It has been my experience that, at some point, many young adults believe they know better than older adults. That is part of life.

Some great ideas have come from pushing limits and challenging the status quo. However, setting an entire capitalist republic on fire is not one of them.

Faith Versus Fairytale

Over time, those who are young become older and, hopefully, more mature. Many become some version of conservative, even progressive conservative, as I am. They begin to realize that many of their former ideas were not only naïve, but also unsustainable.

Why? Because we are not GOD and we are not sovereignly in control.

Unfortunately, everyone does not mature at the same speed. Some older voices encourage young adults to believe that all humanity can become fully equitable and that everyone will receive a fair share on this side of heaven. In my view, that kind of thinking is wishful, untested by history, and dangerous when passed on without any historical precedent.

There is plenty to learn from, both biblically and anthropologically.

North Americans should not follow those voices, young or old, anywhere—especially not to the voting polls.

Broken People Break People

“What one generation finds optional, the next will find unnecessary.” 

Socialism is not a novel idea. Neither are its related ideologies—democratic socialism, communism, and Marxism. Anyone who entertains these concepts should be challenged with reality, reason, and a clear understanding of history and power.

These ideologies can appear attractive to young adults who have not fully considered the consequences that may follow if such systems are implemented. They can become especially troubling for the elderly and the disabled—groups that the young themselves may one day join if they live long enough.

Our system of governing in the United States is not necessarily broken. We are often too apathetic about both our politics and our God. Too many older people speak more about the frailties of mankind than about the goodness of God. Too many have become more shaped by envy and self-interest than by personal generosity and wisdom. Not all, but too many.

The Solution

I believe the answer to socialism and its similar ideologies is the church, when the church is functioning biblically. Matthew 28:18–20 reminds believers of the Great Commission. We may rightly ask: Why leave the government to care for the poor and needy? Why is the church begging the government to do what the church has been called to do? Who has become our source?

When the church responds like the church, and not like the culture, it stands as a strong answer to socialist and Marxist ideals that argue against religious values. These ideologies often treat belief in God as oppressive, claiming religion is used by the ruling class to keep people down and dependent. They refer to Christianity as a form of nationalism. All lies from the father of them. The truth is that in a society where government becomes ultimate, the church will not remain free. The government will become god.  The COVID-19 pandemic gave us a glimpse of how quickly religious gatherings and liberties, can be restricted.

In this digital age of isolation, we need to draw closer to the LORD more than ever before. If we do not, the old and young alike may one day realize they did not know how good they had it in the United States until it was gone. Forever destroyed in the name of a social justice without the true and loving God.

What Will You Say?

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” 
— Proverbs 22:6

But how will they know if we remain silent?

I appreciate what President Abraham Lincoln said when a pastor expressed hope that God was on the Union’s side during the American Civil War. Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Will you tell somebody today that the God of the Bible—the God who made America and Israel, Jews and Gentiles, males and females, who is over all government and every race and nation—is always right?

Almighty God is the only true answer. Therefore, any political movement that openly disobeys Him or dishonors His name with doctrine not found in His Word is not worthy of our alliance. 

Those of us who study the Bible know what happens to nations that turn to lesser gods for answers. America does not need a fantasy built on human intellect and earthly grievances; it needs repentance, courage, truth, led by a people called the church, who are willing to stand on GOD’s side before it asks God to stand on ours.

Isn’t it time to grow up?

Really, 

Leah

“In just a generation, the children of the dechurched will be unchurched, changing the nature of spirituality in America significantly.”
— Jim Davis and Michael Graham