Nothing excites me more than to have young people ask questions about what they are discussing with their friends about faith and the Bible. Invariably they start with the question, “Is it Okay to question these things?” My reply is always the same. I say, “Of course, you must debate everything. Jesus will not suddenly disappear into thin air if you struggle to present what you believe. That is how we learn.”
What amazes me is that they are reading scripture and viewing videos on Social Media that challenge their ideas. We must abandon the notion that our young people can’t think for themselves and are only interested in the excesses of the internet. God is calling them to faith, and God is calling us to guide them.
It will fill you with godly pride for young people to tell you that they defend the doctrines that they have learned at church. But it must not concern us when they look puzzled because everyone tells them that what they have been taught is “outdated.” As they used to say, “These are teaching moments—use them!”
Satan’s Battle for the Mind rages on. He most certainly won the hearts and minds of most of my generation. I can only pray that the materialism and fake-atheism that has ruled the Western World during my lifetime is rejected by the youth of today.
If I had some words of advice to the Christians who are taking the church into tomorrow, it would include these:
1. Wage a relentless war against superstition, error, and faithlessness!
2. Make the Bible your textbook and Jesus and his apostles your teachers.
3. Bind tightly with true believers around Christ and the Bible.
4. The last thing the world needs is another church with another set of creeds and standards—Find the Biblical pattern and live by it.
Your children, unto many generations, will call you blessed.
John Staiger
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