SOME years ago an Australian university professor, representing a large student Christian Society, addressed a gathering of students. After having denied the person of God, and having spent much time in debunking the Scriptures, the professor was confronted by a student who declared that as an atheist, he could agree almost entirely with what had been said by the professor.
The professor was pleased that his discussion had been relevant even to an atheist. Yet even after the assembly, the student remained confused and disillusioned, apparently reinforced in the conviction of his no-God concept.
"Relevancy" has become the watchcry of modern Christendom. The very obvious eroding of the Christian impact upon the world has led church leaders to look for new ways to entice the masses back to the empty pews. Thus there has been a proliferation of views expressed and methods employed by church leaders aimed to lift Christianity from its Victorian image. The most common appeal has been to the youth. Frantic attempts have been made to "get with" the inquisitive, independent, worldly-wise youth who are questioning the values in adult society.
Age of Change
Youth is an age of great challenges, of emerging ideals, of almost indefatigable energies and of strengthening purposes. There is a willfulness, an independence, that belies the immaturity and uncertainty and seeks to find values and goals worthy of achievement and worthy of life. It may be argued that to spark the vision of youth is to light an eternal flame. But today we see a worldwide dissipation of the energies of youth toward transient goals and unproductive activities.
The world that promised peace a quarter of a century ago has produced a sickening parade of wars, revolts, uprisings, rebellions, and chaos on an international scale. This is the world forced upon young people in this generation. They didn't choose it, they didn't make it, but they inherited it. Today they are revolting against what we who are older have given them.
In previous times it has been the peas ant, the poor, the oppressed, the unemployed, who have revolted, but today the seeds of revolt are fired in the breasts of the affluent, the intellectual, and the educated. No longer is the mature man at the end of his tether; it is youth in all their emerging passions who are decimating the social foundations of the second half of the twentieth century.
Establishment, institution, and authority are despised. There is a certainty of what is not wanted, but no assurance of what is desired. Gone are the days when youth accepted passively what they were told, the parental style of life, the social structure into which they were born, or the values of existing society. The universities of the world have witnessed the terror of their youth in rebellion. Social values are fragmenting, the immutables are now the mores, the certainties the doubtfuls, the truths the questionables.
It is with the backdrop of this confusion that church leaders are frantically looking for revolutionary approaches to stem the tide and re-establish Christianity in the community.
The Drive for Relevancy
Unfortunately, the drive for relevancy has led many churchmen into the cul-de-sac of worldly entertainment and amusements the dance hall, the jukeboxes, the coffee lounge, the cabaret. Even worse, almost every known sin has been declared to be sin no longer from premarital sex and homosexuality to the blasphemous use of the name of God. There is a frenzied at tempt to have youth identify themselves with the church but no real burden to have them identify with the cross of Cal vary. Worldly conformity is accepted and often encouraged, while the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is neither invited nor understood. Relevance has been the excuse to parade a social philosophy rather than to uphold a spiritual destiny.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church faces the same burdening problems as do other churches in the challenges of its youth. Only the sense of a great mission and the eternal heritage of our youth can prevent us from stumbling into the same pitfalls as others have in the work for their youth.
Danger Signs
Already the danger signs are present. There has been a tendency to increase activity for the youth rather than institute a constant search for the fuller Christian development. In fact, on occasion, we have attempted to entertain our young people into the church, and in so doing have unbelievably followed the same pathway as other church communities. We have seen films screened for entertainment that God could not bless; we have seen variety pro grams that have been a decided hindrance to the fuller understanding of the way of righteousness; we have witnessed sporting programs and intense competition that be speak how little we recognize the task that is ours in training the youth for service. We have often given the husk and not the grain, and tragically our colleges have sometimes been in the forefront, fostering the pseudo-Christian approach.
Some years ago an Australian Olympic gold medalist swimmer was interviewed concerning his training program. He discussed the various exercises and calisthenic training that he undertook in his arduous preparation and concluded with significant comment, "But my main training is in the pool. I do at least five hours' training there a day." All the exercises this young man did could never make him a champion swimmer. They were helpful, but they were subsidiary to the basic training in the pool. So it is with the training of our young people if we really want to make Christians of them. The basic training must be in the pool of Christian commitment and service. There will be an important place for well-chosen recreation and social activity, but these activities will, in themselves, never make a Christian---they will always be the supplementary training.
How to Become a Christian
Many young people never become Christians because no one has ever shown them how and they have been unable to find the way themselves. Today we face the tragedy of a majority of young people who have no idea of how to take hold of Christ. There is a tremendous challenge to the leaders of our young people to offer to them the great est relevancy that Christianity can offer that of translating the principles of Christ info the very fabric of their lives.
Not so long ago I was invited to be chair man of a panel discussion with six youth ranging in ages from fourteen to eighteen years of age. All came from undivided Seventh-day Adventist homes and all had, or were having, the opportunity of a Christian education, yet each confessed that he had never helped another to know Christ. Almost in desperation they said that they did not know how, but they wanted to know. The next evening a delegation came to my home to inform me that a group of the young people had met together and had decided to hold meetings for the purpose of learning how to become Christian workers.
How challenging this is to our parents, our Sabbath school teachers, our church school teachers, and our ministry. Many young people crave the opportunity to live and work for Christ. Surely this is the essence of relevancy. Relevancy is not taking Christianity to the level of wayward youth but helping youth to understand how they may be translated into the image of Christ. There is no greater relevance than to love our youth so much that we lead them to Christ and help them to discover how to live and work for Him.
Today's challenge is to give our young people a knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, to lead them to the footstool of Jesus and then to train them in service for God and man.
