Who’s To Blame?!
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesWhy are so many of our young people drifting away from the church? Why are an alarming amount of our youth rejecting the church and all that it stands for? What is happening to the morals of many of the youth of our day?
WHO’S TO BLAME?!
Preachers are to blame. Many preachers are partly to blame. If our sermons are always geared to the older generation, our young people may soon lose interest in the spiritual. A preacher who is “worth his salt” will always try to have something in his sermons for all ages. The preacher’s audience ranges from the educated to the uneducated, and from the young to the old. Be aware of this as you prepare your sermons. Preachers, do not forget the young people in your sermons! Preachers, do your job!
Elders are to blame. Many of our young people are falling away due to a lack of shepherding. Paul declared, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account…” (Hebrews 13:17). Many elders, it seems, have forgotten the words of God to Ezekiel, “O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel…” (Ezekiel 33:7). Our elders have an awesome responsibility in watching out for the souls of our young people. Elders do your job!
The members are to blame. Members of the Lord’s church seem to always be blaming someone else for what is going wrong in the church. Beloved, as the church, we are “one body” (Ephesians 4:4). The body should take care of its many members, of which we are a part. If our physical body received a severe cut on its hand, and we never took care of it, never cleaned it, never gave it a second thought, our hand would soon become so infected that we would have to remove it to save the body. The same holds true concerning our young people. If we do not care for them they will soon become infected with the cares of this world and will need to be removed from the body. Do we, as members of the one body, care enough for our young people to encourage them to keep the faith? Will we care enough for them to set the proper example in our daily living, and our attendance of the worship assembly? Members do your job!
Parents are to blame. The parents are mostly to blame for young people leaving the church. Solomon said, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). The lifestyle of many parents declares, “Do as I say – not as I do.” Is this training our children in the way they should go? I think not! Do our children say, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28), or do they say, “What landmarks, I didn’t know my parents stood for anything?”
When our children are injured we take them to the doctor, even though they may not want to go. If our children do not want to go to school, we make them go no matter how much they cry. Why do we do this? Because we love them. I have always wondered why parents care more about the physical well being of their children than they do their spiritual well being. They may claim that they do not, but actions speak louder than words. Parents what are we preparing our children for, eternal bliss with the Father in heaven, or eternal damnation? Parents, are you promoting and demanding spirituality in your home? Are you making sure that they are involved in the spiritual activities of the church? Parents do you job!
Brethren, let us work together to keep our young people faithful and strong.