By request this article is reprinted, with slight changes, from the February 2, 1962, issue.
America’s young people are being sold short, and with tragic results.
All of us should be concerned over the evidences of moral and spiritual degeneration on every hand. The “Hippies” are an extreme example of the problem. But our greater concern is for that large group of decent young people who look at life aimlessly, without the moral and spiritual standards and restraints that are a vital part of Christian character.
We are letting these young people down in multiplied ways, and the harvest of our neglect will be reaped in the years that lie just ahead.
They are being let down in our homes whenever the place where we live becomes just a house, and not a home. Parents have no right to expect more of their children than they themselves contribute toward their moral and spiritual upbringing. Parental delinquency begets youthful delinquency, and the economic and social standing of a family has nothing to do with it. Neither money nor social prestige is a substitute for right values, nor do the social graces do more than veneer a life devoid of spiritual perception.
Young people are being let down in our schools wherever the imparting of knowledge is considered an end in itself. The Bible tells us that the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” An analysis of the curricular and extracurricular activities of most schools today—be they high schools, colleges, or universities, secular or church-related—shows that the overwhelming majority of our young people are receiving an education completely divorced from God and his Word. We are confronted by the tyranny of a small minority who desired to eliminate from all schools even a prayer or the reciting of the Ten Commandments.
But far more reprehensible is the fact that so many to whom are entrusted the duties of teaching have no faith in or concern for God, who is the source of all true wisdom. Secularism and materialism are so thoroughly entrenched that a Christian boy or girl finds the school environment a battleground rather than a training ground.
By and large American education is so largely in the hands of secular forces that what once was the very bulwark of Christian ideals is today a force attacking and tearing down the institution to which it owes its origin.
The Church is letting down our young people wherever it is neglecting its primary task and responsibility in favor of secondary considerations.
I have examined the youth programs of some of the major denominations and have found them so diluted in their Christian approach as to be almost useless. Apparently those who prepare these programs have a definite philosophy in mind by which they hope to influence the next generation. But the Christian message is not there. The Bible receives scant notice, if any, and young people are sent out into the “brave new world” with neither the shield of faith nor the Sword of the Spirit.
In almost all these programs, the authors have strong convictions on world problems—social, economic and political—but little other than negative convictions about the verities of the Christian faith.
We are letting our young people down by not teaching them the right attitude toward work. Rightly concerned about child labor in the past, we have raised a generation of young people, many of whom know little or nothing of the blessings and honor of hard work. Our labor-saving gadgets have contributed to this situation, but the chief cause is our goal of as little work as possible for as much pay as possible. This has eaten through to the very core of honest endeavor.
We let our young people down when we let them think our high standards of living are an end in themselves, rather than a means to an end. Man does not live by bread alone—nor can he subsist solely on cake. Only as spiritual values are given their rightful place can youth see the futility of life without Christ.
We have let them down by our example. On radio and TV they hear the advantages of various brands of cigarettes extolled and learn that only those who use alcoholic beverages can enjoy “gracious living.” We have also set before them the example of sex obsession, and today many young people speak casually of things that should rightfully be reserved for man and wife alone.
A recital of our shortcomings is of little value unless we face squarely up to the solution. To take constructive steps to solve the problem is the only right approach.
I am writing here to Christians, for unbelievers cannot be expected to exhibit concern or to lead in the way out.
There are three places where effective counter-measures can be taken: the home, the school, and the church.
Christian parents must make their homes truly Christian. Where Bible reading and prayer are a part of the home environment, a foundation is laid for children that can sustain them all through life. Children are acutely aware of parents’ sincerity, or lack of it. When the mother and father take their rightful place as priests of the family altar, give Christian instruction, and demand obedience and right living, a large part of the problem of youth is solved.
Again, our schools should cease to be purely secular institutions. Separation of church and state was never intended as separation of children from worship. Where militant minorities try to use legal means to enforce their own will they should be confronted with a higher law—that of the good of the majority.
Where godless teachers scoff at the Christian faith or in other ways try to undermine religion they should be dismissed—for “contributing to the delinquency of minors” if for no other reason. Teachers are paid to teach truth, not to destroy it. If they are found actively engaged in anti-religious activities they deserve to be dismissed.
As a final resort Christian parents may find it necessary to set up private Christian institutions where their children can be taught and trained as they need to be taught and trained.
Finally, the Church needs to take a long, hard look at its own programs for youth. Take nothing for granted. Most of these young people do not know Christ as Saviour. Therefore they are incapable of making him Lord of life. By taking for granted a personal experience with Christ—or ignoring its necessity—the Church tragically lets our young people down and fails in its greatest responsibility and challenge.
