1 00:00:00,534 --> 00:00:03,061 At times, youthfulness carries with it 2 00:00:03,061 --> 00:00:05,986 a negative stigma. 3 00:00:05,986 --> 00:00:10,510 Mark Twain said, "youth is wasted on the young." 4 00:00:10,510 --> 00:00:13,774 And I believe the reason he said that 5 00:00:13,774 --> 00:00:17,028 is because typically young people 6 00:00:17,028 --> 00:00:20,298 are not humble, but proud. 7 00:00:20,298 --> 00:00:24,683 And so, we sure don't want that 8 00:00:24,683 --> 00:00:26,916 lack of humility. 9 00:00:26,916 --> 00:00:29,640 We don't want as young people 10 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:35,109 to be noisy and self- assertive know-it-all's. 11 00:00:35,109 --> 00:00:39,671 I've seen that before. 12 00:00:39,671 --> 00:00:45,711 On the news I was watching recently, 13 00:00:45,711 --> 00:00:47,169 there were young people - 14 00:00:47,169 --> 00:00:50,637 college age, millenials as they're called - 15 00:00:50,637 --> 00:00:53,385 that were advocating socialism 16 00:00:53,385 --> 00:00:55,675 in the government. 17 00:00:55,675 --> 00:00:58,740 Communism basically - socialism. 18 00:00:58,740 --> 00:01:02,673 They were advocating that. 19 00:01:02,673 --> 00:01:04,346 There were high schoolers 20 00:01:04,346 --> 00:01:10,777 that were also very vocal 21 00:01:10,777 --> 00:01:13,191 in what the school system should do 22 00:01:13,191 --> 00:01:17,147 to fix itself so that it would be safe. 23 00:01:17,147 --> 00:01:18,990 You know, we've had recent shootings 24 00:01:18,990 --> 00:01:20,550 in school systems. 25 00:01:20,550 --> 00:01:27,423 And these kids were being put on news programs. 26 00:01:27,423 --> 00:01:29,251 They were hosting rallies. 27 00:01:29,251 --> 00:01:32,071 They had a voice given to them 28 00:01:32,071 --> 00:01:33,927 and they were very noisy 29 00:01:33,927 --> 00:01:35,352 and very assertive. 30 00:01:35,352 --> 00:01:37,460 "This is what our country should do. 31 00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:39,244 We should go the way of socialism." 32 00:01:39,244 --> 00:01:41,348 Or, "this is the reform that we should make 33 00:01:41,348 --> 00:01:43,489 in our school system 34 00:01:43,489 --> 00:01:46,948 in order to make it safe." 35 00:01:46,948 --> 00:01:49,278 And I couldn't help it, 36 00:01:49,278 --> 00:01:51,146 but I had the thought, you know, 37 00:01:51,146 --> 00:01:53,109 you high schoolers - 38 00:01:53,109 --> 00:01:55,629 how is it you've become an expert 39 00:01:55,629 --> 00:01:57,291 on such a difficult matter 40 00:01:57,291 --> 00:02:01,446 when you've only had your driver's license two months. 41 00:02:01,446 --> 00:02:04,620 I mean, there are great minds at work 42 00:02:04,620 --> 00:02:06,950 trying to figure out what we should 43 00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:09,311 and shouldn't do in these ways, 44 00:02:09,311 --> 00:02:10,744 and here are these kids 45 00:02:10,744 --> 00:02:16,801 that are noisily asserting that this is what we ought to do. 46 00:02:16,801 --> 00:02:21,441 I've seen young people, unmarried, 47 00:02:21,441 --> 00:02:25,146 teenagers, who had assertive, 48 00:02:25,146 --> 00:02:28,653 confident advice for older, married couples - 49 00:02:28,653 --> 00:02:30,332 how they should handle their kids 50 00:02:30,332 --> 00:02:33,146 and their marriages. 51 00:02:33,146 --> 00:02:37,520 I have seen, and these are examples 52 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,033 that I'm aware of - 53 00:02:40,033 --> 00:02:48,241 I've seen teenagers reprove their pastors 54 00:02:48,241 --> 00:02:55,385 with confident, assertive opinions 55 00:02:55,385 --> 00:02:57,219 on how the pastor should handle 56 00:02:57,219 --> 00:02:59,742 their church policies 57 00:02:59,742 --> 00:03:02,340 and the way things should be handled 58 00:03:02,340 --> 00:03:04,164 in the church. 59 00:03:04,164 --> 00:03:08,794 You see, that noisy, confident, assertive viewpoint - 60 00:03:08,794 --> 00:03:11,644 that ought not to be in our young people. 61 00:03:11,644 --> 00:03:15,352 There ought to be an element of humility 62 00:03:15,352 --> 00:03:17,058 because what that causes is 63 00:03:17,058 --> 00:03:18,831 it takes away all their credibility 64 00:03:18,831 --> 00:03:20,701 and it gives people a reason 65 00:03:20,701 --> 00:03:22,104 to look down on them 66 00:03:22,104 --> 00:03:28,602 because of their youthfulness. 67 00:03:28,602 --> 00:03:33,488 Rather than being noisy and self-assertive 68 00:03:33,488 --> 00:03:37,696 we ought to concentrate on this right here 69 00:03:37,696 --> 00:03:40,436 that we find at the very end of that verse: 70 00:03:40,436 --> 00:03:41,810 an example. 71 00:03:41,810 --> 00:03:43,624 Be an example. 72 00:03:43,624 --> 00:03:47,690 A quiet example of a genuine believer. 73 00:03:47,690 --> 00:03:51,068 And I say that such a simple example as that 74 00:03:51,068 --> 00:03:54,693 is often undervalued. 75 00:03:54,693 --> 00:03:56,509 You look at a young person and you say 76 00:03:56,509 --> 00:04:00,915 this is an example of a young believer. 77 00:04:00,915 --> 00:04:02,933 That's good.