“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” I Timothy 4:12
Could it be that 2018 will be the year for mankind to do something radically stupid again? You see, every so often man likes to display his foolishness by starting a war or some other man-made tragedy to plunge the world into chaos. It is just what we do. It is apparently in our nature to go into phases of mass self-destruction and carnage.
In part, I believe this is caused by our limited visions of the past and future. We just can’t see great distances very well. Actually, the information is there; we just don’t bother to seek it out and apply it to our lives.
When I was growing up in the fifties, I had a realistic vision of history that went back about 100 years. This was obtained through my parents, grandparents, and from my history studies at school. The War Between the States was only 85 years in the past, and southerners still held some good-natured animosity for the “yankees”. In some ways, I was close to the history of the past century. I knew about World War I, the depression, the holocaust, and World War II from my family, not just from the history books. From childhood, I knew about Hitler and Stalin. I understood why my Dad, who fought in the Pacific during World War II, did not care for foreign cars.
I was also encouraged to weigh the decisions I made with their possible impact on the future. For example, every time I even casually mentioned the idea of dropping out of school, I was warned how that decision had been disastrous to people in the past and would be a detriment to my future. I was given the history and prognosis of the “now.” I was encouraged to zoom out and see the big historical patterns to give me a deeper perspective in my thinking. Many people today seem to only look at the now, not the past or the future. Most do not study and challenge what they hear with an accurate historical record. The idea of living for the now is what’s important to modern man. We are not interested in the history or future of the decisions we make in the now.
After working with young people for many years, it appears that most people in the younger generation have no perspective beyond a 10 or 20-year window. Perhaps they have heard of Hitler, but they apparently don’t recognize the danger of modern day socialists whose speeches sound very similar to Adolph’s. Many younger Americans like to vote for candidates who offer a broad range of new federal programs. The concept of womb to the tomb federal care sounds appealing if you do not consider the long-range danger of such programs. Spending ourselves and our children into bankruptcy is not very frightening if you do not consider the historical consequences.
Even worse, we are shuddering the Biblical principle of personal accountability. When the sense of personal responsibility is lost, the alternative is to think that somehow “society” is responsible for everyone’s mistakes, so individuals should not have to suffer the consequences. No society can lose belief in moral accountability to God for very long without destroying itself. So many young people today don’t even try to visualize the end goal. They can see the easily defined endings in sports events or video games, but what is not so clear is their own personal end goal; who they want to be and what they want to accomplish. Their lack of historical perspective makes them unsure where they are going so they are pulled by the tides, pushed by the trends, and blown by the hot air that pours from their peers and the liberal media.
Perhaps this has been caused by the fact that this generation doesn’t need to struggle like the previous generation. They don’t need to work after school to support the family, earn their way through college, or labor on the family farm. They are spared from the need of contributing to the welfare of the family. So they have learned to find purpose in being without a defined purpose.
If we could just encourage this new generation of Americans to research the history and prognosis of what is happening now by asking a few important questions. Has this, or something similar to this, happened in the past? If so, how did it turn out? How will this affect my children and grandchildren in the future? These two questions alone could revolutionize our thinking.
For an example, let’s consider the modern homosexual movement. In the 1930s, British anthropologist J.D. Unwin studied 86 cultures that stretched across 5,000 years. He found, without exception, when they restricted sex to marriage, they thrived. Strong families headed by faithful spouses made for bold, prosperous societies. But not one culture survived more than three generations after turning sexually permissive.
As a matter of fact, it is hard to find any culture surviving once it ceased to support marriage and monogamy. In study after study, a breakdown of the traditional family is directly linked to an increase in violence, crimes committed at a younger age, teen pregnancy, welfare dependency, and child poverty. Legalization of gay marriage will further undermine an institution that is essential to the well-being of children and our society. Do we really want to encourage a lifestyle that if adopted by every member of society would exterminate mankind in 100 years? Wouldn’t this be a good study for the history and prognosis of the now? Wouldn’t young people benefit if they would just research and think this through? This level of thinking is not taught in the government school system, so it will be up to the parents to teach this politically incorrect truth.
Perhaps we could study the history and prognosis of getting into debt or experimenting with alcohol or drugs. Would it be wrong to encourage our young people to have a five or ten-year plan of action with goals, objectives, and a meaningful payoff? Can the older generation give them more exposure to the realities of life? When I was a child, we would all sit down at the dinner table, and Dad would review some of the news stories of the day. He would explain things to me in a language I could understand. He would give me his assessment based on how the event was affected by history and how it might affect future generations.
I still recall when America came off the gold standard how my grandfather told me why it was historically a foolish decision and how my dollar would lose much of its value in the future. He taught me this at the dinner table when I was still a young man. By the way, he was right!
Most every kid used to have a part-time job; they often bought their own school clothes and helped to earn their own keep. Was this a bad thing? Don’t our young people need real world exposure to experiences that will give them a taste of the challenges and rewards of life? Christians know that time is moving forward toward a goal. It began with the Creation and is moving toward a final judgment. This makes all history linear and goal oriented. Time is a valuable commodity, and we are instructed to honor God by being good stewards.
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:15-16
We also know that our Lord brings reward and success when our work is completed faithfully.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Galatians 6:9
God encourages His children to improve their lives and to make a positive contribution to the world around us. This leads us to take calculated risks, work hard, and to build for the future while learning from the past. It is difficult to make rational decisions if you don’t know where you are; and it is hard to know where you really are if you don’t know where you’ve been or where you’re going. This is the handicap our young generation is facing. They have been taught to think but not to think things through. They may know what road they are on, but they often have no idea where that road will take them based on historical evidence.
There is so much information available to us today that it is hard for all of us to discern the difference between fact, opinion, and outright lies; but it is especially hard for young people. The President says that much of what we hear is “fake news”. He is correct. Young people need to have someone they can rely on to give them sound advice when interpreting what they hear and read. We are living in a world where truth is a rare commodity, but our Lord gives His people the “mind of Christ” so we do not have to fall victim to all the deception. Mature Christians must use this resource to guide us in truth; a truth we can share with the young. Parents should not just seek to raise compliant kids who never get into any serious trouble. We must also raise children who know how to think. Do not delegate this to the school or church. These institutions can help, but they cannot do it alone.
It is clear! The forces of our deceptive secular world will continue to bring torrents of misinformation into our lives. Truth will become harder to find, and even if we find it, we will be tempted to turn away our ears. This is expected in the last days. However, this makes it imperative that we teach our young people how to think deeper thoughts. Thinking, not just about the now, but on the history and prognosis of the now.
This is the only way to raise up a Godly generation of young people who will grow up to make better choices for themselves and for our nation.
May our Lord richly bless you during this New Year!
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry over forty years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries.