All people who have ever lived, have known personal problems to be faced and overcome; and this fact requires a thinking person, whether Christian, a Jew, a Moslem, or pagan, to consider the standards, and possibly the statutes, of his family, his school, his church (or appropriate group) , his country, etc. We are concerned in this dissertation, to address some advice to those young people who have learned of Christ, the son of God, in their homes, their Sunday School and their Church. “This is life eternal that they should know Thee, the only true God, and him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.” The youthful members of our Christadelphian Ecclesias know that their study and understanding of this vital truth brings them to a position which may be likened to a crossroads intersection. However, at this intersection many pause — they have some knowledge of the road ahead, but conviction has not finally come to steel them to resist turning into the broad crossroad that seems to offer more pleasurable travelling.
From a newspaper cutting, I offer this quotation — “Christianity was never meant to be a comfortable, easy religion to accept, much less to practise; it was never meant to be worn just with one’s Sunday clothes, it was certainly never meant to be a kind of pie-in-the-sky vague sort of philosophy; NO, the founder of Christianity has given it to all mankind as a divine plan of salvation, to be lived daily as befits pilgrims in this world.”
The thinking young man or woman will know that the history of man’s coming and going over generations reveals clearly that man has failed so often because he chose to ignore God’s requirements; man has pitted his puny intellect and used a petty measuring stick so often to reason God out of his plans. And, today, it is obvious to all, that delinquency problems are related to the uninhibited freedom offered young people. There is a cult abroad that demands freedom “to do my thing”. Such people lack a sound plan for living, and rarely are such persons found in places where the better training for life is offered.
“How can a young man keep life clean? By keeping to Thy word.” (Psalm 119 v.9 Moffatt). Our confidence in the standards set by men of God is set in such scriptures as 1 Peter 3, v. 10-12: “He that would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile; and let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto their supplications (prayers); but the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.” I earnestly ask the youth in our Ecclesias to ponder the premise that the kind of adult you become will reflect your early training (your formative years) and this will reveal the influence of your home, your Church and your schooling (i.e. how you as an adolescent have sought to school with those you accept as peers). It is unfortunately true that since youth is so idealistic, then the generation is extremely vulnerable. One authority has said “The world about us, seemingly out of control, and changing standards at an alarming rate, has lost its point of reference.” Our young people should not need to be convinced that we in our Ecclesias, have the truth in all its points of reference, and the hub of all our faith is Jesus Christ, the only foundation — “for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, wherein we must be saved”.
Our youth enjoy life in a society that is affluent in so many ways. They are living in an era where the various news media fills our eyes, ears and mind with notions of “the generation gap” and would exploit this. I suggest that rather we need to look earnestly at the “attitudes gap”. Parents in our midst, and those who are teachers of our youth must resist those things that do bear in upon us, some designed to create attitudes of revolt and arrogance, and that will, if allowed to germinate, destroy the wholesome mind of developing children. The permissive society is destroying men’s capacity to distinguish between good and evil. In our do-as-you-please society, virtue is regarded as outmoded in an age where vice, shameful sex practices, excessive drinking and drug taking are considered “enlightened” social practices.
Young people, I exhort you not to discount your religious values when you stand at the cross-roads of decision—Jesus did tread the difficult road that lies directly ahead of you. He has invited you with your problems and burdens —”Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart”. Yes, at that intersection in your life, you have the example of the complete teacher, meek and lowly in heart contrasted with the worldly scene wherein the players, heady and highminded, blasphemers and proud, beckon you. There are those in this common populace who preach “The explosion of the mind”; “let’s have a new morality”; “We can engage in enlightened drinking”; “censorship is so infantile”; “we are adult…”. In this very group, the masses grope in a darkness that harbours sin and where the pleasures of the season are found to be costly with very shallow glitter. To the youth in our midst, I say there is no conflict between freedom and decency; Jesus has taught you this and he has shown you the way to “account the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt”.
Have you found yourself involved in the group who chant the cry that we oldies don’t understand the modern generation? Such complainers forget that we oldies were the modern generation 3 or 4 decades ago; we complained then, but learned to accept guidance from those who were wiser and had the ability to judge our needs by reason of having lived long enough to be respected. Emphatically so, this ought to be the rule of life for the young in a Christian home — consider Ephesians chapter 6, v. 1-6. Those who are fathers have a God-directed duty towards their children.
If you, the young man in Brisbane, the young lady in Melbourne, the young person in an Ecclesia anywhere, are moved to demand recognition of your adult status, I ask you to enquire honestly of yourself how you have measured up to the following reasonable qualifications of a responsible adult:
- An adult waits for all the facts and then forms his opinion.
- An adult is able to make wise decisions and to abide by these.
- An adult is able to wait for what he wants.
- An adult is capable of reasoning about his feelings — ponder this most seriously, young man. You must; you will and that quite often.
- An adult no longer sees himself as the centre of the universe but becomes part of the moving system.
Young people, your character is developing assuredly; but hardly are you on the desirable levels of the qualifications offered above. I counsel you to recognise that your parents and your elders in the Ecclesias seek to help you direct your reasoning in healthy, honest, God-fearing channels so that you have satisfactory definitions and explanations for your life’s experiences — you have been created and formed by God, you breathe the spirit of life He has granted for a time. Therefore I say think seriously about the disciplines of life — those matters you regard as inhibitions, frustrations and denials of following the so-called good life in a godless world.
Let your life be open to God; turn your thoughts and desires towards His purpose. If you can agree with the Psalmist’s words in chapter 119, v. 105, then the discipline of life will enrich rather than embitter. For when a man acknowledges God, He will so shape him, that even with the costliest sacrifice there will be the sound of music (consider Israel of old —their songs and praises at the time of offering —2 Chronicles 29, v. 27-30). To some young people, this may seem to be a difficult proposition; but it does not mean stoically bearing up under severe hardship. Rather, it means you recognise that your every action and every decision is according to the will of God. No one who has adopted this principle, has found it to fail. Whoever may let you down, God never will allow your foot to slide (Psalm 121).
Because the apostle Paul put God first, realising that he (Paul) was wholly God’s servant, he was able to testify “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us”. We may, with profit, pray that God will help His children to feel more than conquerors — not in their careers, not for their own ends, but as His servants so that all glory and honour is given to Him whose due it is, even to our Heavenly Father of whom we confess “Thou God seest me”.
“Take up thy cross”, the Saviour said, “If thou would’st my disciple be; Deny thyself, the world forsake, And humbly follow after me.” Take up thy cross and follow him, Nor think till death to lay it down; For only he who bears the cross May hope to win the glorious crown.”
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay