some misleading myths and
theories were widely accepted even in Christian circles, such as:
·
The theory of evolution is compatible with
Christianity and Bible truth.
·
Humans are naturally good. (Man can choose
to do right, but sin comes naturally because humans are natural-born sinners.
How many parents ever had to teach a child how to be bad?)
·
Satan rules the Earth. (Satan rules in the
hearts of unbelievers, "the wicked world system," but God is the
present ruler of the Earth and nothing in the Bible ever indicates that God
abdicated His throne and turned rulership over to Satan.)
·
The Bible is only for Christians. (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.)
·
Bible truths and standards only apply to
the church-related part of our lives and do not apply to our secular
lives.
· It is wrong for a Christian (especially a
preacher) to hold a public office or otherwise try to influence society for
righteousness. (Daniel 2:48-49; Matthew 5:13-16; Acts 17:6-7; II Corinthians
10:4-6; I Timothy 2:1-2; I John 5:4; etc.) Many insist that the Bible doctrine
of separation means that Christians must be neutral concerning everything
outside of church activities, but the separation taught in the Bible is godly
distinctions, conduct, and relationships within society, not isolation from
society or neutrality concerning politics and community affairs. (Romans
13:1-7; Ephesians 5:3-11; I Timothy 3:7; I Peter 2:11-12) For a long time it
has been normal or even typical for Christians in America to blame the
displacement of the Christian worldview, the erosion of traditional family
values, and alarming increases in divorce, unwed pregnancy, venereal disease,
youth rebellion, and other social maladies on everything but the decline in
Christian influence and subsequent increase in rejection of the Bible and
Christian values instead of recognising the responsibility of Christians to
impact culture and community for righteousness. It became commonplace for
Christians to overemphasize pet theories about Bible prophecies and promote a
neutrality or isolation that rejects or prevents interaction between
Christianity and culture and encourages believers to withdraw from society and
be neutral because of preoccupation with speculations about things which they
obviously do not and cannot know while ignoring the implications of the
teachings and arguments being used to justify the apathy being promoted: The
longer you keep a sinking ship afloat the more time there is left to rescue the
perishing.
·
After WWII there arose a trend of giving
teenagers a separate identity and segregating teenagers into a different class
of people, and it has become commonplace for churches to segregate teenagers
from mature influences, thus making it common for youths to be peer-dependent
instead of elder-dependent and replacing respect for elders with respect for
youth and immaturity. (Consider Proverbs 13:20; Isaiah 3:4-5; Malachi 4:6) 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) There is a principle
in Malachi 4:6 that prepares children and youths for a relationship with God.
It should be noted that the Generation Gap is a modern phenomenon and teenagers
were not given a separate identity or segregated into a different class of
people until after World War II. Since children and teenagers are building an
identity and naturally seeking that identity from those around them, 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 adults should be reminded to set an example and to mentor
young people 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. (Consider Proverbs 13:20; Titus
2:1-8; etc.) 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 his young peers and trust their insight through regular fellowship; contrast
this with the example of Christ Who enjoyed the company of older men when He
was young. (I Kings 12:8; Luke 2:44-46) Mature Christian men should be
mentoring young men, which includes teenagers, and mature Christian women should
be mentoring young women, which includes teenagers; with all the claims and
arguments that women should be in male roles being heard in Christian circles
it is ironic that the ministry specifically assigned to women is often the most
neglected. (Titus 2:1-8)
·
In the 1940s some "experts"
began teaching that it is wrong to use corporal punishment to discipline
children, and that children should not be taught religious or moral values
until they are mature adults. These teachings became immensely popular even
though these theories were directly contrary to Scripture and credible studies;
for example, studies reveal that over eighty percent of the personality is
developed before a child is six years old, and all or most of the personality
is developed before the teen years. (Consider Proverbs 22:6, 15; 29:15, 17;
Isaiah 28:9) With the prosperity following WWII came the popular notion that
parents must make sure their children never do without anything and children
must have everything their parents did not have, and this became the priority
for many.
· Sex education is the job of secular government-run
public schools because all sex is sin, sex is dirty, and Christians must never
talk about it. (Sex is sacred and beautiful, which is the reason for standards
of sexual morality, and the Bible is not prudish about sex. -Ruth 4:13;
Proverbs 5:18-20; Song of Solomon 1:13; 5:4; 7:6-8; I Corinthians 7:2-5;
Hebrews 13:4; etc... Incidentally, an old and simple method of teaching children
about sex is to read the Bible to them every day; as they get older various
passages will arouse questions and those questions will provide opportunities
for proper instruction.)
·
The modern theory that teenagers can be
kept from attracting or desiring the opposite sex though legislation,
superstition, or social custom is a fantasy far removed from reality. The Bible
does not pretend or imply that young women can be kept from attracting or
desiring men but established safeguards and moral guidelines. (Consider Song of
Solomon 8:8-9) Teen pregnancy is not a social malady, a dangerous trend, or a
modern phenomenon; throughout history most women married in their teens and
most mothers bore their first child while in their teens. It is ironic that
some modern laws meant to stop sexual abuse give youths opportunities to be
sexually immoral with reduced risk of disclosure or reprisal and thus make them
more vulnerable; consider that statutory rape is the only felony in which an
underage youth can willingly participate, and even initiate the crime, without
reprisal. On the other hand, statutory rape laws and marriage laws that raise
the age of consent and the age at which a teenager can marry (even with
parental consent) do not keep an underage young woman from attracting or
desiring the opposite sex, they simply discourage unmarried gentlemen with
honourable motives from romantic interest for fear of social and legal
repercussions. This, along with frequent misapplication of the word
“pedophilia” (sexual attraction to, or sexual relations with, prepubescent
children), also sends out the wrong message by implying that the sexual abuse
of a prepubescent child is no worse or different than consensual sex with a
teenager. In many cases there are practical reasons to delay marriage until
older, and we should be concerned about protecting young people from abuse and
exploitation, but a blanket condemnation or prohibition against teenage
marriage has negative effects. (Back in 1990 I saw a news report about the
alarming number of teenage pregnancies, and since my mother was a teenager when
I was born but was married before she was pregnant the wording of the report
got me to wondering why the media treats this as a social malady. I went to the
library to research if this really is a growing problem and learned that in decades
and centuries past there was a higher percentage of teenagers having babies but
a much lower percentage of unwed pregnancies. Later I read in a magazine about
a then recent study that revealed that in most unwed teenage pregnancies the
illegitimate father is a married man, and this led to further research. I
encourage the reader to research this yourself and see if you get the
impression that the liberal media has been deliberately working to distort our
perspective on this issue.)
·
A popular theory in Christian circles is
that a church cannot be effective without programs. While some programs can 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, and this is largely how churches lost their impact on young
lives. 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. Neglect and indifference toward the Word of God
among professed believers is deplorable. 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. (Psalm 119:130; I Timothy 4:13 & 16; II Timothy 2:15;
3:16; Hebrews 4:16)
·
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 hayride or a roller coaster
ride cannot compare to the high they can get from recreational drugs, and the
fun of rafting or roller skating cannot compare to the fleshly satisfaction
they can get from fornication. 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. All too often a youth
ministry is ministry to youths and not ministry of youths, and 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 2:10-13) While we should not condemn all secular amusements and fun, and
it is not a sin to have recreation and fellowship, providing recreation and
entertainment is not the church's mission and should not be the church's focus.
The list of examples could continue but these should
suffice for now.
When I was a teenager, it
annoyed me to hear a teenager use their youth as an excuse for recklessness or
rebellion, or to hear someone older use their youth as a cop out to excuse the
sins of their youth by saying they were a teenager, as though every teenager
does what they did or behaves as badly and that erases any guilt, and sometimes
this still bothers me. When you were a teenager, you did not sin because you
were a teenager, you sinned because you were a sinner, and if you were an
extremely immature teenager it was because you were extremely immature.
Please do not
misunderstand what I am saying, I am certainly not arguing that all teenagers
are mature, or that parental consent should not be required for important or
major decisions and choices. (I am also in favour of raising the voting age. It
is ironic when someone who says teenagers should not be trusted with firearms
says teenagers should decide who to entrust with government power, as though
government power is not dangerous.) But I do want to share some food for
thought: When we penalize all teenagers because of what some teenagers do, did,
or might do, who is being limited or restricted? Are we really limiting or
restricting the extremely immature little brats in the bodies of teenagers who do
not respect elders or authority, or are we penalizing the young ladies and
young gentlemen who are not the problem? Also consider, how do you or would you
respond to being penalized for the wrongdoing of others? (Besides, nobody 21 or
older ever commits crimes or behaves irresponsibly. Right?)
If you are a teenager reading this,
you should seriously consider whether you are a child or a young adult. Age
does not necessarily mean maturity or immaturity. Since you are not physically
a child it is natural for you to dislike being treated like a child and normal
to desire to be accepted as a young adult and be trusted with adult
responsibilities and privileges. But regardless of whether it is fair or unfair
you are at an age where you must prove yourself to be accepted as a young
adult. Consider this: If I were to describe someone who always demands his (or
her) own way, constantly struggles to be the center of attention, never takes
responsibility for his decisions and actions, must always be humored or
pampered, and is disrespectful toward his elders, would you tend to assume that
I was talking about a mature adult or a small child? Now consider this: As your
elders observe your overall attitudes and behaviour, are they reminded of a
mature adult or a small child? (Consider I Corinthians 13:11)
How well do you get along
with adults (especially of your own gender) who are older and wiser than
yourself? Do you have any good friends of your own gender who are over thirty?
(If not, then, why not?) Fellowship and friendship with adults of your own
gender who are older and wiser than yourself is needful, unless a state of
suspended childhood is your goal, and you want your elders to keep thinking of
you as a small child in a larger body; in that case all you need to do is limit
your associations to immature people and avoid the influence and fellowship of
adults who are older and wiser than yourself. (Proverbs 13:20)
Do you respect your
elders? Respect for elders demonstrates character, and you will never be too
old to respect your elders. For example, if, when you are a senior citizen,
your pastor is decades younger than yourself you will be obliged to respect him
as your elder. Disrespect for elders is not a sign of growth, manhood, or
womanhood. (Deuteronomy 27:16)
“Honour thy father and
mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with
thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:2-3) You may not
feel that your parents are honourable, but that is not the issue. If you were
in a courtroom you would have to honour the judge and address him as “your
honour,” and this says nothing about the judge as a person or whether you even
like him but is merely recognising the authority of the judge’s position. Just
as there are no perfect children, there are no perfect parents, and it is
important to recognise that your parents are human like you while God requires
you to honour them if for no other reason than God made them your parents. As a
child grows the parental role of guardian and disciplinarian progressively
decreases to be replaced by the role of counselor and mentor. What is your
attitude toward your parents? What is your attitude toward their counsel? What
is your attitude when you disagree with them or when they are wrong? Remember,
the real test of respect is when you disagree, not when you agree. (Proverbs
1:8-9; 6:20-23; 9:8-9; 15:5, 20; 23:22)
This will have a definite
impact on your life and relationships. (Ephesians 6:2-3) For example, if a
young lad does not honour his parents how can he be expected to honour his wife
when he marries, and if a young woman does not respect and obey her parents how
can she be expected to respect her husband when she marries? (I Peter 3:7;
Ephesians 5:33)
For some reason there is
a common tendency to refuse to learn lessons from the past, as though we must
be superior to our forefathers and cannot acknowledge that someone else may
have possessed more wisdom in some area. I am not trying to romanticize the
past or claim that any human society was ever without wrongs and imperfections.
I am simply asking you to consider the obvious: If certain problems with youths
that are now rampant, and are even considered normal or acceptable now, were at
one time the exceptions and not the rule, it must be that our forefathers
(though human like us) were doing something right and that those things which
they were doing right were discontinued.
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Food for thought:
Childish Labor Laws by Thomas Sowell
Abolish Adolescence!, By Thomas Sowell
Public Schools are Literal Prisons for Children, by T. J. Roberts
Does the Bible say what is the proper age for marriage?
“Why We Have No Youth Ministry At Calvary Road Baptist Church”
