The World Our Children Will Inherit

When my wife and I adopted our son, I experienced the same epiphany that hits most first-time dads. I thought about all the trials and tribulations that I experienced in growing up. I thought about the fads and trends I had seen come and go in the world. I remembered how my parents had worried about how morality had declined in society; how music, movies and television were influencing the next generation. I realized that they were right. Morality had declined and was declining still. Music, movies, television and now the Internet were exerting a profound influence upon the next generation. I wondered what the world would be like, when my son was old enough to be as worried as I was.

Seventeen years later, I was reminded of that epiphany, as I watched the unfolding results of the recent election cycle. I was surprised, as one commentator observed, that in spite of the billions of dollars that had been spent in campaigning, we ended up with essentially the same government we had before the election. But I was not nearly as perturbed about that as I was about some of the other news I heard on election day.

First of all, the voters of the states of Maine and Maryland approved ballot issues that would pave the way for them to join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, as states in which homosexuals may legally be joined together in marriage. What is remarkable about this news is that it was the first time that such a measure had ever been approved by a popular vote of the citizens of any state. States that already had such laws on the books had them because of legislators and judges who enacted them in spite of the will of the majority. The approval of these ballot issues has emboldened homosexual advocacy groups, which are now more resolved than ever to bring their quest to every state in the union.

In the second place, voters in Colorado and Washington approved ballot measures, which pave the way for the legalized regulation of the sale of marijuana for the recreational use of adults over 21 years of age. These laws still have many legal hurdles to clear, but with the federal judiciary becoming more liberal every year, supporters of this movement are confident that a legitimate marijuana industry shall one day “grow” and flourish in the United States. These two bits of election day news are what concern me the most.

It seems that the world my generation is going to leave behind is one in which the sin of homosexuality is going to be granted a special status. The stigma that once was attached to homosexual behavior no longer exists. The same is also true of heterosexuals who commit adultery and fornication. How long will it be, until society no longer frowns upon incest and pedophilia? Many question why Christians are opposed to homosexuals being granted the legal right to marry each other. The answer is that God created marriage and defined it as being a relationship between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:21-24). Jesus affirmed this definition, in Matthew 19:4-6, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Marriage is an institution that is created and defined by God. Even if every state in the union legalizes homosexual marriage, God will never recognize it!

Also, it seems that the world my generation is going to leave behind is one in which dangerous drugs like marijuana will be sold alongside equally dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco. In the ancient world, alcohol was the only such drug that was in widespread use, and the Bible has many negative things to say about it. In Ephesians 5:18, the Scripture warns Christians against allowing themselves to be overcome by the excesses of this dangerous drug. In Romans 6:12 and 1 Corinthians 6:12, Christians are forbidden from allowing themselves to become addicted to sinful behavior, even if it is legal behavior. Even if laws are enacted to regulate the sale of opium and cocaine to the masses, it will never be something that God approves!

The world is a dangerous place for Christians. We are constantly being bombarded by influences, which are designed to tempt us to compromise our faith, in order to slake our lust. My generation grew up in a gauntlet of evil influence and temptation. My son’s generation has had to deal with the proliferation of evil influence and temptation, which have come at him in ways that were unimaginable to me. The expansion of evil influence and temptation that is on the horizon is terrifying to me. But my faith in God comforts me.

I am confident that Christians will be able to meet the challenges that lie ahead. In order to do so, we must strengthen our own personal faith and commitment to serve the cause of Christ. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Furthermore, we must educate the next generation about the dangers that lie ahead of them. “Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We must set a good example and use our influence to persuade others to follow the same path we are following. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Whenever the opportunity arises, we must raise our voices in protest against ungodliness in our society and we must go to the polls and vote in defense of a Biblical worldview.

The situation may seem hopeless, but the future is always full of hope, because it has the potential to be whatever we make of it. Let us apply ourselves to making the future the very best that it has the potential to be. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).