How Can We Save Our Youth from the Apostasy which seeks their Eternal Ruin?

"Those who love God should feel deeply interested in the children and youth. To them God can reveal his truth and salvation. Jesus calls the little ones that believe on him the lambs of his flock. He has a special love for and interest in the children ... while Satan is working to keep them away from him." (Review and Herald, December 17, 1889).

In light of this wonderful statement from the servant of the Lord, what can we say about the never-ending exhibitions of defiance against the biblical principles of worship seen in too many conference-initiated youth gatherings that are leading our susceptible young people to eternal ruin? Some believe we should not speak out on such matters as that would be considered negative, critical - maybe even an exercise in futility because we cannot halt the changes in Adventism that are also taking place in the world. But we have been charged, in terms that cannot be ignored except at the peril of souls being lost for eternity.

The year 2023 began with an explosion of incidents in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in which thousands of our young people (joined by older folk whose taste in music also mirrors that of today's society), swayed and gyrated their bodies, danced and tap-toed their feet, clapped and raised their hands, and shouted and shrieked very loudly during specially-organized events endorsed by the leadership of the conferences and divisions around the world in which these ventures were held. The groundwork for this unrestrained phenomenon in Adventism was laid down a few decades ago.

We should prayerfully consider what Pastor Kenneth H. Wood (editor of The Review and Herald/Adventist Review from 1966 to 1982) articulated in the early 1970s:

"We feel, however, that we must sound a note of warning. A trend seems to be developing in some places that not merely obscures but destroys the line that separates the sacred from the profane. This trend prevails not merely in the music itself but in the way it is presented. The situation would be serious enough if only the beat of the music were considered, BUT WHEN THE PLATFORMS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCHES ARE TREATED AS SECULAR STAGES, when singers sway in unison with the music like dances in a chorus line or performers in a night club, the situation becomes alarming. Were the Master to enter His house as He did anciently, it is altogether likely that He would command with authority, 'Take these things hence.'

"Will the Laodicean church, through its lukewarm, self-satisfied attitude, be oblivious to the perils it faces? Will it permit worldly customs, standards, and values to alter gradually and imperceptibly its distinctive nature? WILL THE MUSIC OF THE WORLD BECOME THE MUSIC OF THE CHURCH?

"The answer rests with those charged with leading the church in these solemn times, and with all who 'sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof' (Ezekiel 9:4)." Review and Herald, January 20, 1972.

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