It’s nearly midnight here, and I should be getting in bed so I can enjoy the Sabbath tomorrow. Thankfully I slept in today, so I can stay up for another few hours and be fine. I mean, be mostly fine.
Lately I have been accosted by many troubling situations, mostly by friends who, I found out, no longer consider themselves to be “Christian”. These are people who have, at least to my general knowledge, been reasonably active “Christians”, and people who I never would have suspected to desert “the faith”.
You will notice I put a few choice words in quotation marks, and perhaps you wonder why I did that? I have been thinking, since this happened, about how several of my friends currently attend church, and if pressed would probably say they are “Christian”, but in reality I would not be able to tell. What I mean is, I think a disturbingly large percentage of youth presently attending church have not made a conscious decision to believe the need for God’s saving sacrifice.
Many times I have even become disappointed by the lack of commitment shown in the current “youth” of the church, and I wonder why it is that this could happen.
In a large part, I would place the blame on the previous generation, for not raising their children as they ought. I have spoken against public education before, and the more I study the Bible the more strongly I conclude that public education is a sin. Not just “a bad idea” but a sin, and like murder and theft it has far-reaching results. While this may be a conversation for another time, I would place the blame for the failure of this generation on the failure of the previous generation to actively take part in their child’s education.
But I digress.
When I see all of these people, and don’t know if they are saved or not, it makes me wonder: “Do they know that I am a Christian, or do they just assume?” Must I always say “I am a Christian” when I see people? Certainly I must not be ashamed to say it, but should I say it all the time, just to remind everyone?
These are the things which keep me awake late at night.
That and wondering if I could assemble a Victorian era suit for a reasonable price.