At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 18:1-4
I do not want to alarm anyone, but we must realize that our nation is facing a crisis. You may wonder what sort of crisis I am talking about. Is it the rising price of gas, global warming, or the possibility of yet another war? All of those are of a concern but that it not what I am referring to. I am talking about the crisis of faith that is taking place among the youth of our nation. All across the country young people are not embracing the faith that we are trying to pass along to them. There appears to be a turning away from the gospel by the youth of today. Find a teenager who is committed to Jesus Christ and you have found a young person of rare quality. Everywhere I go I talk to young people who are rejecting the faith that we are seeking to instill in them. They are being inundated with the philosophies of the world to such a strong degree that the truths taught in the Bible seem totally irrelevant to them. What our young people need from us is a solid and living example of what faith in the Lord Jesus Christ looks like. They must see that what Christ offers is far better than anything the world has to offer. They need our love and they need our prayers. We don’t want to lose any of them, but bear in mind the devil is out to steal them away from the church. George Barna in a recent article called the youth of today the un-churched of tomorrow. That is how fast they are falling away from the faith. What is needed desperately in our nation is a revival among the youth. Rather than a falling away we are called by God to pray for a turning to the Lord.
Think about some young man or some young girl you know that is out of church. For many of us we are talking about some of our own children. Get a burden on your heart for that person and begin to pray for him or her. Write his or her name down in your Bible and make it your mission to pray every day for that young man or woman. At any time God could work a miracle in their lives and they will come back to Him. But what they must see in us is a living example of the faith. Jesus told us what kind of faith we are to possess. It is not deep theological faith, but rather it is child-like faith – faith that trusts God without question.
Pray that we will be positive examples of the faith to the youth among us.
