Moral Standards of Young Christians

""Will you go dancing?"" ""Ever smoked a joint?"" ""Can I borrow your homework?"" How will a young Christian answer these questions? News broadcasts and pollsters tell us that America has lost its moral compass. We hear reports of entire college classes conspiring to cheat on an exam, and see statistics cited that many young people do not believe lying is always wrong. Such news only confirms our worst suspicions: most young people do not have any idea how to make moral and ethical choices. How can young Christians find direction and certainty in their decision making?

We should begin by observing that we dare not hand our compass to the majority and let them choose for us. Jesus reminds us that the crowd is headed in the wrong direction (Matt. 7:13-14). Most teens learn quickly that saying to Mom and Dad ""Everyone is going!"" will be met with a quick ""That is a fine reason for you not to go!"" However, a quick tour of biblical history reveals that parents are right. The majority laughed at Noah (2 Peter 2:5), said Israel could not take the land of Canaan (Num. 13-14), screamed for Jesus to be killed (Mark 15:13), and ran Christians out of town (Acts 8:1). We cannot count on the crowd to make good moral choices for us.

Further, we cannot count on ourselves to make good choices. Some want to rely on an inner voice, or on what looks wise at this moment, and some just run life with a reckless abandon that chooses whatever feels good now. These are broken compasses. Jeremiah tells us, ""I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps"" (Jer. 10:23). When we are fifteen or sixteen we may think we know it all but we do not. Our own instincts, conscience, or desires are not reliable compasses.

Where then do we find reliable counsel for good decision making? It is as close as your Bible. God has given us ""all things that pertain to life and godliness"" (2 Peter 1:3). The word of God equips us to choose right from wrong (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The scriptures are our compass, guiding us from earth to heaven. Unfortunately, some people (old and young!) are convinced the Bible is a flawed compass. Some argue that it is too hard to understand. Apparently you must go to seminary or learn a foreign language to get anything out of the Bible. Really? Try this: ""Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, than in a house shared with a contentious woman"" (Prov. 21:9). How much Hebrew do you need to know to get Solomon's point? Certainly parts of the Bible require study and deeper thought. That said, we should realize that the huge bulk of scripture is easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to apply to our lives and situations. Read Israel's history and learn God's nature. Read the Proverbs for practical wisdom. Read the Gospel and get a handle on ""what would Jesus do."" You can understand your Bible if you try.

Regrettably, others are failing to use God's book because they have decided it is too old-fashioned to speak to today's modern times. This kind of thinking overlooks the fact that the Bible is not about the times, fads, or technological trends. The Bible is about people, and the human condition. It is about folks who lived and died, loved and lost, wanted to be happy, were afraid, were courageous, were sinners, and were forgiven. It is about people like us. How modern we become has nothing to do with all people's built-in desire to know God and be certain of life after death (Ecclesiastes 3:11). That is why the Bible is timeless: it deals with the most pressing needs of life. It is the Bible that speaks of sin, guilt, being right with God, and our eternal destiny. It does not matter if one reads those truths off a computer screen or a leather scroll, they are still God's truths, they are still true, and they are still needed! ""Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"" (Psalm 119:105). The book of Daniel tells us of a young man who found himself captive in a foreign land. Far from peers and parents he could have acted in any way he wanted with little threat of censure. In truth, Daniel would have been better off, from an immediate perspective, if he fell in line and acted pagan. Yet Daniel 1:8 tells us, ""Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself . . ."" Daniel decided in his heart to follow God's law first. While such did not make him popular, it made him successful - in God's eyes. From the perspective of eternity, does anything else matter?