When I was younger/the legacy of today

 

I was thinking this morning how much our society has changed in the last twenty years.  I sit here in my late thirties and I feel as if I stand on the bridge of being able to see both the past and the future and I’m concerned.  The younger generation needs to see what morality is, and raise a standard for the next generations.  We are living now in a world that has gone beyond an “I’m okay, you’re okay” world.  It’s become “I’m okay, and if you don’t think I’m okay then I’ll pester you or sue you until either I gag you, silence you or change your mind” mentality.  I find this beyond concerning.  People have a right to have a difference of opinion.  If you don’t agree with me, then that’s your choice.  Jesus NEVER threatened to cut someone’s head off, sue them for ridiculous amounts of money, or forced people to follow him.  He loves people.  Getting offended because someone doesn’t believe like you do is immature and the definition of someone ruled by their flesh.

I remember my grandfather (age 86) telling me once that he remembered when a woman who showed her ankles was considered one of lacking immorality.  While that sentiment seems comical to me in today’s culture somewhere there needs to be a balance here.  One should be able to turn on the TV with their children and hope that they don’t see some woman’s breasts across the screen.  I am not suggesting that woman need to walk around in turtlenecks and skirts, but I am saying that “modest is hottest.” When did it become the more flesh you showed would suddenly be seen as making one more “sexy”?  Why is our culture so obsessed with sex?

When I was in school I remember Ellen came out of the closet on her show.  Her show wasn’t on much longer than that.  The ratings couldn’t handle the dip.  However today she is one of the most famous women alive.  I grow tired of the “Christians” that like to talk about her show and continue to herald her as some kind of “Wonder Woman.”  It doesn’t matter that she’s funny.  She desperately needs Jesus.  God is very clear about his feelings on homosexuality.  I don’t think I need to rehash all of this or start quoting scripture.  God doesn’t change.  You can’t force the Bible to fit your own flesh.  God loves people no matter what they’ve done, but when the woman caught in adultery was caught Jesus didn’t tell her “Go ahead I love you now keep sinning.”  He said, “Go and sin no more.”.   He has a better plan for them than this choice.

Sex is not just a physical act.  I am shocked how the younger generation has gradually begun to view sex (both homosexual and heterosexual) to become a recreational sport.  People have forgotten that sex is also a spiritual act.  It is two people becoming one.  People forget that God is very vocal that sex is between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN…who are married. This is not to condemn people who have done things outside of this.  But sex has ramifications.  Sex is awesome within a marriage.  When God instructed people the boundaries of sex it wasn’t to be mean, but to stop people from getting hurt.  It’s like playing with fire.  Fire is great, but if it burns down a house it can be deadly. 

When I was in high school it was a joke that every year a student that had already graduated the year before would call in a bomb threat toward the end of the school year.  I know that in today’s mind this seems crazy.  If anyone tried this today I realize it would be a felony.  But it wasn’t twenty years ago.  I understand that was before Columbine and 9/11.  But the police would show up to comb the school and we’d play Red Rover and Duck Duck Goose on the football field.  I’m not suggesting people do this again.  I bring this up to just show the shift at how our society has changed. 

When I was in high school we had a very brief teaching on Christianity, really we just went over the 10 Commandments, and then plowed through a week on Islam.  Looking back do I think that the teacher spent more time on Islam than he probably should have, yes I do.  Do I think it is odd that if we were going to talk about other religions why we didn’t discuss some of the other major ones, yes I do.  However I remember in this Islam talk the teacher tried to compare several things to Christianity and it didn’t sit right with me.  I at 16 told him that it didn’t and explained to him why.  When I was in high school I was part of a Bible Study that caused a bunch of waves.  In today’s world I probably would have had grounds to call in the media and it was a time of real training for me. 

I was raised with the mentality of loving God first and loving my country second.  I can remember sitting and watching the fireworks during a July 4^th display when Clinton was president.  I remember listening to the song ‘God Bless America’ and weeping.  As young as I was it was like I could feel the weight of the fabric of our nation unraveling.  I remember thinking that our country could be great again.  I’d like to think it still can be great again, but sadly in the last seven years I’ve watched that fabric unravel more and more.

I was raised around guns.  My father had them, collected them, and one was loaded under the bed.  It wasn’t that big of a deal.  We knew they were there.  He took us shooting on occasion.  The issue in this nation isn’t a gun issue.  Cain killed Able with a rock.  If we outlaw guns, then crazy people will just use knives.  The last I checked, the 9/11 terrorists used box cutters.  Our founding fathers in this nation thought guns were important and sadly the agenda to take those seem to be attempted to be forced on the American people.  (Which I find even more concerning when certain individuals are trying to weaken our military and take the personal guns.) The issue isn’t about a firearm.  This issue is in the moral decline of our society, and the people that need some serious mental healing.

I watch the younger generation and I want to weep.  Most of them see nothing wrong with recreational sex, nudity is the normal, foul language is integrated into them, they go to school and see few standing up for righteousness, and they don’t even realize how blessed we still are in this nation.  They get angry and their solution is to bring a gun and kill the people that they believe are wrong.  We can no longer bury our heads in the sand.  Our culture is slipping quickly.

But as I write this, I want to talk a moment to the older and middle generations, how will the younger know if we won’t teach them?  We’ve been silent for way too long.  I know that I am not alone in feeling the way that I do.  I know I can’t be the only one who sees our culture sliding into a mud pit, but yet feels powerless to stop it.  Many of you know that I am not a person that likes to complain about a situation and not offer a solution.  My solution is simply this; start using the mouth the Lord gave you.  Start preaching from the pulpits He gave you, and I am well aware that sometimes those pulpits are kitchens, offices, street corners, coffee shops, and social media platforms.  Start praying for the younger generation and our nation.  Be active in the voting process both locally and nationally to put people of righteousness in power.  We have to start saying something.  I realize that what I’m saying isn’t popular, but I believe it’s worth it to take a stand.  I am a voice that refuses to be silent.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” ~Aked

I’ve written various books on Hitler and the 3^rd Reich.  I know that there are many that will cringe at my drawing of parallels between the pit our society seems to be falling into and Germany pre and during WW2.  However I will say this, the reason why the Third Reich prospered for the time it did was many fold.  I do want to bring out a couple points though:  the younger generation was targeted so that they wouldn’t know any better, and the older generation was forced into silence or killed.  I think that it’s quite obvious there are similar tactics being used today.

So what is my point in my random musings here?  Is just to offend everyone?  No.  But it’s to say that in all the darkness, light can shine brightly.  May we rise up and find our voices.  May we teach the younger so that they will know God, and not depart from Him.  May we set our faces like flint to the things of the world.  May we not be conformed to the world but to God’s kingdom by renewing our minds.  May we keep our feet firmly planted on the rock of Christ Jesus.  May we stop bickering among ourselves but find the commanded blessing in unity.  May we stand in LOVE.  So many times the church has been seen as some entity that isn’t walking in love, but Jesus taught us to love the Hell out of people.  It’s okay to disagree with people’s opinions, but may we make sure we say the truth in love.  Love does not need to be wishy washy, but it doesn’t need to be bitter either.  It’s time for the Church to shine in this hour.  It’s time for us to take a stand so that Jesus can be seen. May the standard be raised, and in heaven I believe there are a cloud of witnesses cheering us on.

God has awesome plans for your life.  So get excited.