Igniting a Passion
for Purity
When Paul rolled into work one Saturday morning he was unusually happy. I had become so used to him stumbling in angry and depressed that I was caught off-guard by his smile and his desire to talk. Although we had grown up in the same chruch, our lives had taken totally different directions. I had decided to walk with God, and Paul had not. He was living for the thrill of the immediate moment, which usually led to trouble and guilt in the next.
As we began to talk that day, Paul was eager to share with me what he had done the night before. He had been at a party and found himself in a back room sharing a joint with a friend. Proudly, Paul told me, "In between hits, I told him that Jesus loved him."
In frustration I blurted out, "Paul don't you understand what you are doing? When your lifestyle and your words don't match up, you are promoting Jesus in a way that He doesn't want to be promoted. Until you are at least trying to live for God, don't talk about Him to other people."
Something is Missing
Paul represents so many students in the church today. They have become convinced that Christianity can be compartmentalized and accessed whenever convenient. They feel that they can have a life but ignore most of God's commands. They are morally apathetic even if on occasion they are evangelistically hungry.
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Students who don't value holiness will rationalize sin until they feel justified in it. Some will even go so far as to directly defy Scripture, claiming that it is outdated and not relevant to their life. They tend to be gossip hounds, quick to point out others' weaknesses to remove the spotlight from themselves. They accuse parents and leaders of having unrealistic expectations and of judging them, implying that they can't or don't want to live up to those standards. When these students creep into a church or youth group, they can be more destructive than a nonbeliever off of the street, because as they hide behind their religious facades, they are all the while influencing others with their additcions and rationalizations.
Denise and Barb had been leaders in my youth group for about two years, and they attended a local Christian school. Right in the middle of their high school years their spiritual focus became blurred and their priorities shifted. Suddenly they wanted to try everything that was trendy and experience everything that the world had to offer. One day we got into a converstion with some of the other sudents about parties, alcohol and dating. Barb began to grow defensive and said, "Just because we are Christians, people expect us to be perfect. I hate the fact that we have to live by higher and more unrealistic standards than everyone else."
I was completely caught off-guard that this had become personal. I had no idea that Barb (and Denise) had been partying, experimenting with alcohol and playing games in the area of sexuality (they were quick to state that they were both still virgins). As we talked, they didn't want to discuss their activities in light of what was right and wrong. They wanted to hide behind the fact that no one is perfect. They had bunkered in behind their excuses, and their defiant attitudes said, "I am going to do whatever I want, no matter what anyone else-even God-might say."..........
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