Were They Sincere?
Bill E. Smith
Okla City, OK
7/1/98
Were They Sincere?
After a service in which I had baptized two preteen girls, an elderly sister remarked to me, “I think those girls were too young to obey the gospel. They didn’t know what they were doing. Did you see them giggle as they were waiting to be baptized?”
Of course I don’t know if these young ladies pleased God or not. I don’t know if the elderly that I baptize know enough, I just try my best to see that they know. But what this sister I quoted did not remember is that all preteen girls giggle! They giggle when they are happy; when they are embarrassed; when they are confused; or when they are disappointed. Their giggling is the way they express all of their emotions until they learn to refine their expressions a little more.
On the other hand, I have heard teenage Christians criticize the older people in the church who “just go through the motions” of worship, and who are not sincere, nor affected by the worship service. They show no emotions, they feel nothing.
Again, I’m sure this is true of some older Christians, but I cannot read the hearts of other people. However, the young will learn that as you grow older you may develop the tendency to reserve your emotional expression for God to the privacy of your own personal worship at home.
We must be careful in judging the love of another. When teens fall in love they can’t keep their eyes, nor their hands, off each other. They marry and live together fifty years. Their love will be even stronger, but their demonstration of that love will be quite different. These mature couples often look at the teen’s love as “puppy love”, not realizing that these teenagers are hoping that their love will never deteriorate into a cold, emotionless, relationship like their elders has! Each group needs more tolerance in judging the other’s quality of love.
We also need more tolerance in our judgment of the quality of love that others profess for God. At times we all yearn for the passion and excitement that we felt when we first fell in love with Jesus. And many abandon Jesus when their “puppy love” runs its course. But those who stick with Him, experiencing the sacrifices and accomplishments that this relationship demands, build a strong love, founded on mutual faith.
—Bill E. Smith
Oklahoma City, OK
