Hope for Our YOUTHS
美佳之窗 His Window 105 （ Jan - Mar 2024 ）
Text by Rev. Matthew
Growing up in an asian culture, generally youths are frowned upon and always given the perception of having to “prove themselves” before they can be accepted and taken seriously. I am sure many young persons would have heard sayings such as, “I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice...” to symbolise the seniority of the elder and the wealth of their experiences. However, this statement also puts down the potential of the youths, and outrightly downplays their importance and contribution to the society. We must admit that the future of generations lies in the generations to come. That being said, it is also not to mean that the older generation will become obsolete. However, with each passing generation what must happen is a passing down of the baton to the next generation, and along with it, pass down hope to the next generation. Let us look to the scriptures to see how scripture exhorts us to pass down hope to the next generation.
i. Overcomers (1 John 2:13)
How often do we inspire our youths with this phrase, “You are overcomers!” To overcome, is defined as the ability to succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty.1 In 1 John 2:13, John writes to encourage the believers and he specifically addresses the “young men” within the congregation, reminding them that they have great hope because they have “overcome the evil one.” John was writing to a group of believers who were quite defeated emotionally. Persecution was at an all-time high, and the church was being pressured to disperse into even smaller groups. Church leaders were arrested, tortured and some killed for their faith. And under such circumstances, the temptation was to desert Christ. But, John encourages the church by saying to them that they have overcome the “evil one.” To overcome the “evil one” is not just overcoming sin, but also includes overcoming the arrows of the devil in the form of doubts, anxiety, fear and apostasy. The word “overcome” is also interestingly in a present tense which denotes that this is not just a one-off thing, but a continuous action of overcoming evil, because they can and they have God with them (c.f. 2:13).
Imagine the boost of hope and morale hearing such a phrase from the apostle John to them, especially among the “young men” (and women) in the church. John was speaking hope to the youth of his time, he was also pointing them towards hope when facing a future that seemed bleak. I think there is so much that we can learn from the apostle John in his approach towards the youth in his congregation. We need to first instil into them the heart and mindset of an overcomer! People often ask, “How is there hope in our youth today?” The fact that they have the youthful energy and strength itself is hope. But, as Christians we must also remember that with God with our youths, they have great hope — the hope to overcome!
We must see hope that our youths will be victorious in the fight against the evil one and that no evil will be able to overtake them. We must believe that they will have the strength to overcome challenges and obstacles through the power, wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit in them. We must believe that through our prayers and encouragement, our youths have great hope of taking the baton of faith from our hands and inspire and lead their generation towards Christ. What is the hope of our youths? The answer: they are overcomers, in Christ!
ii. Strength (1 John 2:14b)
In encouraging the young men in his congregation, John also writes, “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” There seems to be a hint of prophecy in this sentence — not the prophecy of foretelling — but a speaking forth of strength into the lives of the young men in his congregation. Strength is something that comes naturally to young men, but the strength John is speaking of is that of mental, emotional and spiritual fortitude. And this kind of strength can only come from God.
So, if we were to breakdown John’s exhortation and encouragement to the young men in his congregation, it would start with him telling them to abide in God. Hence, we see him saying to them that “the word of God abides in you...” and so you have strength and can overcome evil. Then, John goes on to encourage the young men, giving them hope that they are strong men, with God in them. Their circumstance cannot break their emotional state, if they choose to put their trust in God. Persecution cannot break their spirits, if their faith is rooted in Christ. Hardships will not hinder their relationship with God, if they fix their eyes on Christ. And with this encouragement, John speaks hope into the situation and lives of the young men within his congregation.
Today, we need to remind our youths of this similar message. We need to reinforce the message of hope that in Christ, they are stronger than they can ever imagine. Our youths today must be reminded of the strength that they have to face unknown futures. Our youths of today must be reminded of the strength they have when facing hardships. Our youths of today must be reminded of the strength they have in Christ so that they have hope in the face of challenges to their faith. In doing so, we will not only be raising up youths, but raising up strong, godly young people who are resilient in challenging times.
When John tells the young men that they are strong, he is also informing them that there are some battles in life that they must face and fight on their own. And they will prevail because God is with them, and God will grant them the strength for each battle. Our youths today must be given this same reminder as well. Not all their battles can be fought by others, there will come a time where they need to put on the armour of God and stand against the devil and his schemes. And the sooner youths realise the strength they have in Christ, the lesser they will give into fear. The sooner youths see this truth, a stronger generation will arise from our midst.
Conclusion
In a world that either over-protects or undermines youths, we as Christians must choose to think and respond differently. Youths are God’s gifts for the generations. Without the youths, there will not be a continuation of our legacy of faith. But, how we build up our youths determines the outcome. And we can start by speaking hope and seeing hope in our youths because indeed they are a hopeful generation!