This page is for everyone out there struggling to follow Christ in our increasingly secular world.
"I have no more personal friends at school. But you know what? I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus. I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything, I will. I will take it. If my friends have to become my enemies for me to be with my best friend, Jesus, then that's fine with me."
~Rachel Scott, Columbine martyr
As an American teenager in 2001, I'm finding that our society and our world are drifting farther and farther away from God at a lightning fast rate! Dealing with our increasingly immoral and godless society is rough for everyone, but perhaps the worst for us teenagers. Since I became a Christian, my eyes have been opened to the sinful ways of today's world. Think about how much sex, violence, drugs, and occultic practices inundate us every day! It was scandalous when Clark Gable said the word "damn" in "Gone With The Wind;" now much worse obscenities pop up nonchalantly in PG movies. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, a married couple, couldn't be shown in the same bed on "The Lucy Show;" now smutty shows like "Temptation Island" and "Sex and the City" are devoured without a second thought. Elvis shocked our parents with his suggestively wiggling hips; today we're becoming desensitized to public nudity espoused by celebrity harlots like Jennifer Lopez.
Some rules for climbing the ladder to success in a secular society:
Abstinence is out. Premarital sex is in. Preferably with multiple partners at an early age. If you get pregnant, just have an early abortion. Or wait til you're giving birth and suck the baby's brains out using the wonderfully humane option of partial-birth abortion. Drinking until you puke is a sure-fire way to be popular. Drugs make you even cooler, especially if you're a high-paid celebrity. But illegal drugs don't cut it anymore; you have to abuse drugs that are beneficial to some people, like Vicodin, making it harder for honest people to live their lives without debilitating pain. Try to work at least 2 obscenities into every sentence you use. The more four-letter words, the better, especially when children are around. Tell the dirtiest jokes you possibly can; everyone enjoys having their mind polluted with graphic, obscene stories. Experiment with the occult. Ouija boards, tarot cards, and psychics are a must. With every free second of your time, read, watch, and listen to violent,
sex-filled, trashy material. Most importantly, encourage everyone around you to do these things as well. After all, these things are "cool," so they have to be "ok!"
I hope you all realize I was being very, very sarcastic above. But the sad thing is that a majority of people today do everything I just mentioned! Our society is becoming more and more immoral as each day passes. TV, for example: Just a few years ago, society was outraged when Ellen DeGeneres "came out of the closet" on her show... Now we have over 30 gay characters in prime-time TV! Regardless of what society wants you to think in the name of "Political Correctness," homosexuality is NOT "ok" in God's eyes! It's in Leviticus and in 1 Corinthians among other places. Plenty of people claiming to be Christians think homosexuality is just peachy keen, but it's not. Don't endorse this behavior! While we're on the topic of sex sins, fornication is still sinful too! Fornication: sex outside of marriage between unmarried people. That goes for you too, my fellow teenagers! Adultery is also still wrong, whether you're a commoner or the great Bill Clinton. That goes for you too, REVEREND Jesse
Jackson! Don't let society fool you into thinking sinful behaviors are acceptable. Abortion? NO! Premarital sex? NO! Adultery? NO! Homosexuality? NO! Drugs? NO! Lying? NO! Cheating? NO! Stealing? NO! Murder? NO! Occult? NO! Who do you work for: the world, or JESUS CHRIST?
The wave of godlessness is not limited to the media and pop culture; it's invaded our schools! I don't know if any of you are familiar with the "Jesus Seminar," but DON'T be fooled by the promising name-- it's deadly poison! This seminar tries to rip apart the story of our Lord and aims to pervert the truth! These heretics are convincing thousands of people, most of them college students, that-- I'm not kidding-- Jesus was not resurrected; His body was EATEN BY WILD DOGS! This was brought up in my Contemporary Christian Thought class one day this term. Everyone professed to be a Christian on the first day of class, but a SHOCKING amount of people believe the "wild dog" story! There's a class at my college, a METHODIST college, mind you, called "Historical Jesus." I haven't taken the class, but I understand that it's just like the "Jesus Seminar." Classes like this are BRAINWASHING people! These classes deny the Virgin Birth, the deity of Christ, all miracles, the Resurrection... Tons of students
studying to be ministers at my school don't even believe in Hell! They also throw out anything they don't like in the Bible because it's not "PC." This is what I call "salad-bar Christianity"... You keep what you like and pass on the stuff you don't. Heaven? Sounds good! Hell? Ugh, forget that. Oh, I like the part about God loving His children, but the part about Jesus walking on water? That's outta here! Basically, you can call yourself a Christian today without even believing in Christ! You know what I say? NO!
Our schools need more classes teaching the TRUTH. We need to study the BIBLE, not anti-Christian propaganda! We can't let the world hypnotize us with lies! We can't let this world convince us that we're not "cool," or that we're geeky for being Christians. I had a girl attempt to insult me the other day... She called me a "Jesus Freak" because of my Jesus-Truth-Fish-Eating-the-Darwin-Fish decal on my car and my Jesus tattoo. If that was intended to be an insult, she was sadly mistaken! I'm not afraid to let people know I'm a Christian, straight up! We can't be afraid to show our true colors. Today, it's "cool" to run around living a godless, immoral life. Well, we have to make it "cool" to be devoted to Christ!
Christianity has gotten a bad rap because people claiming to be Christians do very un-Christian things. Non-Christians point out things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, even the Holocaust in an attempt to vilify us. If they avoid these arguments, they point out the hypocrisy in the churches of today... How churches are PACKED on Easter and Christmas but virtually empty the rest of the year. How people will show up in their Sunday best for services, then not think about God at all the rest of the week. It's great that the Bible is still the most popular book in the world, but sadly, it's also the most often SHOPLIFTED book in the world!
So what can we do to change the world? We have to LIVE CHRISTIAN LIVES! It sounds so simple, but it really does take some effort at first. Clean up your life to the best of your ability. Remember that Jesus is watching you ALL THE TIME. Yes, His blood has paid for all of your sins, but He wants us to be obedient and pure! We have to lead by example. We need people to look at us and say, "If that's what being a Christian is, I'm interested!" MUCH BETTER than, "Well so-and-so is a Christian and look what HE does!" Jesus has freed us from the bondage of sin... Why do we still feel like we're its slave? We belong to CHRIST now, not the DEVIL! We need to start acting like it. There are Christians in other countries dying for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and here we are being lukewarm Christians. MYSELF INCLUDED! We need to make some changes in this world and win as many souls as possible for Christ!
I hope you take what I've said to heart. The world needs good, solid, Christian role models who aren't afraid to defy society's norms. Look at the apostles! They fought the norms of their time, like worshiping Caesar, under pain of torture and death... And we're afraid to stick up for ourselves because we won't be "cool?" We have the power, through CHRIST, to make this world better. Keep your eyes focused on Him all the time, and things will work out for the best. We get into trouble when Christ fades into the background of our daily life.
Whatever we do, we MUST stay humble! The LAST thing we as Christians should do is to get snooty and think we're better than non-Christians. It's easy to get on your high horse when you see sinful people; who hasn't felt good seeing some celebrity caught in a sordid scandal? It makes you feel better about yourself... "At least I'm not as bad as HER!" Well, God tells us through His Scripture that but for His grace, we'd be just like them! Read Ephesians 2:8-9 for how a Christian should act. HUMILITY is the key. You can set a good example without flaunting your "goodness." Remember that no matter how "good" you become, whether you give up cursing, promiscuity, drugs, or something simpler, you're still a SINNER until the day you die. Thank the Lord for His gift of GRACE! SPREAD THE WORD-- JESUS SAVES! Here are some fantastic books to read to get you inspired:
Revolution! Michael L. Brown... A FANTASTIC book to get you revved up to make a difference! | The Case for Christ Lee Strobel | The Case for Faith Lee Strobel | ANYTHING by R.C. Sproul; he has SOOOO many great books! | Ditto for Charles Swindoll! | Erwin Lutzer | J.I. Packer | C.S. Lewis... And of course... THE BIBLE! Read, read, read! Knowledge is power, and there's no knowledge more powerful than that of the Gospel!
"Now I have given up on everything else
I have found it to be the only way
To really know Christ and to experience
The mighty power that brought
Him back to life again, and to find
Out what it means to suffer and to
Die with Him. So, whatever it takes
I will be one who lives in the fresh
Newness of life of those who are
Alive from the dead."
~Cassie Bernall, Columbine martyr