Charles Spurgeon was once told that by a visitor to his church, and he replied by saying,
"Come join the church anyway, what's one more hypocrite going to matter!"
The fact is that we all have a tendency towards hypocrisy to one degree or another; it's a part of the Human condition. All of us are tempted and even succumb to the lure of putting on an act so that people will believe better about us than we actually are.
In fact, the very word hypocrite is from the Greek word 'hippocrites' which means 'actor'.
There are many professing Christians today who claim to believe the Bible, adhering intellectually to its doctrines, and seem to follow Jesus - they know all the 'Christianese' phrases and words. And yet upon close examination, their lives are a poor reflection of what the LORD intends for His saints.
I believe the majority of today's youth - as well as generations prior - have been radically turned off by Christianity because they have witnessed, up-close and personal, the dichotomy of conduct from their parents.
In church or among Christians, they behave one way, only to behave another behind closed doors, where it's only their children that can see.
The parents have to large degree abdicated their responsibilities to teach their children the godly life and practise that Jesus demands of His followers, much less the Gospel of salvation. It's very much like the time in Israel, during the period of the judges:
JUDGES 2:10
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
The church's youth of today generally no longer believes in the Scriptures as the sole source of what it means to be a Christian.
They have however sat before teachers and instructors of an entirely different - in fact - antithetical set of dogmas and have been inundated by ideas, philosophies, belief systems and inspirations as found in our public school system - read that, Socialist-Humanist Propaganda Centers.
Consider what Charles Potter once said regarding Public School vs. Sunday School:
“Education is thus a most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism.
"What can theistic Sunday-schools, meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five day program of humanistic teaching?”
Charles Francis Potter “Humanism: A New Religion”
And who was Charles Potter? A humanist, a liberal theologian, and one who seemingly was opposed to our children being taught the truth of God’s Word in Sunday school, but reveled in the consistent inundation of humanism taught in the public school systems.
For more about this consider the TTUF article on 'Global Educrats'
And while it seems that the older generations have plodded along in their tired adherence in doctrine, with every mental assent, but with very little ardent motivation and practise in what they have tried to preach to their children - their children are very much about the practise of their religion of Humanism.
Consider who the biggest supporters of Bernie Sanders, or even Hillary Clinton for that matter, are - University students. I've seen them out regularly on the street corners waving their signs and passionately imploring passersby to "vote for Bernie! He's our only hope!" Yet Bernie Sanders is espousing Socialism pure and simple - and no nation ever prospered that was given over to Socialism! And Socialism has never been an ally or even a casual friend of Christianity.
Compare the older and younger generations and their view of Socialism in this article from The International Business Times:
"A May poll from YouGov showed that overall, 52 percent of Americans viewed capitalism favorably, but only half of that viewed socialism favorably. Among young respondents, that difference shrunk: 39 percent saw capitalism favorably, and 36 percent saw socialism favorably. As respondents' ages increased, so did the gap, with 59 percent of people 65 and over saying they liked capitalism and 15 percent saying they liked socialism.
"Socialism means different things to different generations, said Michelle Diggles, a senior political analyst at liberal think tank Third Way in Washington, D.C. This is due in part to older Americans’ experiences after World War II.
"For older people, socialism is associated with Communism and the Soviet Union and the Cold War," she said. "But the oldest millennials were 8 years old when the Berlin Wall fell. They have never known a world where the Soviet Union exists ... The connotations associated with the word 'socialism' just don't exist with millennials."
"Young people view socialism not as Stalin-ism or totalitarianism, but as a movement that promotes interconnectedness, Diggles said. This is likely a side effect of a digital upbringing where they've learned to share everything on social media."
Secular Humanism is by recognition of the Supreme Court, a religion, which espouses the inherent goodness and potential of Human beings to govern their own lives according to their own ethics and morality, apart from any belief or devotion to Deity.
Words that Humanists speak could rightly be put into the mouths of young church goers and University students that once believed the Bible; from the magazine, The Humanist we have the following:
"Our culture would benefit from a greater recognition of humanism and the role it plays within the nontheistic movement. The American Humanist Association defines humanism as follows:
"Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
"Unpacking that statement a bit, several points become evident, not just about what humanists don’t believe, but what we do believe. Humanists hold progressive views about society and daily living. Humanists don’t believe in gods. Humanists believe that humans are capable of living meaningful, ethical lives. Humanists believe in our human power to change the world for the better. We also believe in our responsibility to use the abilities we have for the betterment of ourselves and our world."
To read the entire article, go here.
And then there is evolution and all that this entails. For a couple of decades it seemed that youth that attended church, were in the majority in their adherence to special creation as by God our Creator. Yet this is no longer the case:
"However, a recent Pew Research Center survey shows that most of the younger generation of Americans accept evolution as a fact, perhaps marking a change in this long-term woeful trend.
"The science of evolution and the theory of natural selection is as accepted a scientific theory as gravity, and no scientist worth their salt would ever reject it. There is a stupendously overwhelming array of evidence in support of it that comes from a vast range of disciplines. Although it has been somewhat added to since it was first revealed to the world in Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" – particularly with the development of genetic science – the principle components of it have remained the same."
From the article Finally, Most Young Americans Now Accept Evolution Over Creationism.
Add to this mixture of miasma, the acceptance of Emergent Church philosophy, which warmly embraces the philosophies mentioned above, and the youth of today may be viewed as an entirely different sort of American than what we older citizens typically recognize. People whose mind-set are not-so-slowly being maneuvered and conditioned to accept a world that will pave the way for anti-Christ and Luciferian worship. A bold statement to be sure, but one made with confidence as the end result of such ideologies will inevitably involve worship of self and having rejected a love for the truth, they will be delivered over to delusion:
2 THESS 2:9-11
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
If there is to be any hope for these younger generations, fervent and relentless prayer must be offered up on their behalf. Admission and confession of hypocrisy in personal conduct, as well as negligence in teaching them "the way" must happen.
Parents and people of prior generation must strip away the facade of religious assent and hypocritical conduct - and "get real" about their faith, practicing what they preach - or not preach at all!
I know too, too many youths today who are completely turned off by Christianity because of their parents, particularly their fathers. And while many have chosen a certain brand of Christian faith that is more palatable, it is hardly the fundamental faith once delivered to the church (JUDE 1:3).
Looking again at the statement made by Charles Potter, I noticed an erroneous assumption on his part:
"What can theistic Sunday-schools, meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five day program of humanistic teaching?”
The error is that it's the responsibility of Sunday School teachers - who teach our children once, or perhaps twice, a week, when in fact, it's the parent's responsibility to teach the children godly principles, lessons of truth, and practical Christian living 24/7.
We need to rise to the challenge and re-educate our youth, within our homes, by re-introducing them to the Bible, and perhaps even the LORD Jesus Christ Himself.
For more on this vitally urgent subject regarding our youth, read the following two articles by The BEREAN CALL:
A GENERATION ADRIFT - PART One
A GENERATION ADRIFT - PART Two
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