Questions & Answers

The Bible does not give specific counsel, one way or another, regarding a Christian's membership and active participation in labor unions, trade unions, or professional guilds as such. Modern trade unions are normally traced historically back to the medieval trade guilds, but these kind of groups existed at the time of the Bible (see, for example, Acts 19:23ff.) yet no commands or prohibitions regarding them are given in Scripture. To join or not to join becomes a matter of Christian freedom to be decided on the basis of love, wisdom, motive, and specific circumstances about a specific group and its purposes.

Religiously, trade unions normally do not require any participation in false worship or a compromise in doctrine and practice as normally defined. Occasionally certain labor organizations (especially local ones) may end up with religious affiliations that spell potential trouble (for example, an assumed membership with the Masonic Lodge may be part of the larger picture). Economically, trade unions (or employers for that matter) need not be guilty of exploitation or loveless oppression, but may end up being guilty of that. Christians need to examine and appraise the guild or union in question and may proceed with an informed and clear conscience.

While the Bible does not identify a particular percentage for first-fruit giving, the priority of "paying God first" is clear and clearly not to be set aside. However, you do not speak of stopping your first-fruit giving but of decreasing the percentage of that giving for a limited time period and for a specific purpose. A fiscal or money management case can be made for this without difficulty. But what potentially hangs in the balance is your conscience. Only you can know that well enough to give the ultimate answer to your question. If you honestly feel this is not the best way to honor your gracious and generous God, do not take this route. Remain alert to rationalizing that does not adequately reflect your new life in Christ.

When dealing with an uncertain or doubting conscience, pastoral counsel is normally not to do what is contemplated. Stay the course. Protect your conscience. Entrust to God your ability to get out from beneath this burden of debt, and know that he is able to give you stamina and cheerfulness despite the fiscal restraint and challenges that will be a part of the next couple of years. The fiscal pain you feel now (alongside the overriding joy in God's grace and forgiveness) can serve as a healthy reminder of the trouble that financial mismanagement brings with it. In the long run you will be richer for having that lesson learned and ingrained in you during this period of discomfort. Small price to pay!

You are asking very important questions and you are expressing a concern shared by fellow Christians everywhere when they work with or seek to bring youths to greater maturity in life and in their faith-life. Keep asking the questions, keep talking with the youths (and their parents) about such things, and make a point of speaking with others who have access to youths and share your concerns. Work together to try to make a difference in the specific youths that you have in mind and have access to.

You ask if they are accountable. The answer is yes. They are accountable to God, to the Christian community, their families, and themselves. Assuming meaningful instruction and assuming they were not allowed to participate in the confirmation ceremony mostly out of mere tradition, they should have a grasp on the basics of law and gospel, should see themselves as justified sinners who are called to lead sanctified lives. And more than that, they should have demonstrated a pattern of worship centered in a public as well as private use of the Word of God over a consistent period of time. At the same time they remain immature in so many ways, surrounded by societal and cultural temptations that  prey upon their emotional and physical immaturity and inexperience, and are sometimes quite self-centered to the point of embarrassment (this is a key trait of immaturity). No wonder David prayed as he did in Psalm 25:7 and no wonder a special admonition of Solomon was directed at youths in Ecclesiastes 12:1. The strong majority of Christian adults need little trouble remembering how shallow, selfish, thoughtless, rebellious, and prone to self-inflicted wounds they were while young. So while youths are and will remain accountable -- and should be held accountable by the church and family -- they also should be receiving our counsel and encouragement and included in our daily intercessions.

You ask how patient we should be with them. It is impossible to answer that question because our patience and firmness need to be linked to specific youths, not youth in general -- and Christian love will be taking note of the distinctive needs and traits of young people. Careful, loving observation coupled with ongoing encouragements, warnings, rebukes, and mature advice will soon be pretty well equipped to note the difference between youthful folly and open rebellion, between a weak faith and a false, hypocritical faith, between sins of weakness and ignorance versus deliberate sins. We will be more patient with the weak, and less patient with the willful rebel. That's applying law and gospel to others as we want it applied to us.

The passage you refer to, namely Proverbs 22:6, may serve us well in all this. The verb translated "train up" refers to more than passing on information or bare instruction. It has the picture of dedicating or setting a firm foundation upon which a lifestyle is constructed, parallel to building and dedicating a physical structure. This will involve modeling and mentoring, ongoing communication with love and patience, and not a mere informing of right and wrong. When youths are reared in that kind of environment, when they see and learn from the previous generation in an adequately functional family, a value system is being passed on. That will normally carry the youth through the difficult years of youthful immaturity and will bear all the more fruit to God's glory as the person matures.

What you are experiencing is by no means unusual; you have lots of company among recent graduates. And I wouldn't be so sure this past year has been such a failure—it sounds like you have been learning about certain kinds of work and potential careers.

Perhaps you can go back to the school you graduated from to see if they offer any help for graduates in your situation. I also recommend that you have a number of frank, thoughtful conversations with your family members and closest friends, as well as your pastor. Allow them to lovingly try to identify for you the kind of gifts and abilities, aptitudes, and attitudes they see in you. They might teach you some things about yourself that you did not know or consider thoroughly enough. Christian bookstores usually have a number of books devoted to this subject on their shelves as well.

When you ask "Where does God want me to be?" you ask a question that is important but not easily answered in a word or two. God providentially governs our lives by opening and closing doors in ways we may not even be aware of. But what he does ask of us is that we dedicate each day to his service and glory, that we resolve to rejoice in his saving love for us in Christ, continue to grow spiritually through the gospel, and renew our desire to love him and our neighbor.

Then let us serve and labor to the best of our ability—even when it is really a chore or less than what we once dreamed about. Faithfulness and dependability never go out of style. What or who we are is top priority; what we do for a living is not top priority. In time, let us trust God to allow us to find a level of contentment if not joy as we live out our lives as his servants and servants of each other.