Finding Another!

 

Meeting “Another” and Leaving Our First Love!

You met another and….you were gone!

The old song that they sang on the comedy program years ago can lend an introduction to a spiritual problem we’re facing today.

Where oh where are you tonight?                                                                                                            Why did you leave me here all alone?                                                                                                          I searched the world over and thought I’d found true love.                                                                          You met another and poof you were gone!

Every week thousands of teenagers leave their “first love.”  “Poof!”  They’re gone.  Graduate from high school and enter high school or find a good paying job and they leave the ranks of the church. We’ve already written books about them, identified them socially, culturally and spiritually.   We have defined them, denied them and to a degree – deified them in one way or another.  They have been prominent in our faith community for years. Now these teens and early twenty-somethings are finding a hot pursuit for greener pastures – sometimes their search anchors them to another faith community but for the most part they become spiritual tumbleweeds when they vacate their mom and dads venue of faith.

I am reminded of Paul’s writing to a young man who became a mentee of Paul’s.  Paul wrote Timothy and says something to him that caught my eye this evening as I was reading the Word.

“You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

A quick review here of what this anointed man of God says to his young mentee may help us understand something about our succeeding generations.

 

• Continue in the things you have learned.
• Maintain those things you are convinced of (convictions).
• Remember who you learned them from.
• From childhood you have been taught sacred writings.
• These writings have given you wisdom that leads to salvation.
• These scriptures are for teaching, reproof, correction, training.

 

The purpose?  So we may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

In some cases the church has become professionals at motivational speaking and mastering the art of being self-help gurus.  What I fear has happened is that we have failed to teach the word of God to our children and children’s children.   We have created a “Wordless” church.  Our pews are full of people who can quote the five steps of becoming successful business people – but can’t quote John 3.16.  We have created a problem for ourselves.

We have turned reading the Word into an obligation instead of a passion.  We have created boredom instead of excitement and challenge.  Our youth would rather read comic books instead of the Word.  We have even changed the presentation of the Word to a more modern and cultured read for youth – but they are still not reading it.  You can change the language and the cover but there has to be something inside a human in order to be drawn to the Word.  That something is missing in our youth and our adults in the faith community today.  We have a Word crisis in our churches.

Timothy had been taught the Holy Scriptures since he was a child.  The Jewish Torah had been a priority in his home.

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. (2 Timothy 1:5)

I want you to notice something here that I didn’t see until tonight.  Paul doesn’t say that his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice “taught” him the Holy Scriptures.  He says that “faith” dwelt in his grandmother and mother and he is confident it dwells in Timothy.  He refers to a faith lived out in front of him.  It was this lifestyle of faith that his grandmother and mom lived out that became was Timothy’s confidence in who he was.

I know the word had to be taught in his home because of Jewish tradition.  It was a given – not a question of reality but rather a fact of reality.   I am also reminded of Romans 10.17 which declares that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word.”  Two things in Timothy’s home helped mold him into who he was: 1) Living the Word and 2) teaching the Word.

Maybe we should look back over our shoulders and examine our behavior as a believer.  Sincere faith that Paul referred to was a faith unmoved in his grandmother and mother.  In living out our faith have we allowed our faith to become insincere?  We have not given succeeding generations a lot to hang their faith hat on the last ten or twenty years.  We have glamorized hypocrisy and fallen leaders.  We have majored in minors and minored in majors. We have weakened discipleship and strengthened the base for “decline-ship”.   We wonder why they’re leaving.

Somewhere along the line we have failed to teach the Word by living the example.  We have engaged to a large degree “do as I say not as I do.”  Problem with that is that young people see right through it.  Today, they are tired of the bells and whistles.  They don’t want show boating in the pulpit anymore.  They think gold dust is a scandal (and they’re right!).  They have seen all the veneer of Christianity they want to see.  They are tired of running to and fro and coming up short.  As one young man I encountered said to me recently, “I want authenticity.  I want to be hit right between the eyes with the Word.  I want a place to serve others.”

That “sincere” life that Lois and Eunice lived out in front of Timothy left an impact on him.  When we see this generation leaving the church it may be because the church has let them down.  I am not faulting parents for raising kids in church.  I am faulting the church they raised them in!  We as a church have somehow missed teaching our kids the Word to the degree that they see it in us.  Parents can’t do this by themselves.  I have known very Godly parents who’s children have left the ranks of the church and wondered in emptiness spiritually.  It’s not always the parents fault they’re kids leave the church.  Sometimes we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves where did we as a church go wrong.  When did we fail to teach the Word – not illustrations, not video vignettes, not show and tell stories, not illustrated sermons and not special props.  When did we fail to teach the Word?

Case in point – do a survey of those under 25 in our churches this coming Sunday.   Ask them to quote (write down from memory) five scriptures; ask them about 1 Corinthians 13 (love chapter) and Romans 10 (salvation made simple).   I would say that most of our attendees this week will not be able to write or comment on any of the above.  Now you know what I mean by we have failed to teach the Word.  We have taught experience without the Word and we have created empty lives of professing followers of Christ.  We have done an injustice to our congregations.  We have failed.

People who give up certain foods or drinks for the purpose of dieting often times tell me that once they have given up something they normally can go without it without craving for it.  The longer they are away from it they easier it gets to live without it.  Need I say anymore?  The longer we keep a generation from the Word the easier it is for them to live without it.  Too easy.  Way too easy!

Yep!  They found another and poof they are gone.  God help us to put the Word into succeeding generations so they can anchor themselves as Timothy did.   This takes me to another point.  Timothy had a responsibility toward the Word that he had been taught and had been lived out in front of him by Lois and Eunice.   The key to what Paul said?  Here it is: “the things you have learned and become convinced of” – Timothy had developed convictions about the Word he had been taught.  There seems to be a relationship between Timothy’s being convicted of what he had learned and his choice to let it led him to a relationship with Christ.  Timothy’s conviction of the Word lead him to a relationship with Christ.  This is a paradox for many of us.  His knowledge of the Word led him to Christ.  Today we lead people to Christ and then teach them the convictions of the Word.  I don’t know how exactly Lois and Eunice did it but they impressed Timothy with the Word by their faith and what they taught him and he had to accept it, believe it and arrive at a conviction out of it.

Too many young people have no convictions.  We have taught them the Word but we have missed the boat in somehow letting it become a conviction in the hearts of our youth.  They know the Word but don’t have a conviction for it.  That could be why they leave so easily.  Maybe we should be more concerned about their souls then their lifestyles in sin – sin acts like sin, looks like sin and can’t even image righteousness.  Maybe if we focused more on loving them for the sake of their souls instead of their lifestyles we could look more like Lois and Eunice as the church.  How about it?  Instead of St. Michael’s or First Baptist or Church of God we should tag ourselves Saint Lois or First Church of Eunice.   Just a thought people – just a thought.  Don’t get too bent out of shape.  Lets prove to succeeding generations the importance of the Word – just the pure and simple Word – and let’s do that by our lifestyles of sincere unfeigned faith.