I think the greatest crisis the young face today is the loss of hope. Consider the world many young people grow up in. Because divorce is rampant, more and more children grow up in single-parent homes. Because of peer pressure and lacking parental guidance, too many children and teens experiment with sex and drugs and engage in other risky behaviors. And they do it an earlier age than the previous generation. And because of the moral and spiritual vacuum of our culture, many young people have no clear moral values to guide them in making wise choices. If they follow the crowd, they are likely to get into trouble. And too often the leaders our young people look to have themselves made poor choices.

Young people are seeking a cause worth living for. They want something or someone they can trust. They are looking for lasting hope. I believe the only real answer lies in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we will never win this generation simply by preaching to them. They want to see the gospel lived out. They want to know that we live up to our ideals. They want to know that the gospel makes a difference in the real world.

So what can we do? Live out the truth. Invest in the lives of children and teens. Show them the reality of Christ. Pray for them. And challenge them to join us in becoming Christ-followers every day.