Do Not Say I am Only a Youth – Jeremiah 1:1-10
My dear youthful friends, welcome to the post-Christian world. Committed followers of Christ are now out of style. Oh sure, if you hedge on the truth and preach a light-positive "Jesus loves you" message you will be seen as a "nice kid" (irrelevant, but nice). However, if you stand up for God's laws, you are going to be fought at every turn. You see, we live in a time when people call up "down" and call down "up". We live in a time when homosexual marriage is seen as an acceptable alternative to God's plan (Gen. 1:27, 2:24, Romans 1:26, 27) and shedding innocent blood is seen as a personal choice instead of a sin (Prov. 6:17).
You also live in a time when people are calling us to send a positive message, but how are we to give this generation a positive message when they reject God, scoff at his Son, persecute his people, and refuse to live by his decrees. This generation needs a negative message of warning, before we can deliver a positive message of redemption. We, the church, (young and old) are required to deliver that message.
It is very likely that if you stand up for God and for his Word, you will be laughed at and resisted by your peers and by worldly authorities. How is a youth supposed to deal with that? I have heard that some local Christian students were opposed by some authorities last year when they tried to hand out Silver Ring Thing flyers at school. This is a violation of your civil rights, but some of those in power will get away with silencing you if they can because you represent God and God is a threat to their claim to ultimate moral authority over their lives.
Now, standing up for God is no easy task. It intimidates me and I am 43 years-old. No doubt it scares many of you, but I am writing this to let you know that you are not alone.
Jeremiah, the prophet was in a situation similar to yours and he was a youth. He was a follower of God in a time when the people were doing their own thing and had chosen to reject God. Jeremiah was called to preach a negative message before he could deliver a positive message. He had to let the people know that they had broken God's law before he could tell them that they could return to God by turning (repenting) from their sin.
However, Jeremiah replied"Alas Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth." (v.6) He was probably about 20 years-old, which is a little older than you, but still young.
Then the Lord told him, "Do not say I am a youth" (v. 7). Please notice that is a command, not a suggestion. God proceeded to give him several reasons why Jeremiah should not say this.
Number one: "Because everywhere I send you, you shall go," In other words, Jeremiah had an order (a mandate) from God to go. He could know confidently that God had sent him. We have a similar mandate (Matt. y28:18-20, Acts 1:8). So, tell them, "God sent me". They might think you are crazy, and you might get checked out by the counselor, but you can give her the message too.
Number two: "And all that I command you, you shall speak." Jeremiah had God's words to speak to the people. We have more than Jeremiah had. We have the complete propositional revelation of God (the Bible). That gives you AUTHORITY to speak truth, not opinion.
When asked for advice, most people give their opinion of the truth. Nathan, the prophet even made that mistake when he affirmed David's desire to build the temple (2 Sam. 7), but he was speaking his own opinion. Then God gave Nathan a message for David that contradicted the prophet's personal advice. We should never make that mistake, even when we think we know it all. We cannot give our own opinion. We need to be people who know and proclaim the Word of God (scripture) with authority.
Number three, "Do not be afraid of them , For I am with you to deliver you declares the Lord." What can they do to us if God is on our side? Can they take away our relationship with God? No. In fact, persecution throughout the Bible and history has strengthened the faith of many believers (see James 1:2). Just because you are a youth doesn't mean you can't deliver truth to those in power. Fear not, he is with you.
In addition to those reasons, God mentioned something else in the preceding passage: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Now, we are not prophets like Isaiah was, but we a mandate to take the commands and the good news of Christ to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8). So, God knew that you would choose him and he prepared a special mission just for you that fits perfectly into his plan. You just have to figure out what that mission is.
Now, youth, before you go out there and blow people away with your new found mandate, please remember that those you speak to are people. Jesus had great compassion on people (Matt. 9:36). Everything we say needs to be motivated by a love for them. We have to see who they really are. The bully is just a little guy in a big guy's body. The class clown could be covering up hurt, and the emo-girl might be keeping people at a distance to avoid the pain of rejection.
So get out there and help them to see how we have all fallen short of God's standard (Rom. 3:23, James 3:2). We can show them that they are puppets of the world system (Rom. 6:6, 2 Pet. 2:18). We then can call them to repent and to be forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and to live a new Holy Spirit empowered life through the resurrection of Christ. (Rom. 6:1-14)
