Dear Editor,
I was asked by an elderly lady why I thought it was so hard to get younger people into the church today.
My answer to her had many layers and I’d like to share some of them with you.
The first reason it is so hard has to do with the church’s belief that everything we see and even the things we don’t see were created by a mighty and holy God.
We live in a society where most have been taught that everything evolved from nothing to what we see before us today. To understand God as the Creator places us under His authority instead of mankind being the highest member on the chain of evolution.
The next reason has to do with all men coming from the one, first man, Adam. Once again this is totally opposed to what the world teaches.
The next reason has to do with sin. Sin is a condition by which man must be healed, delivered, saved and transformed. Every human from the race of Adam was born with this condition known as sin.
Most people don’t believe in the actions of sin, which is disobedience against God. So to get them to understand that they actually have a fatal disease called sin that is killing them and the only way to be healed of it is by a miracle of God, is quite difficult in a world that believes you can teach people to be good. It’s like treating the symptoms of cancer and never trying to remove or kill the cancer itself. It would be a waste of time.
The next has to do with salvation. If this realm was not created, if we didn’t all originate with the first man Adam, if we are not subject to a high and holy God, if sin is against a God that doesn’t exist, if I am basically good and can be taught to be better, why would I need salvation or a Savior which is what the church has to offer?
The church stands as a place to acknowledge, honor, praise, worship and thank our Lord and God. It is where those who have been saved by and through God’s Son Jesus Christ come to thank and remember Him while being built up and encouraged in their ever growing faith in Him.
The church claims to offer the world the truth when most people follow the idea that truth is relative and ever evolving to meet the desires of man.
I hope you can see, as this lady came to understand, that the church offers something that is quite different from that of the world. For someone who has been raised in the world and does not believe in the teachings of the church, which are the majority of people under forty, or those that are not interested in the things of God, the church has nothing to offer them.
But for those who are truly seeking and searching for the answers to this world’s condition, the church stands as the beacon of truth. If you would like to know more about this truth, I’d suggest seeking out to find a church that will teach you the Word that came from our high and holy Creator God.
Pastor Thomas R. Swain
Great Bend