Good Morning Church, Especially Young Men:
Proverbs 20:29 – The glory of young men is their strength. What should young men do with their energy and strength? I offer three priorities:
Focus on your career. God has sent you on earth to move things forward (Genesis 2). Get education, degrees, certifications – whatever will increase your capabilities and make you more valuable…desirable… to the working world. Get more skills. I’ll say that again: Get more skills. Be ok with occasionally burning the midnight oil. Seek out mentors – successful men, especially in your field – who will provide advice and hopefully throw a few opportunities your way. Through intentional conversations, reading, mentors, your own keen observation, work at understanding the opportunities that are rising on the horizon… and come to grips with those on the wane. Choose a field where you will make good money – enough to support a family – and that’ll challenge you. And, hey, it’d also be good to not hate it.
To focus on your career, what might have to be relegated to lower priority? Gaming. Organized sports. Hanging out with the boys. Even culling a few Bible studies might be in order.
Focus on being a good churchman. This is the appropriate response to the mercies of God (Romans 12:1,2). Except for 3-6 weeks when you’re traveling/vacationing, every Sunday show up to your local church ten minutes early for every gathering. Think of Sunday as set apart for worship alongside the church. Speaking of Sundays, dress the day up with at least one extra-ordinary meal, a little more fashion than what you’re used to, extra time in the Word. Make worship beautiful again (MWBA). Keep up with your fellow churchman – not just those in your demographic but also the old ladies, odd ducks, elementary students. Know all their names and know approximately what’s happening in their lives. Have structures in place to pray for them and to occasionally meet them outside the church building for conversation and bonhomie. Give a hefty percentage of your income (10% is an easy argument) to Kingdom work through your local church. Keep your elders informed on significant happenings in your life and in your soul. Although you don’t do this just for your church, your church needs you – on your own – to be cultivating attentiveness to God. Or, to say that simpler: become a better Bible reader for the sake of the health of the Body.
To focus on being a good churchman what might have to be relegated to lower priority? Generally, the habit of thinking of the weekend as ‘your time.’ Also, a hyper- individualistic mindset – where you’re thinking of the good only in terms of ‘what’s good for me.’ You’ll also need to walk away from the immaturity of throwing a few bills into the plate rather than a thoughtful and principled giving.
Focus on self-control. This is the one quality that young men are apostolically instructed to focus on (Titus 2:6). When it comes to self-control, focus on the Six “S”es. Learn how to speak articulately and say things that are helpful. Don’t be known as silly or cynical. Especially not as a complainer. Since the modern world (for the time being, at least) affords a lot of spare time, think through how to improve moments instead of letting them idly pass by. In this connection, NOW IS THE TIME to get a handle on handling screens. Get yourself in good physical shape. Lift weights. Have a policy on desserts. But then don’t fall into the modern trap of being immoderate about everything, including exercise. Be self-controlled in your self-control. Develop a philosophy about spending money – what are true investments, what is frivolous, how much frivolity is ok etc. Talk with mentors about this. Get your sleep under control, which will probably involve not employing the snooze button but waking up when you planned. Get your *&!*_*&^%* phone out of your bedroom. But don’t look down on sleep; push yourself in all kinds of ways but then do get good sleep.
Finally, and big time, practice self-control with sex. Say a big NO to pornography and masturbation. Be alert to when and why you’re especially tempted. Don’t have sex with your girlfriend….rather let your desires for each other – and HALLELUJAH for them! – be a healthy push toward matrimony. If you want to have sex with her but couldn’t imagine ever marrying her, break up and take a cold shower!
To focus on self-control, what might have to be relegated to lower priority? Well, a lot is obvious. But I’ll spell out that you should learn to reject the life that is built around or aiming at ease and pleasure. Ease and pleasure do have their place, but the prevailing condition of the virtuous Christian life – the whole thing until you grab your chest and topple over – is that of DISCIPLINE, even RIGOR.
Love,
your Pastor
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