By Robert L. Rodenbush
It’s a simple thought, really. The most advanced jet airplane will sit stranded on the runway if it has a flat tire. At that moment it doesn’t matter what the plane was designed for, what the engine is capable of, what aerodynamic possibilities it holds. The tire must be fixed. The risk of not getting this little thing right is just too great.
At Indiana Bible College we are privileged to work with some of the most outstanding, talented and gifted students anywhere in the world. I know they are called and destined for greatness. They are capable of accomplishing great things for God, and I believe they are the generation upon whom the ends of the world have come. But, I also know that none of their potential really matters if they don’t get the “little” things right.
We are seeing a generation that though raised on a church pew they were educated in a theatre seat. The music, the movies, the social indoctrination in our public school system has made them feel immune to the consequences of sin and unrighteousness. Today, a Christian worldview is completely countercultural. The Judeo-Christian foundation of our nation has crumbled. Not only have we lost ground among non-believers, we have lost ground within the Christian world as well.
No longer do all Christians agree that gay marriage is wrong or that premarital cohabitation is wrong. Not all Christians agree on what worldliness looks like. And somewhere in all this disagreement our Apostolic youth are trying to find their way. They are destined for greatness, designed to soar, called to do great exploits – but will they? Will they commit to getting the “little” and the “not so little” things right? Will they hear that certain sound? Will our message to them truly be a Clarian call?
We watched the more than 20,000 young people at North American Youth Congress 2015 worship together, pray together and commit their lives to the service of God. But as they return home, to tough situations, tough temptations – we must continue to guide them because Satan will not ignore them. He wants to steal the potential, the destiny and greatness from them. The immorality of the day must be dealt with. It is no small thing. Fornication will destroy the lives of our young people. The task before us is great. We can’t just positive-think ourselves through this battle. We must confront the darkness of the age. We cannot allow them to be overthrown in the wilderness!
We must remember I Corinthians 13:3-5 & 8: “And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness… Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.”