Have You Given Any Thought… …to the Plight of Our Children and Grandchildren?
Today, we hear people talk about the New American Dream. For many people, that means being debt-free. Are we surprised at this dream? Our children and grandchildren are set up to inherit an economic legacy of crushing weight. State and national budgets are caught in perpetual deficits. The credit card mentality runs rampant, getting worse as it’s passed from one generation to the next. Teens are dealing 23% unemployment, the highest level in US history. College students are saddled with so much debt that they’ve begun to question the value of college at all. From the ranks of working men right up to the Oval Office, this country is facing a financial tsunami.
However, when all our energies, hopes, and fears are centered on material prosperity, it’s time to stop and recognize the New American Plight of our children and grandchildren. Young people today are consumed with material, physical things. Adults on television have taught them to crave the latest and greatest gadgets, and adults at home have catered to those whims. We’ve all seen kids strutting around with their sleek tablets and sparkly iphone cases. Yet, sadly, these devices have become the means for many children to discover overwhelming peer pressure, online bullying and rejection, and even pornography. The desire for status-symbol high-tech possessions often leads to more and more discontent.
When our children and teens are only focused on their mixed-up feelings and their discontents, a staggering host of issues follow. There’s the alcohol, then the drug abuse. There’s the violence—in our adopted hometown of Baltimore, 3 year old children are killed in the crossfire of gang fights on residential streets. The children who survive drug and gang backgrounds grow up and continue cycles of poverty and single parent households. And finally, the 60% of kids who spend part or most of their lives without a Dad or Mom are vulnerable in their sexual identities. Genders get switched and marriage gets redefined because boys are never taught to be men, and girls have no clue what it means to be a woman.
I believe it’s a privilege to be a strong, honorable, protect-my-family-and-my-home kind of man. And I believe there is nothing more beautiful than a self-respecting, intelligent, kind-hearted woman. But where will children learn to grow up into men and women like that? I’ve got news for you: Hollywood won’t teach them. The media elite who run the tv networks and the box office schedules are more concerned with ratings than with healthy relationships and timeless morals. Reminds me of a time in ancient Israel when the judges ruled the land: “Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Those Israelites needed a wake-up call, and so do we.
We have to stop and see the situation for what it really is: our children are in crisis. Not in a little hot water, or a temporary jam. They’re in a real crisis. The society all around them has “outgrown” the need for God, and there’s no place to turn for absolute Truth. So all truths are equal. Confusion and chaos are status quo for a child’s mind.
Why the urgency? We’ve always had problems—what’s so special about our day? You might ask. I answer that in the past, American society had some protection from chaos because there was a moral order. Of course, not everyone was a born-again Christian. But there was respect for the Judeo-Christian foundations in homes and communities. ****Read the story Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who came to America to study “her greatness.”****
Today it’s a different story. The Judeo-Christian philosophy is everywhere mocked and assaulted. And children are standing by, listening and watching. We must ask ourselves again: where can young people turn for social norms, for comfort, for the Truth? MTV? YouTube? Instagram?
Now, I know there are many of you who will say, “That’s not my child (or grandchild). My family knows right from wrong, and they can tell the difference between what’s good and what’s trashy.” I respectfully ask you: what kind of environment do you want your heirs to grow up in? Who are your children’s peers? Will your child’s future roommates, coworkers, and spouse be godly or ungodly? Please do not be deceived: your son may influence those other kids on the playground, but those violent or foul-mouthed or materialistic classmates will also have an effect on him. Friends, there is heartbreak ahead for parents and grandparents if we don’t take this problem seriously… and it will only get worse if we sweep things under the rug. Sin always has consequences and they’re not pretty.
Let me demonstrate what I mean. I’ve claimed that kids have hazy beliefs and no clear sense of right and wrong. They think evil comes from littering or selling animal skins, because sin—the evil that begins in the heart--is an outdated word that even many adults can no longer can define.
Beth and I spoke to a group of 40 kids in a public school and we asked them, “What is the meaning of the word sin?” Not one of the children could answer the question. It took some coaxing to get one child to raise his hand, and he asked if sin is something you eat.
Without any concept of sin, guilt, or repentance, what kind of shameless adults will these children grow up to be? How will their worldview affect future generations? I propose that more than any vitamin, medicine, organic food or athletic program, what these children need is a solid Biblical worldview. And I don’t mean the pseudo-Christian habit of accepting only the feel-good truths and leaving the whole of God’s Word on the trash heap. I mean a God-centered, love-your-neighbor, thinking and acting Biblical worldview.
The children in our public schools are desperate for the Truth of the Gospel. Like the rest of American society, these young people are thirsty. They need revival. Lamentations 2:19 says “Arise and cry out in the night…pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord …for the lives of your children.”
God answers prayer, and He has opened a window. The public schools of America are open to anyone with the time and willingness to help run a once-a-week, after school program. We can give these children role models from the stories in the true and living Word of God. We can give children hope that Jesus knows their dark hearts and wants to forgive them anyway. We can give lost kids the keys to the path of Life, if we’ll only take a bold step and devote our time and resources before it’s too late. The window is open. Will Christians hear the call of God today, or will we look back in years to come with deep regret? The answer lies within the hearts of each of us. Pray for the children and pray for the heart of His church.
1.We need to pray –we need to fight on our knees “Ask the Lord …”
2.We need to act—and understand the importance of saving the Children even as society as a whole in America is changing.
3.We need to stand firm. “Put on the full armor of God…”
4.We need to give—We need to think sacrificially. Brothers and sisters, lay up your treasure in kingdom stock. “Lay up your treasures in heaven …” “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…”
5.Prayer for the Children by Amy Carmichael
Father, hear us, we are praying Hear the words of our hearts are saying, We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the power of evil, From the secret, hidden peril Father, hear us for our children.
From the whirlpool that would suck them, From the treacherous quicksand, pluck them Father, hear us for our children
From the worldling’s hollow gladness, From the sting of faithless sadness, Father, Father keep our children.
Through life’s troubled waters steer them, Through life’s bitter battles cheer them Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing , Read the wordless pleadings thronging, Holy father, for our children.
And wherever they may bide, Lead them home at eventide.
Amy Carmichael -
http://www.torchlighters.org/episodes/index.php?episode=carmichael