I just graduated from high school and started hanging out with my sister’s friends who are the college-age people in our church. Most of them are on our youth staff. They meet together in what they call a Bible study, but we did not touch a Bible once. It seemed like the whole time at least one person was making a dirty joke and everyone else was laughing hysterically at it.<\/p>\n
I know that it is wrong to make this kind of joke, and it is wrong to laugh and encourage it, and I also know it is wrong to sit back when you know something is not right yet do nothing about it. I just didn’t know what to do. After all, I am the young one who no one really listens to. Almost the whole time I felt uncomfortable. My high school friends don’t really joke like that. And aren’t these people supposed to be the leaders in our church? It was so shocking to me to see them act completely opposite of what they do around the students in our youth group.<\/p>\n
Isn’t there a verse in the Bible about a double-minded person? I don’t know … I just really felt disappointed in our youth staff. I expected more from them. I want to say something, but I feel like it wouldn’t change them or stop them. I don’t think they would listen to me. I don’t know… Should I just\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>attend college group? But then it’s like I’m just leaving the problem uncorrected and our church’s youth staff will continue to behave that way! And if a student ever saw how they acted together, that would reflect very badly. Ahhh! I really don’t know what to do! Please help!<\/p>\n\t If you only offered your opinion, you are correct that it would be easily dismissed since you are the youngest in the group. But remember what Paul told Timothy: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:12). Age doesn’t matter when it comes to setting an example of Christian living. Still, something needs to be said, so you point to God instead of your own opinion. “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen<\/em>” (I Peter 4:11). God has the age, experience, and authority to make anyone sit up and take notice.<\/p>\n So when inappropriate jokes are being said, speak up clearly and ask: “Does anyone have a Bible handy?” (Might as well take care of two issues at once.) If you get the clown who says “no,” look surprised and say “You mean you go to a\u00a0Bible<\/em>\u00a0study without a\u00a0Bible<\/em>? That would be like playing a baseball game without a ball!”<\/p>\n After everyone is squirming in their seats, someone will dig out a Bible. You then ask, “I was reminded of a passage, and I wonder if someone would read Ephesians 5:3-7 for all of us?” Hopefully, you will get someone who will become offended and say, “Are you accusing us of dirty talk?” Your response will then be, “You drew that conclusion on your own from hearing God speak. Instead of agreeing with it, you took offense to it.”<\/p>\n Hopefully, you’ll have some soft hearts in the group and things will change. If God’s Word is rejected then you know you are in the wrong place.<\/p>\n\t Thank you so much for this advice! I will indeed try your idea out the next time it happens! So thankful for your response!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I just graduated from high school and started hanging out with my sister’s friends who are the college-age people in our church. Most of them are on our youth staff. They meet together in what they call a Bible study, but we did not touch a Bible once. It seemed like the whole time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[981,707,492,1598,395,309],"class_list":["post-39307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-communication","tag-jokes","tag-profanity","tag-rebukes","tag-teenagers","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whats-wrong-with-todays-youth\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":0},"title":"What’s Wrong with Today’s Youth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Hall All along we hear questions raised as to what has gone wrong with today's youth. Recently, a brother expressed his concern along this line and then asked, \"What advice would you give young parents to help them avoid mistakes that we have made in our generation?\" The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16400,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-reach-out-to-my-atheist-roommate\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":1},"title":"How do I reach out to my atheist roommate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Well, recently I have moved into college as a freshman. Now, the person I'm rooming with is a friend I've had through high school. He calls himself an atheist. Now, I'm not exactly sure if he is a true atheist or not. He doesn't actively protest God and go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38926,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-suffering-from-anxiety-after-coming-off-of-drugs-is-it-a-bad-thing-to-skip-some-things-like-the-youth-group-meetings\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":2},"title":"I’m suffering from anxiety after coming off of drugs. Is it a bad thing to skip some things, like the youth group meetings?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: After prolonged drug use, I have in some ways developed social anxieties, to say the least. I have been sober for almost four months sounds like nothing, but I'm only 18 and I was not sober pretty much every day of high school). The area I live in has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28942,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-tell-if-i-am-right-or-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":3},"title":"How can I tell if I am right or wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How would I be able to judge if what I am doing is right or wrong? There are some things that are not in the Bible, or let us say there are things that the Bible does not fully cover as a topic. A good example can be pornography.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44977,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-biblical-to-have-camps-for-groups-within-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":4},"title":"Is it biblical to have camps for groups within a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I would like to ask about fundraising activities for groups within the church, such as youths' meetings, men's meetings, and ladies' meetings. Would it be proper for the youths to have a car wash where the money would go into the youths' group account and not the church's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-of-good-inductive-study-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":39307,"position":5},"title":"Do you know of good Inductive Study guides?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does anyone know a good Inductive Study Guide for study on how to learn the Scripture? I know there are items out there, but I was trying to locate one that members of the Church of Christ have reviewed and found to be of sound teaching. So many folks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n
Response:<\/h2>\n