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Who are your sons and your daughters? Who are they? Yes, they are the people in your home, but who else are your sons and your daughters?

As we review some of the statistics of what's going on in teenage America, think about whose sons and daughters these are. According to the estimates from the U.S. Department of Health, every 26 seconds another adolescent becomes pregnant. That's an average of 2,880 a day!

According to the television statistics from TVFree America, the average youth sees 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders of television by age 18. Of the children born to married parents, nearly half are expected to experience divorce by the age of eighteen (Larry Bumpass, "Children and Martial Disruption: A Replication and Update," Demography 21 (1984): pp. 71-82).

Compared to children in intact families, children whose parents have divorced are much more likely to drop out of school, to engage in premarital sex, and become pregnant outside of marriage. According to the Children's Defense Fund, 2,190 children commit suicide and 5,110 children are killed by firearms every year.

So, I present to you, your sons and your daughters of America. These are the ones we brought into the world. These are the ones society has been shaping and influencing over the years. The abuses, confusion, and bad influences are a product of the society we helped to form.

How easy it would be to think that our sons and our daughters are only the ones in our own homes. But they're not. We cannot shrug our shoulders or ignore the statistics. The fact is, it's our very peers, our adult society, who have helped to create the opportunity to make these kind of statistics and demographics possible.

These are our children, our sons and daughters of America, and they're hurting. They need someone to wrap their arms around them, take responsibility, and heal their pain.

Who Will Be the Samaritan?
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead" (Luke 10:30 NIV).

As in the parable of the Good Samaritan, this generation has been beaten, robbed, left by the roadside, bleeding, hurting, and destitute. They've been raped, exploited, and deceived by the music industry, Hollywood, and MTV. The number of broken homes in America today is astounding and we forget who pays the price - the children.

Whether a divorce happens when they're a child or a teenager, they live with the scars and the gaping, wounded emotions like the ones the priests and Levites left behind on that road to Jericho.

Too many of us have walked by looking at this generation in the ditch, bleeding and wounded, thinking, "What a shame it is. It's too bad so many kids are hurting, on drugs, or come from broken families." We walk by in amazement and disgust that people could do that to their own children, but what are we doing about it?

How can drug dealers walk up to our children and offer them drugs? How can whole industries target young people to exploit them, take their money, and weaken their morals at the same time? As we go to and from our jobs, our churches, and our activities, keep in mind the fact that we have their solution.
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.
(Luke 10:31-34 NIV)
Finally, a Samaritan, who's not even supposed to speak to Jews, stops to reach out to touch and bandage the wounds of a complete stranger. It wasn't his son, his daughter, his aunt, or his uncle; it wasn't even his own race.

The Samaritan wasn't even supposed to speak to him, yet he's the one who reached out and did something. He didn't walk by and say, "It's not my responsibility," or "Isn't that too bad?" He decided to do something about it.

Many adults have the opinion that they can't do much of anything to really help. They think, "I'm not a youth pastor, I'm not a youth expert, I don't know how to preach, and I'm not a Billy Graham." Well, can you put a bandage on a cut? Can you tend to a gaping wound?

The Samaritan wasn't a brain surgeon, he was just someone who could put a bandage on. Can you love, can you care, and can you give? This generation doesn't need a bunch of experts who know how to preach to them as much as they need someone who knows how to heal their gaping wounds.

My brother was recently behind a car with two teenagers in it at a stop sign. They proceeded to go through the stop sign after they had stopped, and on the way through, a truck coming from the opposite direction hit the car and the car was almost instantly engulfed in flames.

Not even thinking, my brother jumped out of his car, ran over to the flaming car, pried open one of the doors, and pulled one of the girls out of the car before the whole car exploded. He saved a fourteen-year-old girl's life. The next day he was on the front page of the newspaper. He had become the local hero.

In talking to him about this incident, I asked, "What were you thinking?" He told me, "I did what anyone else would have done. You just do what needs to be done when there's an emergency. You don't even have time to think - you just reach in and rescue someone."

That's exactly the situation America has today. A whole generation is engulfed in flames and someone has got to reach out and pull them from the burning car. Isn't it time we take responsibility and do what needs to be done?

Taking Responsibility
"They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire" (Neh. 1:3 NIV).

The story of Nehemiah is a story of God's desire to rebuild Jerusalem and all of Israel. Nehemiah doesn't start by saying, "This is not my problem." His heart is to rebuild the nation and he knows what needs to happen. He begins with a prayer of repentance.
Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you.
(Neh. 1:6 NIV)
Nehemiah wasn't involved in any of the idol worship or in any of the rebellion, yet in his prayer, he took responsibility for the sins of the nation. It's time for us as the mothers, the fathers, the leaders, and the adults in the Christian world to take responsibility for the sins of the nation.

It's time for us to go to God and ask Him to forgive us for not caring about these young people and not being involved in their lives. It's time for us to quit blaming MTV, the breakup of the family, and all the things the government has done to portray bad morals, and realize that this is still our nation.

These are our sons and our daughters. Our prayer should be this: "Lord, we desperately want to see restoration happen in our nation and we ask You to forgive us. From this day forward, we're taking responsibility for this generation."

Copyright © Teen Mania Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Ron Luce
Web site: Ron Luce
 
Ron Luce was the co-founder and president of Teen Mania Ministries from 1986-2015. Ron and his wife Katie dreamed to raise young people who would change the world.
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