We Need Watchmen Because of Our Children - The Need for Children to be Taught- Part 4 by Jarrod Jacobs (contributed by A. McNabb)
Our Young People Need to be Aware of Controversy
Our young people need to be made aware of current controversies and the effect they can have on our faith. The controversies we will mention are by no means all the controversies one might face today. The author knows that other things would fit into this category as well (perhaps better than the ones we will discuss). However, the controversies we mention here are perhaps more prominent than others.
Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage
It goes without saying that brethren are teaching falsehoods concerning marriage, divorce and remarriage. Christ's plain statements in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 are no longer plain enough for some. While the purpose of this article is not intended to be a detailed handling of this question, let it be made clear that our young people need to be taught the truth on this subject. They need to be taught that any argument that allows the guilty party in the divorce to remarry is a violation and contradiction of the Scriptures. Our youth need to know that sometimes, BOTH parties are in sin, and thus both have forfeited their right to remarry another.
Separating Christ from the Church
In thinking about current controversies, our young people need to be aware of the false doctrine that tries to separate Christ and the church. Some of our brethren are saying we have focused too much on the church, baptism, etc. and need to focus more on Christ. I have an article dated June 1994, in which one man states, They (the people in Jerusalem in Acts 2, JJ) surrendered not to a plan of salvation, but to a Savior. Pray tell, how can one surrender to the Savior if they do not surrender to His plan?? This man made a distinction where there was no difference! This thread of thought is nothing new. Our denominational friends have been saying things like this for years. Our liberal brethren picked up on it, and now some of our conservative brethren are speaking the same garbage.
Our young people need to know about these problems. We cannot shelter and hide them from all of this. If we do, how will they handle these problems when they are in the leadership roles in the local church?? Our youth need to know how to answer this dilemma. They need to know that the church was in the "eternal purpose" of God (Eph. 3:10-11). The establishment of the church was not an accident or some kind of divine Band-Aid. Christ promised to build His church in Matthew 16:18 and did so. Christ is the chief corner-stone in the foundation of the church (1 Pet. 2:6). The church is also described as Christs body (Col. 1:18, 24; Eph. 1:19-23, 4:4). We also see a description of the church as the bride of Christ (Rev. 22:17; Eph. 5:23-33).
To try to separate Christ and the church is to take the foundation away from the house. Would you buy a house that had no foundation? Why not? Because it would surely fall. This is the end result of all those who build their churches upon some man or some religious practice (1 Cor. 3:10-11; Matt. 15:13). To demand that brethren speak about Christ, but not the church is to behead the body! I dont think I have to tell you what happens when a head is removed from its body. Further, to imply that proper preaching could be done by preaching about Christ and not the church is to take the groom away from his bride. How can people be married and joined together if one party is not there? Thankfully, God has joined Christ and the church together. And "what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6).
Allowing False Teachers to Teach Us Provided They Don't Speak on the Falsehood They Spread.
Another popular thing conservative churches are doing is allowing men to preach for them unopposed when it is clear that they are teaching false doctrines, or upholding the hands of others who are doing so. The reasoning goes, We allow him to preach on _____________ subjects, but will not allow him to preach on ______________. Based on this logic, why not invite the local Baptist preacher to preach for you during your next meeting? Have him preach to you with your full endorsement, provided he doesn't talk about faith-only or instrumental music. Think of the community togetherness that could come from such a venture! Perhaps we could allow the local Methodist preacher to preach for us, provided he does not talk about sprinkling water on babies for their salvation, or tithing? Maybe we could bring in the local Catholic preacher to fill the pulpit the next time our preacher is out of town? Allow that priest to preach as long as he doesn't talk about the Pope, fish on Fridays (which is making a come-back), vows of celibacy for priests and nuns, etc.
What? We would not stand for such things? Then why in the world will we allow those among us to come for a week and spread their false teachings both publicly and privately? Are their words not as false as Catholicism? Will our brethrens' false teachings not send us to Hell, if followed, where the denominational preachers words will? Is the influence of our false brethren not as corrupting as the influence of the Baptist or Methodist preacher?
It should be made clear that just because we tell someone not to preach on __________ subject from the pulpit, this will not keep him from teaching it house to house when he gets the opportunity. By lending our support to false teachers and their sympathizers who are among us, we are giving our youth a mixed message. Truly, "the legs of the lame are not equal" (Prov. 26:7). What are we teaching our young people? Are our young people being taught the serious consequences of supporting men who promote such blatant heresies as have been mentioned? I hope so for the future of the church!
Conclusion
We must realize that the things we have mentioned are a learning process, they cannot be poured into someone automatically. Just as one grows and matures from a small child to an adult, so also one grows and matures from the babe in Christ to the mature Christian (Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Cor. 3:1-3). It is time that all of us recognize this, and realize that our young people will never know right from wrong unless those who are older are teaching them. This is God's plan (Tit. 2:1-7). As a result, we cannot leave our young people alone to sink or swim as they float on the sea of life! Those who are older, and especially their Christian parents, must be working with them to lead them in the right direction. This requires love (Agape love as is mentioned in the Bible), it takes discipline, and it takes the will to do all that God says do, living by the word of God and only by the word of God (Col. 3:17). Young people need our older brethren to take them by the hand and teach them all the counsel of God (Acts 20:20). We do not need back-slappers, and men who compromise "the faith once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3) to keep the young people interested. This is a detriment to spreading the borders of the kingdom, it is not an asset.
Brethren, what will you do? It is up to all of us to do our part. If we do not, we will definitely raise up a generation that does not know the Lord!!! Let us all make a concentrated effort to teach our young people right from wrong, and what it means to be a Christian, a soldier in the Lord's army.
A FEW OF LIFE'S SIMPLE TRUTHS
"Real friends are those who, when you feel you've made a fool of yourself, don't feel you've done a permanent job."
"Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side."
"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."
"Lead your life so you won't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
"People gather bundles of sticks to build bridges they never cross."
"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it."
"Did it ever occur to you that nothing occurs to God?"
"Life is like an onion; you peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep."