Christian community! With the evolution of society and the arrival of new technologies, we see a lot of dangers that threaten young people: screen addiction, alcohol abuse become common, widespread use of drugs, widespread pornography , etc. We must be clear that of all these fears for youth, some evils are stereotyped and others are real, that's why real problem is elsewhere, and we have to be aware of it.
Without knowing the problem, we can not offer a solution, or we will give one that is inadequate. It is not enough for a doctor to know that your patient has pain, you must also find the reason for your pain to prescribe the appropriate treatment.
If, for example, we believe that pornography is the greatest danger for young people today, and its main problem, we are going to do a lot of things that will only solve the surface of the problem. We will limit the screens, we will eliminate access to the Internet, we will impose a stricter morality and a more respectable code of conduct. These are good things, but they will not change the heart until now, where the sexual desire comes from. And if the heart is not changed, the root of the problem remains there, even if the symptoms have disappeared for a time.
The greatest danger for the youth of today is their heart.
We know these words of Jesus in Mark 7:
That is what comes out of the man who leaves him impure. In fact, it is from the inside, it is from the hearts of men that bad thoughts, adulterers, sexual immorality, murders, thefts, thirst for possessions, mischief, fraud, debauchery, envious glances, slander , pride, madness. All these bad things come from within and leave man unclean. (Mark 7.20-23)
The problem of humanity as a whole, and therefore also of young people, concerns the heart. As a friend often says, "the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart." "The real problem is sin in the heart of man."
We must be aware of this to provide the right solution. Having this belief implies many things in practice.
Let's aim at the heart, not at the moralistic changes.
By being born into a Christian family, I can testify that it is easy to have a respectable "Christian" behavior without having a changed heart. We have been immersed in a Christian culture, we know what a Christian does or does not do. It is easy to imitate. Do not encourage this, but aspire to a transformation of the heart. Let us not only look for our young people to have good behavior on the surface, but above all, let their hearts be touched by the Gospel.
It is easy to think that our young people do not need to hear the Gospel again because they know it by heart, as they have grown up in the Church for the most part. Given this, we "take" the gospel in our teachings. The Gospel is not present explicitly, but implicitly. We assume that young people already know the Gospel and we do not put this Gospel at the center of our teachings. However, it is through the preaching of the Gospel that the Spirit enjoys working to transform hearts, the needs of young people.
There is no real growth in the Christian life without the Gospel as a driving force. With regard to the struggle against sin, the growth in grace and all the other elements of the Christian way, everything is in Christ. We have everything completely in him (see Colossians 2:10) and it would be foolish to look for things outside of Jesus. Let's show our young people, week after week, a portrait of the greatness of Jesus. Let's preach Christ, and the crucified Christ (1 Corinthians 2: 2), without being afraid to dwell too much on this point. Whether our youth are Christians today or not, they need the gospel.
Let us be aware, dear friends, of the greatest danger to young people. This will lead us to respond with the correct solution, the one that works, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruits will be eternal.