By Curtis Morton
The way I see it, our modern society in this year of our Lord, 2019, is in serious trouble.
I was invited to a very interesting forum during the course of this week. I was a little puzzled at the invitation because I heard that it was a YOUTH forum. In seeking clarification, I was comforted by the explanation that they needed a few more ‘seasoned persons’ to help to guide the discussion.
Well, during the discourse, many wonderful points were made. One very outspoken young man gave his rational for why the world is in such a topsy-turvy state:
“We have some pre-internet folks, making decisions for those of us of the post-internet era!’
Well I newa! Boy, he made me feel like a dinosaur in the group.
When one of the other more ‘seasoned’ participants made reference to the term ‘respect to authority’, another young man raised an interesting challenge: ‘What is respect to authority, really?’
The question was as blunt as it was unexpected. The well-versed gentleman gave his response but was obviously struggling to satisfy the youngster’s curiosity. To his credit, he resorted to safe haven and made references to the bible and what God has ordained for us and requires of us, in order to live in obedience to his will.
The youngster was obviously far from impressed. ‘What is authority? What is respect and who determines what respect is?’ He was persistent and ruthless.
He virtually concluded that in 2020, people will no longer be guided by the usually accepted norms and mores that were taught by our parents and grandparents, guided from the basic principles written in the GOOD book.
He went on to say that the older folks have accepted these principles and ways of operating as sacred, without questioning their validity. ‘When we ask questions, there are no proper answers, because we are just supposed to accept them without asking questions,’ he persisted.
I was sadly reminded of a prediction made in my presence by someone of great influence in our community, recently. We were all at a funeral service and the good gentleman opined: ‘Soon a lot of the churches in Nevis will close, because the young people not inclined to go!’ It is a reality that we now have a generation of young persons who have never gone to church and are not interested either.
In my days of growing up, going to church was not a debate. We just knew that we had to go to church. If the ‘belly ah hut me’ thing worked for one week, bet your sweet life, it was not going to work for the next Sunday! Those days, we were TAKEN to church, not SENT.
So, in the previous generation, things changed and children were SENT to church, while the parents stayed at home or engaged in other activities.
Those individuals are now fast becoming parents and the modus operandi has changed.
Everyone is now left up to their own thoughts and ideas and live by their own rules.
However, I am from the ‘old school’ and I know for a fact that there is a God in heaven. I know for a fact that Jesus will soon return to judge this world and in order to escape eternal damnation, we must live in accordance with his will. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. Of course, those of us who have accepted Christ as our Saviour have a responsibility to live in a way that truly represents him, because the now generation can easily identify hypocrites and are totally not impressed by them.
Ours is an awesome responsibility, but I am convinced that there is hope. There are still young people who will choose the way to eternal life.
All is not lost.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?