“Study says lots of students narcissistic”—that was the front page headline on my newspaper this week. Remember Narcissus from Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own reflection in the water pond? “Narcissistic” is to be just like him. Which is why the article begins: “Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.” (South Bend Tribune 2-27-07) This is the generation, researchers are observing, that was taught over and over, “You’re special.” These are the first fruits of the self esteem movement of the ‘80s. It is this generation that has invented “MySpace” and “YouTube” as expressions of its attention-seeking, the article goes on.
Coincidentally, I read the news report the day before flying down to Dallas this week for the first of it’s kind North American “Just Claim It!” event, a continental youth congress for prayer and mission. My assignments took me there for less than 24 hours, but I saw thousands of kids, from teenagers to young adults, along with their leaders, gathered together out of a passion for Christ and a desire to seize the moment and accelerate his mission into high gear. In fact, they’re still there this morning in that Dallas convention center.
What a refreshing and compelling contrast between those young adults in Dallas, our young adults here at Andrews, and the focus of this just released national study. While it’s true that young followers of Jesus are susceptible to the beckoning trends of society at large, I’m grateful to recognize that so many Christian Adventist young adults live with an “others centered” drive that overrides the “me first” tendencies of their generation (and ours as well).
After all, Jesus’ radical call short-circuits all our latent narcissism. “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and let her take up her cross and follow Me” (see Mark 8:34). It wasn’t the majority response of the 16,475 college students in this nationwide study. But may it be the majority response of every worshiper, young or old, that comes to follow Jesus today. For how else will this generation be the one to finish the mission of Christ on earth, than by following our self-sacrificing Savior?
Who likes a dirty windshield! One of the joys about a winter in thaw is the ugly brown spray that the car in front of you splatters all over your windscreen (as our British friends like to describe it). We drove out to Kansas this last weekend to spend some time with our daughter Kristin, whose medic husband has just deployed to Iraq. Is there anything worse than following an eighteen-wheeler with its nine right-side tires exploding every muddy snow puddle on the side of the road all over you? Thank God for whoever invented windshield washer spray! But come to think of it, God did, didn’t he? True, it isn’t called “windshield washer fluid.” But notice what Jesus does call it: “I advise you to buy from Me . . . eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (Revelation 3:18 NASB). He doesn’t indicate whether you spray it on like a windshield washer or apply it drop by drop like an eye-dropper. But he’s clear, isn’t he? Spread it over the windshield of your soul so that you can see clearly once again. Wonder what that miracle spray is? Paul is quick with the answer: “I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!” (Ephesians 2:17, 18 Message) Is there anything that can clear the muddied and mucked up windshields of our lives and restore our moral eyesight (“focused and clear”) more thoroughly than Paul’s wise counsel here? “Ask the God of our Master Jesus Christ to make you intelligent [a thoroughly university kind of word] and discerning in knowing him personally.” Want to see the road clearly, as this winter transitions slowly into spring? Then ask God to make you intelligent in knowing Jesus personally. Begin your day with a single story from the Gospels—a portrait a day of Jesus for your meditation. And each morning as you come to know him more personally, more deeply, the promise is that the eyes of your heart will become “focused and clear.” And can you think of a traveler (you and Jesus included) who doesn’t want that for the road ahead?
“Generation Y’s goal? Wealth and fame.” That headline last month in USA Today caught my eye. “Ask young people about their generation’s top life goals and the answer is clear and resounding: They want to be rich and famous” (1-10-07). And then came Newsweek magazine’s cover story last week: “The Girls Gone Wild Effect: Out-of-Control Celebs and Online Sleeze Fuel a New Debate Over Kids and Values” (2-12-07). Turns out our “tweens” are going gaga over the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, whose morality (or the lack thereof) has shamed even the national media. Advance your mind now to this morning’s worship platform filled with our own “tweens” and teens, active members of our Pathfinder Club, the Evergreens. Take a long, hard look at these kids who are “our own”—bright young Seventh-day Adventist Christians. And then would you please ask yourself the question, How high a priority should it be for this congregation to invest its best energies, its most dedicated leaders, its deepest sacrificial giving to ensure that “our own” survive the spiritual blitzkrieg of the enemy? Because the national headlines don’t have to be the truth about our own children and youth, do they? Oh sure, the society that clamors for the young mind and wallet and attention clamors for our kids, too—on all three of our campuses around here. But that hardly means that we resignedly acquiesce to what some might declare the morally inevitable. Because it doesn’t have to be inevitable that our children and tweens and teens follow the pagan Pied Pipers of America today, does it? Can’t we as a faith community work overtime to surround our kids with spiritual walls and moral values of Jesus that will stand them good stead in the battles yet ahead? That’s precisely why I’m so grateful for the men and women who lead our young—in our Pathfinder and Adventurers Clubs, in our Sabbath Schools from nursery to youth, in our church schools at Ruth Murdoch and Andrews Academy. They remain year after year our unsung heroes in this battle for the heart and soul of every generation, be it X or Y or Z! And to them the rest of us owe a genuine debt of gratitude. “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)—if ever there were a divine injunction (and promise) for Creator-worshiping Adventist kids, wouldn’t it be this? And if ever Creator-loving Adventist grownups needed to seize the moment to support their young with all the time and money and volunteering energy we can muster, wouldn’t this be that time? Won’t you help us help them?