Strange Things
These days we are hearing about and reading about some very unusual things taking place, riot only in the world, but also in the realm of religion.
We hear and read about such meetings as "Campus evangelism" and "Holy Ghost retreats" and "Hippies" and "Yippes" etc. Many good people are wondering what is the cause of all of it. I believe I have figured out the answer to that question, and I think many level headed people will agree. Some will not to be sure, but some will.
The Cause
A Vast Majority Of The Young People Of Today Have Nothing To Do Except Study Up Ways And Means To Be Different From Older People. They Are Not Taught To Work And Know Nothing About Work, And As It Now Is, They Wouldn't Work For Love Or Money. And Speaking About Money, Many Of Them Have About All Of That They Want To Spend Without Any Consideration Of Having Earned It.
A great many parents have said over and over, "I don't want my children to experience the difficult times we experienced while we were growing up; we had to work like dogs and scarcely even had any spending money, and we never had the freedom that we think young folks need to mature as they should."
That kind of talk, and most of it in the presence of the young people of today, is the cause of most of the trouble that parents are now having with their children.
They have come to believe that they are too good to work and so consequently they won't work.
But we all know that whether in work or something else, young folks have to have something whereby they can "let off steam" and they will find it one way or another.
It is very true that the young folks of today have far greater opportunities than folks my age had, especially in the field of education. But the question that concerns many of us is, are they really receiving an education? The answer to that question is I think, that some of them are, but many are not. They are learning how to be different, about which there is no doubt, and they are learning how to follow rabble-rousers there is no doubt.
In many of the institutions of learning there are professors who desire to make for themselves a name. They want to be looked upon as being different from the average professor. They, like all too many foolish parents, are instilling into the minds of the young folks that they are better and wiser than the folks of former generations. And they must stand up for their rights and be heard. The young folks have been made to believe these things and no doubt many of them really think they actually know more than any of the middle-aged folks including their own parents.
More On The Cause
Another thing that is causing some of the current trends, is the fact that many of the Elders in congregations have been taken in by enterprising "youth leaders."
I would like for any one who reads this article to point out just one slight intimation from the scripture of such a thing as a "Youth counselor" or "Youth leaders" in the Lord's church.
All of it came from sectarianism. A desire to be like religious folks about us. All these things have been instilled into the minds of the young folks of today until they have reached the point that they have no love or respect for anybody that does not agree with them that those things are really true. And moreover they care little, if anything, for anyone who is not ready and eager to spend and be spent in the act of entertaining them.
Another matter I think needs to be mentioned is that there has been so much pressure put on the preachers with the idea that it is more important to keep the young folks in a "good humor" than it is to preach the gospel of Christ. Consequently many of the preachers of today know a lot more about how to entertain the young folks than they do about preaching the gospel. We have reached a period in which many of the congregations of the Lord do not measure a preacher by his ability to preach the word of God, but by his ability to entertain the young folks. And because the real old Jerusalem gospel is seldom preached any more, the young folks and many of the older people do not know what the word of God says about the "Operation of the Holy Spirit." So young folks of today, being ignorant of what the word of God says on such matters, and being allowed to associate with all kinds of young in the denominational activities hear many things they had not heard before, and some of it being of a rabble-rousing nature, and they themselves being ready to try anything that sounds new and different, they fall for it.
The Cure
The Remedy For All Of This Foolishness Is: Elders In Every Congregation Who Understand And Believe The New Testament Scriptures: Men Who Will Oversee The Flock As God Intended That They Should Do. Preachers Who Love The Praises Of God More Than The Praises Of The Majority. Men Who Will Proclaim The Word Just As It Is Written Even If It Necessitates A Move Every Six Months.
Parents who will furnish their children with work to do, good hard work. There is nothing wrong with the young folks today that a hoe handle wouldn't cure.
These things will work and there is no doubt about it. They worked thirty or forty years ago, and they will work now.
Box 1265, Maljamar, New Mexico