We all have limited time and resources to accomplish the will of God for us. This is especially true of preparing young people in our assemblies. From their early teens, when they should become active participants in assembly life, until many of them move elsewhere for education or employment, it is a few short years. Do we have a plan to establish them in the faith? I don’t mean that it must be formally laid out as a college degree might be. But do we at least have an idea as to general areas where we should be preparing them for the future?
In a recent article in Precious Seed magazine, I wrote the following (excerpted):
“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth” (Ps. 127:4). Every arrow, like every life, has a point. But the arrow must be prepared, then hidden for a time in the quiver. At the right moment it is selected, aimed, and released, speeding its way to the target.
We surely must think about the target. What are the spiritual skills we would like young disciples to acquire and how will we teach them these things? Here are a few suggestions.
1. To be servants. Most churches in Christendom have paid servants or ministers, and are designed for people who want to be served. But the original design was that everyone was to be a minister. The Lord wants to maximize the sacrifice in order to maximize the blessing. Teaching our young people by example how to be servants is one of the greatest thing we do for them.
2. To be stewards. Every young believer must learn how to handle the Lord’s possessions. Their bodies are not their own, but temples of God’s Spirit. Their material possessions are borrowed and will have to be accounted for: “As having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10). Their time is also a sacred trust.
3. To be witnesses. The pictures of evangelism—farming, fishing, and fighting—are high risk endeavors. We need to teach young believers the essentials of the gospel, the critical role of prayer and the Spirit’s guidance, and the skills necessary to win souls for Christ. The New Testament does not treat evangelism as a hobby, nor should we.
4. To be students. Diligence in studying the Word should be taught, not learned hit-or-miss. Teaching a young believer to rightly divide the Word is of lifelong benefit to himself and to others, protecting from error, preserving from sin, and equipping for service.
5. To be warriors. This is vital in a day when many believers are falling in battle. One must learn how to put on the armor, to wield the Spirit’s sword, and do battle on our knees in prayer.
6. To be fruit-bearers. This will involve time alone with the Lord, being wholehearted in our obedience to Him, and allowing the heavenly Gardener to prune us all that we might bear “much fruit” and that our fruit “might remain.”
This issue focuses on learning to be worshippers. Subsequent issues, Lord willing, will look at other important courses of study needed to equip young saints so they are “thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:17).