remaja didunia kepura-puraan

Dunia remaja adalah dunia yang unik nan keberadaannya senantiasa menjadi bahan perbincangan umum. Dalam rentang kehidupan, masa kinilah yang paling mencrang. Karena sekarang mereka hidup di tengah perkembangan fisik dan psikis yang sangat cepat. Rona kehidupan mereka laksana kota metropolis yang penuh warna-warni.

Akan tetapi perlu kita sadari bahwa remaja adalah sosok yang labil, mudah terombang-ambing. Fisik mereka memang kelihatan dewasa, namun bila ditinjau dari segi psikis, mereka belum dewasa, belum mampu bertanggung jawab. Kita bisa saksikan sendiri, bagaimana kecenderungan mereka terhadap berbagai hal yang terus berubah. Mulai dari mode pakaian, rambut hingga sepatu. Kalau kita tanya alasan mereka mengikuti tren tertentu, jawabannya sangat instan. Asal-asalan dan tidak bertanggung jawab. Kebanyakan hanya menjawab demi gengsi saja, ikut-ikutan temen, ingin disebut modern, gaul dan lain-lain, nyaris tidak ada satupun jawaban yang bermuara pada asas manfaat.



Pola pikir instan seperti inilah yang dibentuk oleh media global. Mereka terus menerus diberi mimpi, harus beginilah harus begitulah, harus ini-itu, dsb. Segala produk dicoba dengan harapan mimpinya tercapai yaitu ingin tampak seperti artis pujaannya. Padahal, kalau mau jujur, mereka hanya pura-pura memberikan tips-tips kesempurnaan tubuh, yang hakikatnya adalah bisnis semata dan didasarkan atas UUD.

Alhasil, remaja modern kini tengah berada di dunia kepura-puraan. Ironisnya, mereka percaya pada kepura-puraan itu. Saban hari mereka disuguhi 99% tontonan tipi yang berisi kepura-puraan bahkan kebohongan dan gosip yang justru membodohi bukannya mendidik. Acara-acara tipi seperti film-film berlabel VHS, sinetron-sinetron atau gosiptainment yang mereka pergoki tiap hari menyuguhkan berbagai kepura-puraan yang sangat ironi. Mereka semuanya menawarkan gaya hidup glamour, mewah dan pergaulan bebas sebebas-bebasnya. Sebuah idiologi tandingan ditengah masyarakat yang mayoritas agamis. Ironisnya lagi, tayangan tersebut laku keras di pasaran alias paling disukai penonton dan bintang utamanya pun tak ayal dijadikan panutan sekalipun tanpa alasan yang jelas. Begitu pula iklan-iklan yang menawarkan penyembuhan tuntas dan gaya hidup ‘wah’ dengan klip yang bebas moral, juga sarat kepura-puraan.

The Good Angels

The book of Hebrews calls angels "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Heb. 1:14). Angels minister in many ways to us, and I'd like to look at some of their ministries with examples from the scriptures as well as some modern anecdotes.
Provision

The Lord uses His angels to physically provide for His own. It was an angel who brought Elijah bread and water while fleeing from Jezebel after his victory on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 19:5-6).
In 1944, the penniless wife of a pastor and evangelist in Switzerland, Susie Ware prayed, "God, I need five pounds of potatoes, two pounds of pastry flour, apples, pears, a cauliflower, carrots, veal cutlets for Saturday, and beef for Sunday." A few hours later, someone knocked on the door, and there was a young man carrying a basket, who said, "Mrs. Ware, I am bringing what you asked for." It was precisely what she'd prayed for--down to the exact brand of pastry flour she wanted. The young man slipped away, and even though Rev. and Mrs. Ware watched at the window to their building, the man never exited. He just disappeared.{1}
Guidance

Sometimes, angels give guidance so God's people will know what He wants us to do. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take Mary as his wife and to name her baby Jesus. (Matthew 1:20-21)
And it was an angel who told Philip where to go in his travels so that he could meet the Ethiopian eunuch and lead him to Christ. (Acts 8:26)
My friend Lee experienced the comfort of guidance from an angel when the other men in his army unit were pressuring him to visit a red-light district. As he prayed for strength, an invisible messenger came to him and said, quite audibly from about 10 feet away, "Have no fear of them. Do not succumb. I will sustain you and deliver you."
Encouragement

Angelic ministry to us can include powerful encouragement. When Paul and his shipmates were caught in a horrible storm and faced shipwreck, an angel appeared to him, assured him that not a life would be lost, and that he would live to stand trial before Caesar. (Acts 27:23)
One mother of a young girl told me that the night after her daughter's cancer surgery, a very tall nurse with long braids, a real Amazon, ministered to her all night long. She was caring for the girl with a strong but gentle tenderness, and talking with the mom about how good God is. After they went home, the mother decided to write a thank-you note to the nurse, and called the hospital to ask for her name. Everyone--even the head of nursing--insisted that there was no nurse with that description working at the hospital. She believes God sent an angel to encourage her through that dark night.
Protection

This world is a dangerous place, and angels can provide supernatural protection. Daniel 6 tells the story of how an angel shut the mouths of the lions when he was thrown into their den.
A young lady named Myra worked in the inner-city ministry of Teen Challenge in Philadelphia. One neighborhood gang liked to terrorize anyone who tried to enter the Teen Challenge building, and they harassed Myra as well. One night, when she was alone in the building with the gang banging on the door, she felt she should continue to try to reach out to them with the gospel of Jesus. As she opened the door, she breathed a prayer for protection. The boys suddenly stopped their shouting, looked at each other, turned and left quietly. Myra had no idea why.
Later on, as the staff people were able to build relationships with the gang members, the ministry director asked them why they dropped their threats against Myra and left her alone that night. One young man spoke up, saying, "We wouldn't dare touch her after her boyfriend showed up. That dude had to be seven feet tall." The director said, "I didn't know Myra had a boyfriend. But at any rate, she was here alone that night." Another gang member insisted, "No, we saw him. He was right behind her, big as life in his classy white suit."{2}
Another young woman walking home from work in Brooklyn had to go past a young man loitering against a building. She was fearful; there had been muggings in the area recently, and she prayed for protection. She had to go right by him, and although she could feel him watching her, he didn't move. A short time after she reached home, she heard sirens and saw police lights. The next day her neighbor told her someone had been raped, in the same place and just after she had passed by the young man.
She wondered if the man she'd passed was the rapist, because if it were, she could identify him. She called the police and discovered they had a suspect in custody. She identified him in a lineup and asked the policeman, "Why didn't he attack me? I was just as vulnerable as the next woman who came along." The policeman was curious too, so he described the woman and asked the suspect about her. He said, "I remember her. But why would I have bothered her? She was walking down the street with two big guys, one on either side of her."{3}
Rescue

Sometimes, angels rescue people in danger. It was an angel--if not the Angel of the Lord, who is the pre-incarnate Christ--who joined Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, rescuing them from the flames (Daniel 3).
My friend John told me that he and a friend were walking through a rough neighborhood one night when 12 or 15 gang members jumped them. John took two punches and sank to the ground. He expected to be robbed and severely beaten, but he wasn't. Instead, he heard a voice from about six feet up: "It's okay, they're gone." He looked up and saw his friend who mysteriously was now about 25 feet away, leaning against a wall with his fists still clenched as if he were ready to fight. But there was no gang. They just disappeared. And there was nobody next to John.

http://www.ibelieveinangels.com

Guardian Angels

Do we have guardian angels? The Bible doesn't give a definitive answer on that, although the Lord Jesus did say, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:10) And Psalm 91:11 promises, "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."
One day, when my son was a baby, I tripped while I was holding him, and he went flying headlong toward a brick wall. There was nothing I could do to protect him, but I watched as he inexplicably stopped an inch from the wall and fell gently to the carpet. I knew immediately that an angel's hand had been his bumper pad.
These are only a few of the stories of thousands about angels who protected and rescued people, both Christians and non- Christians. But a nagging question continues to arise: where are the angels when girls are raped, and drunk drivers crash headlong into a car of teenagers, and evil people blow up buildings with hundreds of innocent people in them?
The angels are still there, continuing to minister in pain and death. We usually don't realize the role of angels in the midst of horrible circumstances because their work is unseen and often unfelt.
Behind the question of, "Where are the angels?" is the very difficult problem of why a good God would allow pain and suffering. The book of Job gives us two important insights into the problem of pain: first, when disasters and suffering assail us in the physical realm, there may be something bigger and more important going on in the unseen spiritual realm.{5} Second, God never gives Job an answer to his demand to know the "why": He just says, "I am the sovereign Lord, acting in ways you cannot understand. You just need to trust Me, that I know what I'm doing." The fact that God is in control, that He allows all pain and suffering for a reason, is the great comfort that we need to remember when it seems like the angels have forsaken us. They haven't, because God hasn't.
http://www.ibelieveinangels.com

Warrior Angels

The ministry of warrior angels catches the imagination in a special way. The prophet Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant so he could see the mighty angelic army of God protecting them.
In Nazi Germany, one mother took her little boy, who was unchurched, to a shelter run by nuns that had become known as a safe place because nothing bad ever seemed to happen there. His first night, while everyone else was praying that God would protect them, this little boy kept his eyes open. After the "amen," he told his mother, "It came up to here on them!" and pointed to his breastbone. When asked what he meant, he said, "The gutter came up to here on them!" A nurse asked, "What are you talking about?" and he told her that he saw men filled with light guarding each corner of the shelter, so tall that they towered above the roof. The shelter was protected by huge warrior angels that only a little boy could see.{4}
http://www.ibelieveinangels.com