By Ada Nicholson Brownell
Moral
depravity and the underlying lack of faith in God cause greater risk to the
under-40 crowd today than the economic and political earthquakes shaking our
nation.
Somewhere
hidden beneath the heartache of virginity lost, beneath dead or diseased bodies
of people who died or suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, beneath the
millions of babies aborted, beneath children born into poverty because their
unwed mother couldn’t provide for them, and beneath the tormented conscience,
is one of the most special things God created for humankind—intimacy between a
man and woman.
God
didn’t plan for it to be abused. Yet, today’s evils revolve around
immorality.
What happened?
Of course, sin
happened. Sin began in the Garden of
Eden and trails every generation. It
seems evil encroaches over the United States today like a deadly gooey fungus
threatening to contaminate our whole society.
“This might be the
most wicked generation in history,” says Jim Bradford, General Secretary of the
Assemblies of God.
Some
say sex education promotes illicit sex. We’ve read studies that blame
contraceptives. Others lay the problem
at the feet of the media, parents and even the church.
After years
working with youth and as a newspaper reporter covering the problems immorality
causes in society and reporting the discouraging statistics, I believe the
following helped put our youth in peril.
EARLY DATING
If you
start dating at age 12 and don’t marry until the mid-20s, that’s a long time to
practice self control. Can anyone who kisses and hugs the opposite sex for that
many years expect to be morally pure?
DELAYING MARRIAGE
Young people – even Christians – have trouble with
self control if they wait until after college to wed, especially if they are in
love and alone often. Sexually-active unmarried Christian youth sometimes feel
God will overlook their sin because they will marry eventually. Scripture
doesn’t give any excuse, but warns about the disastrous consequences of such
sin.[1]
GLORIFYING ENTICING ACTIONS AND CLOTHING
Being
“sexy” is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus said if we lust in our
hearts, it’s the same as committing adultery. While many women don’t feel lust
when they dress in tight or revealing clothing, they cause men to lust after
them.
Let’s
teach our young women to be classy instead of sexy!
TOLERANCE
OF SINFUL LIFESTYLES.
We should love the
unwed mother and her child, but we should not put these women in places of
leadership in the church until they accept Christ and live an exemplary
lifestyle an acceptable time.
Even
if he’s repented of sexual sin, so long as a man doesn’t pay child support for
his children, he should be barred from lay ministry as well. Teach that if a
young man wants sex, he should take responsibilities that go with what God
created, which means self control or marrying the girl with whom he wants to be
intimate and sticking with her until death parts them—the most romantic and
loving action in life.
We
need to love sinners, but if they claim to be a Christian and continue to
practice a sinful lifestyle, we should shun them (See 1 Corinthians 5:9-13).
TOLERATING
PORNOGRAPHY.
This
generation views shows in their own homes that would be against the law in
times past. On weekends and evenings it’s almost impossible to view anything
without nudity, sex, vulgar language and violence.
The selling of sin
is no accident—it is by design. Norman
Lear, creator of TV shows “All in the
Family,” “Maude” and others, in the 1980s intended with his writing to savage
television evangelists, including Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral
Majority. Then he had another idea. He
founded People for the American Way to use television and other means to
counter evangelical Christian beliefs. Lear brought controversial television that
glorifies sin to prime time, and other writers and producers who shared his
beliefs caught the vision.
The
church as a whole took little notice. In fact, many watched Lear’s subtle and
not so subtle messages. But most of us
now participate in the peddling of smut whether we view it or not because
anyone who has cable or satellite TV subsidizes pornography.
I am a fervent
believer in freedom of the press, but I resent helping to bring filth to the
masses—particularly youth. If people
want their minds and their lives filled with sin, let them pay for it.
I’ve
written the Federal Communications Commission, City Council and the cable
provider protesting forced subsidizing of smut for consumers who only want stations
and networks with 24-hour news, weather and G-rated entertainment. I wrote
letters to local pastors trying to get them involved.
I’ve
also contacted television networks about indecent programs.
The internet
brings more moral temptations for this generation. Even church people are
addicted to internet pornography and participate in illicit relationships
online. (Notice I didn't identify them as "Christians." Anyone who is not living as Jesus taught is not a Christian.)
FAILURE
TO PREPARE YOUTH FOR SPIRITUAL BATTLE
The
first mission of the church is to preach the gospel. When we do, we train each
generation about the spiritual armor and weapons God provides to help us be
victorious. We also need to give them a glimpse of the Enemy. [2]For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.
Our
utmost goal is that every person experience salvation, the infilling of the
Holy Ghost, and that they love God and others. Each of us needs to be exposed
to scriptural doctrines such as divine healing, the reality of hell, that Jesus
is the only way to Heaven, the Bible is God’s inspired Word, and know details
about Christ’s imminent return.
Many
churches underestimate the spiritual desires of young people.
Mormons have no
seminaries, yet most Mormon youth spend two years as a missionary—and they are
prepared for it. For a newspaper religion story, I visited one of these
preparation classes which met early in the day before school. I could hear the
excited kids shouting memorized scriptures and portions of the Book of Mormon
when I entered the building.
Muslims whisper
the Call to Prayer in a baby’s ears soon after birth, and keep teaching the
child. And we wonder why they are so dedicated to their religion?
We,
who have the TRUTH, seem to have forgotten how powerful, exciting and wonderful
the Word of God is.
The Word has every
answer this generation needs.
FAILURE TO COUNTERACT SECULARIST TEACHING
Belief
in God keeps many a person out of immorality.
I taught my first
session on the Bible and Science to a class of about 30 high school students
when I was in my mid-20s. The course, written by the late Donald F. Johns,
helped solidify my faith as well as the faith of my students. Some accepted
Christ.
Over the years I
used Josh McDowell’s “Evidences for Your Faith,” and similar teachings for ‘tweens,
high school and college classes, and young marrieds. Without fail, I saw
conversions, students’ faith blossom, and spiritual growth.
Faith and a genuine encounter with God bring
awareness of sin.
FAILURE TO POINT OUT SIN’S
CONSEQUENCES
Sin is dangerous!
Unless covered with the blood of Jesus, sin sends you to hell but also
drastically affects life on earth. Sexually transmitted diseases can ruin a
person’s future, his health and maybe even take his life. These diseases cause
infertility, cancer, liver problems, even blindness and death. Some STDs are
incurable.
Illicit sex also causes emotional
consequences. Physicians
Joe S. McIlhaney and Freda McKissic Bush, authors of the book, “Hooked,”[3] say neuroscience has discovered
sexual activity releases a chemical that impacts the brains of developing
adolescents and young adults. These
chemicals cause an emotional bond between partners and when this bond is
broken, the youth suffers depression and difficulty with bonding in future
relationships.
Teen
pregnancy is another consequence that affects youth, but also impacts the child
and a young person’s parents and grandparents. Abortion has devastating
emotional and physical consequences as well, not to mention the death of the
unborn child.
We
reap what we sow and youth should know Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy.
As a parent are you warning your teens?
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