In Proverbs 22:6, the wise man implores us: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
I am thinking deeply about the crucial role churches play in the lives of students during the holiday. Largely, churches should influence lives of students in matters spiritual formation, character development, talent discovery, career exploration and academic erudition. This can happen in youth and teens services, seminars, camps and conferences.
Foremost, churches should play an integral role in spiritual formation of school-going children. For in 1 Timothy 3:15 (b), Apostle Paul of Tarsus reminded his mentee Timothy that the church is the pillar and ground of truth. Therefore, for children who are Christians, thinking about aegis of Jesus, Christ consciousness, through participation in church programmes: exposes them to pious principles and absolute truth. Again, churches should expose young people to intelligent, interesting and inspirational content. Churches should save the young generation from cults, occults, perdition, perversion, heresies, radicalization and secularism. How? By grounding them on spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, service and altruism.
Likewise, churches should be at the fore-front on matters character development. Evangelist Billy Graham reminded us, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. But when character is lost, all is lost.” Spirituality, morality and character intersect at some focal point. Therefore, churches should focus on character development, which in most cases entices greatness. As put aptly by Ann Frank, “Human greatness does not lie in affluence or influence but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with some basic goodness.”
Actually, character is the sum total of values, beliefs and personality. People depict content of their character through behaviour and actions. Then, people with comely character adhere to some acceptable code of conduct. Through internal value-system, they make informed decisions and focus on pillars of character such as respect, courtesy, diligence, discipline, dignity, integrity and responsibility. Moreover, it is what Martin Luther King (MLK) captured in his phenomenal speech titled I Have a Dream. To meet the might of physical force with soul force, the silver-tongued and spell-binding orator reminded the American dyed-in-the-wool racists, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Indeed, there is need to treasure character more than the greatest gems. For George Washington observed, “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most valuable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” Churches should help young people wage war against vanity, immorality, profanity, perversion, drug abuse, crime and anti-social behaviour.
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Moreover, during the holiday, churches should focus on programmes that help young people to discover talents, gifts and skills inherent in young people. We should not be ignorant about gifts as we read in the Pauline epistles (1 Corinthians 12:1). Furthermore, skills are acquired abilities. Young people need skills such as 21st century skills, employability skills, transferable skills, soft skills, people skills and life skills. In Proverbs 22:29, Solomon sagely says, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before mean men.”
Consequently, in Proverbs 18:16, we read, “A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men”. In 2 Timothy 1:6, Apostle Paul of Tarsus admonished his mentee Timothy, “For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
Finally, churches can also help students explore career choices. Careers are professions and vocations that will enable them to prosper in life. In the distant past, Abraham Lincoln observed, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Churches should encourage young people to evince excellence through love of learning. There should be well-thought-out programmes on academic excellence. By extension, church premises should be places where youth can hear messages that encourage them to remember academic work and focus on peak performance. In Deuteronomy 28:13, we read, “And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.”
By Victor Ochieng’
vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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