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THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE SS
January, 1942
sion of past failure in not really fac ing youth with the very heart of Chris tianity. Would that mote of us in this country might similarly realize the issue! Yes, youth responds to Christ, and never more so than today. They re spond to Christ for the same reason adults do—because they have prob lems they cannot solve without His help. The old, old problem of human ity, whether youth or adult, is the problem of sin, This modern age has done nothing to change it. Oh, to be sure, it has tried to gloss it over and explain it away on psychological and even physiological grounds. But un righteousness remains, and, the Bible tells us, all unrighteousness is sin. Therefore, today, just as much as in the first?- century, there is only one remedy for sin, the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. To teach youth ethics, to instruct them in the good life, to impress upon them a sense of social obligation is not enough. There must be something to implement these ideals, a dynamic to make them go. That dynamic is Jesus Christ — Jesus Christ received into the heart as Saviour from sin, Jesus Christ obeyed in thfe life as Lord and Master. His gospel, and that alone, is still the power of God unto salvation. To that presentation, the presenta tion of the sovereign claims of Christ as Saviour and Lord, the youth today do respond. They respond more read ily than do adults, for, as any student of psychology knows, youth is the time not only of doubt but of faith as well. And let no one, out of an imagined sophistication which is in reality mere shallowness, spurn con version. That great writer, states, man, and true Christian, John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, was eternally right in declaring, not long before his death, that there are before every man two paths, and that conversion in the plain evangelical sense is still the greatest fact in life. Yes, youth is the time of conversion. And it behooves our churches, there fore, to offer to youth 'plainly, coura geously, and lovingly, Christ, the Christ of the New Testament, the Christ who only can take sinners and make them into sons and daughters of God. Christ in the Life of Youth Today And now comes another question. “How may the churches hold their young people?” it is asked. So often, we are told, as yoUth reach high school and college age, they slip away from church and Sunday-school, and become irreligious. Is there a satis factory solution to that problem? In deed there is. It is the same as our other answers. It is Christ, the living Saviour. You see, these questions re solve themselves, as do all others, into
WHAT HAS THE CHURCH TO OFFER YOUTH TODAY? [ Continued, from Page 2] to our American youth this one thing: “We offer you Christ.” - That is i. 11, but it is enough. Total itarianism declares that man belongs to the state. The Christian church says that he belongs to God. Totalitarian ism enslaves youth to the bondage of' some human dictator. The Christian church offers to youth the service of Him who says now^ as He did nine teen hundred years ago, “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Yes, the only real antidote to the dark and sinister philosophies now menacing the world is the heroic call to full surrender to Christ. That, I'believe, is the first and greatest thing the church has to offer youth today. What Will Youth Accept? "But,” some one replies, “will youth accept this offer? You say that Christ is the only antidote to the poisons of our time. But will youth take Him? Is youth really interested in Christ? And, if they are not interested, how can the church capture their alle-. giance to Him?” These are thoughtful q u e s t i o n s . They deserve an answer. And, thank God, there is a positive answer to them. Youth will take Christ. They can be interested in Him. Understand me, please. When I say that, I am not speaking theoretically, but from per sonal experience; I know that youth —boys and young men, *to be specific —are interested, eagerly so, in Christ, because I have witnessed their in terest, even to the extent of their com mittal to Him. But I would make this proviso. Youth today are not interested in any half-hearted presentation of Christ. They admire conviction. They respect courageous belief, but they will not respond to spiritual compromise. And it nfay well be that the trouble with some of our religious efforts among youth is simply that the mistake has been made of watering down the chal lenge of Christ. But a dilute form of Christianity is unpalatable to youth. They have little respect for the timid ity which is afraid of the offense of the cross. There are times when, to adapt a saying of our Lord, the children of this world are wiser in their genera tion than the children of light. Total itarianism offers youth struggle, toil, and sacrifice. And. let us not forget that in the countries where it holds sway its appeal has captured them. Recently there have appeared in the British quarterly, World Dominion, some thoughtful articles by Anglican bishops and educators on the subject of Christian education in England. These articles make the frank admis
W H Y NOT SEND HIM NOW? your boy did not get the best results in the past school year— - . he needs the daily help of wise, sympathetic men teach ers— he needs the companionship of boys from good homes, with Christian standards— Don’t Wait— Send Him Now D on ’t d e la y u n til it is to o late. P erh ap s s e n d i n g : him to S ton y B ro o k n o w w ill save hiih.xa w h ole y ea r in his p re p a ra tio n fo r co lle g e . P erh ap s it w ill ch e ck the fo rm a tion o f bad stu d y habits, hard to b rea k . B y le a rn in g h o w to stu dy, y o u r b o y w ill /be a b le to p rog ress m ore, ra p id ly /th a n ever b efore. S ton y B to o k is a com p a ra tiv e ly sm all sch ool. M asters and fe llo w stu den ts a lik e .m ake a b o y fe e l at hom e and help him a d ju st h im self to S tony B ro o k life . ‘ T he H ea dm a ster w ill g la d ly send you a ca ta log u e or co n fe r w ith you a bou t y ou r b o y ’s ed u ca tion a l p ro b lem s ap d plans. IF IF IF W rite him tod ay . Boys A ccepted fo r The Second Semester tonyßrookJchool E. G a - e b e l e i N , L itt .D., ' Headmaster Stony Bro.ok, Long Island, New York Ptease mention King’s Business one central solution—Jesus Christ. As F. W. H. Myers so finelj* says in his magnificent poem, St. Paul: “Christ is the end as Christ was the beginning, Christ the beginning, for the end 13 Christ.” Let me say it with all possible con viction. Lead a boy or girl, a young man or young woman, to a living faith in Christ, and you have given him everything. The life that has really been touched by Christ is a changed life. That life will take its place in the work of the church and will do its share of service for the Lord who loved it and gave Himself for it. I began with a reference to a vis itor from one of the totalitarian countries and his r e m a r k about the youth of his c o u n t r y . That man has two ,sonS. They are brilliant boys in their ’teens and, because of the vicissitudes of war, boys with a background of travel far beyond their age. For a year they were in school in Oxford. Later they were in Santo Domingo, and last year in a school [Continued on Page 39] F r a n k
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