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When researchers ask young adults why so many of them are choosing to stay away from church, they say they cannot trust the church—that church people say one thing and do another. Of course, not all young adults feel this way, but enough do to get our attention. And as a matter of fact, this attitude is much less widespread among African American young adults—partly because the church for them is a haven from an often–hostile outside world, and partly because the Black church tends to stand up for social justice. Still, when young adults fail to appreciate the legacy of their parents and adopt the attitude of living free from all religious influence, that attitude cannot help but end in disaster. The African bishop St. Augustine said, “Thou has made us for thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until we find rest in thee.” We see in Judges Chapter 8 that after Gideon delivered his people from the Midianites, they served God only until he died. Then, they went back to idolatry and once again were oppressed by their enemies. People who try to live apart from God eventually learn that life is meaningless away from God who created us.
