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Deuteronomy 6:1-9: “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (NIV).
Today’s Christian teens have been sold a bill of goods; they have been deceived by the enemy concerning what is important, and what deserves our allegiance.
Unfortunately, we as parents, families, and leaders have unintentionally contributed to the problem by encouraging commitment to the wrong things. We make sure our teens are at all school functions, regardless of their interference with church functions. We make sure they get the “social” involvement to push them toward “the top,” but won’t push for the “spiritual” involvement they need to survive as Christians in a post-Christian society. We push them toward extracurricular activities and sports, because these things “look good” on their transcripts for college, not caring that these events limit their time, energy, and ability to invest more into their spiritual lives. We insist that they get a job to pay for their car, or cell phone, or insurance, ignoring the fact that this will knock them out of church. We push our teens for scholarships so they can attend college and get a “good paying” job. We do all these things because we think it is “best” for them when, in reality, these are some of the things that spiritually destroy our teens. The things I have mentioned are certainly not evil—until they begin to replace commitment to God and the value of His Kingdom in our teen’s lives.
Part of our job as parents, families, and leaders is to grow young people for the work of Christ in today’s world and to teach them that this world we live in is not our final home. I tell my youth group, “I am not from here!” I am just here for a “short life,” headed for the “long life” in eternity. We are just passing through as “sojourners and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11). I try to help them see how short this life we are living really is, and that value in this life will be measured by what kind of impact we each have on eternity; our impact on eternity being measured by souls reached with the truth of Jesus Christ.
We are aliens; not from here! So how do we go against our culture and teach truth? How do we prepare our youth for spiritual growth and loyalty to God’s Kingdom and not the Kingdom they live in? A very hard question, for sure. I have explored this idea in my own life as a parent, and in my work as a youth pastor; and from that exploration I bring you a few things God has shown me.
We should be teaching our young people that they will never belong. If we are truly representatives of God’s Kingdom, then we will not “fit” in a society which values a person’s “rights” more than what God deems right. When we try to make sure our young people are accepted and befriended in this age, we set them up for spiritual failure. How can we possibly expect as Christians to “belong” or “fit in“ to a society that approves of sex outside of marriage, murder of the unborn, or the gay lifestyle as normal? These things are not acceptable to the Christian, yet we push our young people to “belong” in this society. This is a double standard at the very least, and an absolute impossibility in light of God’s truth. To be acceptable to our present society means to be unacceptable to God. When we push our youth to belong to today’s America and not to God’s Kingdom, we have failed them completely.
Another area where we push our teens toward the culture’s view and not God’s view is in the area of material wealth and its value. I constantly hear parents dissuade youth from pursuing careers in ministry or Christian service because of the lack of monetary gain in these fields. I thought as Christians we were to follow God’s voice and trust in His care rather than serve the almighty dollar and pursue the “American Dream” . . . . Again, America is my current address, but not my final home. I certainly don’t believe that God’s financial blessing is wrong, as my own family is blessed. However, when we turn from God’s call to service in the name of a good job, or steer our youth away from God’s call on their life because the pay is not good enough, we have failed to teach them allegiance to God’s Kingdom. I realize that we want them to be provided for, but isn’t that where trust in God comes into play? Do we not think He will care for His own? This is hard truth, but if we are going to teach allegiance to God above our current culture, should we not start with being faithful to trust Him with our teens and teach them that His purpose is far above the culture’s demand for material wealth? Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). We must teach our kids to follow His voice and trust Him.
Lastly, I fear we have set our youth up for failure because of our acceptance of the culture’s lifestyle. The Word tells us plainly to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:22), yet we allow every type of evil into our homes through media of all kinds. How can we teach purity and presence of the Holy Spirit of God when our homes are inundated with pure filth in the form of sitcoms, movies, and music which glorify lifestyles and belief systems absolutely contrary to God’s Word? It cannot be! We are called to a life of holiness (I Peter 1:15-16).
Recently, I was at a laundromat washing bedspreads in preparation for company who would be visiting our home. While trying to get a comforter in a washer, I was subjected to a sitcom in which the couple were discussing having a child. They were talking about how they would begin that process, how they would have sex, body parts and their purpose, and generally talking dirty with lots of innuendos. Before I could even get my blanket in a washer and get it started, I heard this entire conversation! I was so angry by the time I escaped to my car that I had to stop and bring up scripture on my iPod to deal with the garbage I had just heard. Brothers and sisters, when we are entertained by trash and laugh at sexual discussions we teach our kids to do so as well. This is absolutely contrary to God’s truth according to Ephesians 5:1-8. We are not to even have a “hint” of such things in our lives! And that was just one three minute exposure to today’s sitcoms.
Let’s consider the books, the music, the movies, and media of all kinds that flow freely through the lives of our young people. Do we even know what is on their iPod? It is time for parents, families, and church leaders to stand up and refuse the culture’s lifestyle and embrace God’s lifestyle. We will not be popular when we do, and we will certainly be labeled for our stand, but truth matters in the lives of our teens if we are to save them from an ungodly way of life and cultivate a true allegiance to God in them.
The bottom line is, this world is not our home. This current world is not what we should be living for. Our total commitment should be to God and furthering His Kingdom for the next life. This does not mean we cannot enjoy this life and its benefits. However, when we live with the attitude that this is all there is, we teach our teens the same attitude. We teach the importance of spiritual things by our own level of commitment, and we wonder why they don’t remain loyal to God. We should be pushing them toward God and eternity, not toward acceptance and prosperity in this life. Remember, this is the short life and we are not from here.
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