Truth from Youth

This past week Swedish 16 year-old Greta Thunberg addressed the UN Climate Action Summit. Thunberg has come to international prominence in the last year or so as an activist for staging school strikes for climate action. Because of her influence, students protest for climate action all over the world. She is also known for speaking passionately, boldly, and rather bluntly. Addressing world leaders in New York this week, Thunberg said, “I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”

As you might expect, her words have ruffled quite a few feathers. Many critics have reacted with personal attacks on her age, her appearance, her motives, and even her mental health. But when the wealthy and powerful speak so strongly against a young, influential activist, their words say more about themselves than about the object of their attacks. We saw a similar reaction to the Parkland students last year who organized the March for Our Lives.

We do well to pay attention to the young voices among us. To be sure, their knowledge and experience may be incomplete, but isn’t that true of all of us? Is it wise to discredit the wisdom of the young on account of their youth?

The Apostle Paul offered the following advice to his young companion, Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). It’s good advice for the young voices among us, but it’s also a strong warning for the rest of us!

Blessings,

Pastor Paul Cook