A Message To Our Young People…

Word-Of-The-Day:  “(3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Yesterday, the question came up, ‘If you had an audience of young people (teens to early 20somethings), what advice or words of wisdom would you give them?’.  Most gave the obvious answer of sharing the Gospel message of Christ, which of course would be the paramount issue to share with them.  If nothing else could be shared with them, it would be the Gospel message, that one cannot have any success in life, even if one would become wealthy or famous, it means nothing without Salvation and Eternal life with Jesus.

But I also remember some words I gave about ten years ago, when we had some teens in our Life Group.  I can’t remember the lesson that evening, but I do remember the challenge I gave them, which is spelled out below in a somewhat prolonged fashion than I did back then.  (This is what happens when I’m in front of the keyboard, so bear with me.)

In 2015, the end of the Obama presidency was approaching, and his promise to ‘transform’ America into one based on ‘equity’ and not merit was in full throttle.  Though not as bad as it became after COVID, ‘J6’ and the Biden presidency, there was a chill upon individual freedoms, and the rhetoric against Christians, conservatives and the like was ramping up.  We were ‘deplorables’ who ‘clung to our Bibles and our guns’, per President Barak Obama and Democratic candidate for President and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

The words I spoke to those ‘young-ins’ are what I would tell them today; we who are older are not going to be the ones who can change the direction of the United States back to where it should be.  Our time, for the most part, is fading.  Most of us are set on our path and though we can still influence a small segment of society, the majority of us who are ‘seasoned citizens’ aren’t going to influence a wider audience.

We understand most politicians at the higher levels of government are older like most of us, but they too are set in their ways and we find most of them are, unfortunately, not looking out for the benefit of their constituents but for the betterment of themselves.  Some demonstrate what we think are illogical and immoral viewpoints, until we realize their actions and comments are from those who provide them monetary support to keep them in their positions of power (legal or otherwise). 

Our current President, Donald Trump, is somewhat of an outlier, but in many aspects he, too, is more in it for himself in terms of his ego than simply a love for the nation.  He is doing, for the most part, the right things to reset America back onto solid ground, which is good; his reasons to do so may not necessarily be entirely altruistic, however.  That he is doing a fantastic job in resetting the nation is great to a point, but the example why he’s doing what he’s doing is not great for those who follow him.

It is the youngsters of society who are going to have to take the reins and move the United States forward into the future, and they need to understand it is for a greater calling that is bigger than them individually.  Charlie Kirk was a great example, possibly the best example of this.  Kirk understood his calling was to first, bring the Gospel to the young people, to provide them the Truth – why ‘woke’ was corrupt, how ‘DEI’ initiatives would poison the industrial and capitalistic might of the US. 

Kirk understood and through sessions attempting to dialogue with the misguided young men and women in our college campuses, he brought them into critically thinking the comparisons of the lies of the ‘woke’ secular worldview versus the Truth of the conservative, never-changing Truth of the Biblical worldview.

In Kirk’s assassination, we also see why it cannot simply be just one young man who carries the bucket of water to put out the fire.  It must be many young people who each carries a bucket, so that those who try to stop the signal are overwhelmed.  A human wave of soldiers usually provides that at least some will break through the lines of resistance.

So, it is up to the young people to prepare themselves, physically, mentally and above all Spiritually to fight this good fight, to be prepared for what they will encounter, to become the water-bearer that we old folks can no longer tote.  That doesn’t mean us old folks can’t be of some service; we can help in teaching and encouragement, and sometimes we can perhaps turn on the spigots to refill the buckets.

But we who are old have carried our buckets long enough, and we’re tired and worn out.  We no longer have great strength or energy, and our influence is dwindling rapidly.  For me personally, though I’m concerned over the direction of the nation is taking, it won’t have the same effect upon me or my wife as we’re reaching the finish line.  While it still may be some distance away, we see it coming up and we’re going to cross it running (with some limping in the gait), but the load we once carried is shedding weight rapidly.  The young still have mountains to climb and valleys to traverse, and have the full weight they carry still on their backs (or in their buckets).

So, to our young folks, be prepared!  Be wary of the lies of this world – the idea of wealth without earning it, the concept of leisure without effort.   There is nothing you can do to buy, charm, or talk your way to Heaven – you will need the Truth of the Gospel and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Part of that Truth is that if you want the Lord’s blessings in this life, you will ‘sweat’ upon your brow and ‘toil in the fields’ – nothing is easy.  Remember these words from US Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale, a Vietnam prisoner of war and Medal of Honor recipient: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Don’t be jealous or envious of us ‘boomers’ who seem to have an abundance in our senior years – we too had to sweat and toil to earn our way to this point, and now that we’re here at this point, it’s not all abundance.  If it’s not money issues that we used to face, it’s now health and fading strength.   It’s not necessarily all ‘nuts and honey’ for us old folks – it’s more Ben-Gay and Metamucil.

Be aware and distinguish between the lies and the Truth.  Stay away from social media, except to keep an eye on the pulse of your community.  Don’t always take the first bit of any news – good or bad – as Truth, but compare it and weigh it with Biblical principles, and be educated whether societal trends are moral or not.  Some things over time are not ‘black and white’ or clear cut.  Remember there are three sides to any story; a ‘left’ side, a ‘right’ side, and somewhere between those two points, anywhere on that spectrum, is the Truth.  Usually, the secular worldview will call something ‘good’ that isn’t, and will usually call ‘bad’ anything that promotes the Biblical worldview.   Follow the Truth of the facts, not the lies of the feels.

Finally, be prepared and stand fast in promoting and staying firm in the Truth.  There is nothing that is subjective about the Truth; the Bible is not a ‘Truth, but’ document, but is fully static in its stance for God and His precepts.  It may be difficult, but always study the Word, pray continuously, keep in Christian fellowship, and work to stay tuned into the Holy Spirit that dwells within you to stay firm in the Truth of the Bible. 

If someone or some ‘flavor-of-the-week’ movement comes along and sounds good but contradicts the Truth, be ready in strength to say, ‘NO’ and refuse to participate or join in.  Understand that sometimes a stance for the Truth will cost you friends, or a job, or opportunities.  Defend yourself and defend the Truth.  This will mean physically, mentally, and Spiritually, you must be prepared in order to properly defend your position.  It’s not going to be easy to stay on this path of the Truth, and as an anonymous commentator mentioned, “No, things aren’t getting worse.  They are just getting more obvious.”  The path secularism is taking is obvious – if you read your Bible and study it.

Learn all that you can of history, and remember that our Founding Fathers who gave us our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, while flawed, also sought divine guidance and inspiration in these documents.  Learn their mistakes, the mistakes Israel made, and yes, even the mistakes of us old folks and our generation.  Do a ‘lessons learned’, and correct these mistakes and do better.  Avoid the pitfalls we encountered.  You’ll have many that you will encounter, so don’t add our mistakes and pitfalls to your ledger.

May the Lord bless you, and we who are older, while we will continue to persevere and move forward in Faith and try to do our part, and helping you while continuing the tradition of passing the baton of leadership to you.  Do your best, stay in the Truth and allow Jesus to guide you and lead you in your endeavors, until it is time for you to pass that baton to the next generation…