Now That You Are 20

Your teen years are a time of excitement and transformation. It is when you transition from being a boy to a man or from a girl to a woman. It is a period for learning, growing and discovering what makes you tick. During this stage, you begin to contemplate important decisions that will shape your future.

So what happens when you turn 20? What principles should guide you at this point in your life?

You might wonder: “When and how should I pursue baptism?” “Can I continue being a part of the Church without being baptized?” “What goals should I set?” “What factors should I consider in deciding whether to commit to God’s Way?”

This article aims to answer these questions and more. It is a must-read for all young people who turn 20 and have yet to be baptized. However, please understand that this article is not meant to imply that the moment you turn 20, a countdown clock starts ticking, pressuring you to commit. Instead, it intends to provide guidance to everyone in their late teens or who just turned 20. It will help you understand the significance of approaching and reaching this milestone and explain where you should be headed and why.

Today’s World

It is essential to understand the world you have grown up in. Modern society makes it easy to go with the flow, be cool and take it easy. Many approach their futures with a carefree mindset, thinking, Why worry?

This pervasive way of thinking makes people unaccustomed to hard work, unfamiliar with setting goals and unsure how to plan their lives.

Many teens stumble upon major decisions by chance rather than carefully preparing for them. Some rush into marriage because they believe they have found love, without properly dating or courting the person to ensure compatibility. Many feel unsure about their career paths and fail to explore the various education options available to them. Others settle for or continue at a job simply because it was easily accessible.

Teens in God’s Church, you must resist these trends!

The following statement will be a little hard to hear, but take it to heart: As a teenager, you are inherently immature, whether you realize it or not.

Even if you are considered mature for your age, you have simply not had enough life experience, knowledge and practice in making decisions to be a fully successful and mature adult. Often, individuals are less mature than their chronological age suggests. However, you should be determined to actively work on your maturity and personal growth.

While developing maturity is an ongoing process throughout your life, turning 20 is a critical milestone in beginning adulthood. From this point forward, you must start thinking like an adult in every aspect of your life. We encourage you to read the article “Are You Emotionally Mature?” to delve deeper into this topic.

Life Goals

In your late teens or early 20s, you should start thinking about what you want to accomplish in life.

You likely want to get married and begin a family at some point. Are you preparing for that? Are you developing your personality? Are you saving money?

This is the time to finalize your education and settle on a career. Are you considering what type of education is best and which career you are best suited for? Are you matching the practicality of your childhood dream of becoming a ballerina or an astronaut with the reality of needing to support yourself and a family in the future?

Other questions may arise: Where do you want to live? Are you planning to move out of your parents’ home? What about a job while you finish your schooling?

These and many other questions should be asked by older teenagers who want to be diligent and successful in life.

Yet there is another aspect of life that vastly outweighs all others…

Eternal Life

If God exists and the Bible is His Word, committing to obeying Him is the most important decision anyone could ever make. God promises eternal life to those who obey His Law. What could be a bigger goal? Marriage, children, a house, a career—or anything else—cannot be compared to eternal life and rulership in God’s Kingdom.

Of course, any wise person would still take time to carefully plan and focus on all the physical things just mentioned. If planned correctly, one can have a very successful physical life. However, you cannot afford to become too busy with physical goals. Many do this, and never get around to working toward baptism.

Again, what is more important: a career lasting a few decades—or a life lasting for eternity?

What Is the Church?

To understand why a young person should, at some point, focus on working toward baptism, we need to take a step back and ask: What is the Church? Is it a building? A corporation?

It is none of these. It is a group of people! The word church in the Greek language is ekklesia, which means “called-out ones.” Consider what this means. When someone is in God’s Church, he has been called out of the world.

But what does coming out of the world mean? Notice: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, says the Lord” (II Cor. 6:17). When you come out of the world, you are to be separate and different from it. God’s people—those who are part of the “called-out ones”—are citizens of another country: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (I Pet. 2:9).

When a teenager becomes an adult, he must take steps toward becoming one of the “called-out ones”—he cannot keep one foot in the world and one in the Church.

A Trend

In Worldwide Church of God congregations in the late 1980s and early 90s, certain guidelines and standards became lax. Many in their early 20s did not recognize that the Church consisted of the “called-out ones,” and that they were ultimately to make a decision to either pursue baptism or go into the world.

This type of environment continued in the late 1990s and exists today in splinter groups. Some churches have even created a new demographic of people in their early 20s who still attend services but have not committed to God’s way of life. This is not the case in God’s true Church.

In ancient Israel, once a person reached 20, he was considered an adult. The same is true today in spiritual Israel, the Church. And being an adult means one must make adult decisions.

Sometimes, teenagers come into The Restored Church of God with their parents and spend several years listening to sermons and reading literature. Before long, they turn 20, and a few more years pass by, but they never make a decision. Eventually, not making a decision is a decision. Inaction is a form of action!

Again, you cannot have one foot in the world and one in the Church—it simply does not work. Turning 25, continuing to attend services, but not committing to God is simply a halfhearted approach. By doing this, a person is saying, “I’m kind of interested in the Church, and I’m kind of not.”

Double Standards

The Church cannot have two standards. Stop and consider. People contact us wanting to attend services. We explain to these individuals that they need a basic understanding of the truth and point them to literature. Once they have studied foundational doctrines and still want to attend, a minister has a brief but important discussion with them.

In this counseling session, the minister explains exactly what it means to attend services. Once a person begins attending, he is considered a prospective member and is on the way to membership. To be a full member of God’s Church, one must be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. They must settle into attending for at least three months and then can begin counseling if ready. After about six months (usually no more than 12), the individual should begin counseling for baptism.

Being a prospective member and attending services means the individual is on track toward baptism. Prospective members cannot attend services indefinitely without making a decision to become a full member. (Of course, there can be the rare circumstance when there is a longer wait for baptism.)

Consider this example: If a 21-year-old contacted us from the world, we would go through the above-mentioned counseling session once he has read basic material. When the person begins attending, he would understand that he is tracking toward baptism.

On the other hand, this prospective member would likely come in contact with people of similar age who have grown up in the Church or who have been in the Church for several years, attending with parents. This group of young people must understand that they are also on track toward baptism. Otherwise, this would be a double standard. The new person could think, “Wait a minute, I just counseled with a minister who said that when I attend, I am on track toward baptism. Yet there are people here my age who know much more about God’s way of life than I do but aren’t doing a thing!”

The Church cannot have a double standard! We cannot allow some young people to continue partly in the world and partly in the Church while new people are coming into the Church and working at coming completely out of the world.

While there is not always a formal meeting with a minister, every teen in God’s Church should understand that when he turns 20, he has become a prospective member and should be heading toward baptism. In years past, we have had some who spent far too long never making a decision. They were bad examples to those coming into the Church. Teenagers who turn 20 and have been attending for a long time should be setting the example for new people, not the other way around.

This does not mean that as soon as you turn 20, you have a six-month timeline. Each person’s calling and conversion process is a little different, just as each person is different. However, upon approaching and reaching 20, you should start focusing on this.

When Should I Begin?

A common question young people ask is, “When should I begin?” This raises several points to consider.

There is not one perfect age. Different circumstances dictate the best time to work toward baptism. A person can begin in that direction as early as 18, but around 20 is more common. This is one of the things you should feel comfortable talking about with your parents and local minister.

If you have grown up in the Church or have attended for several years with your parents, be careful: Do not wait for the figurative “handwriting on the wall” or “angels singing from heaven” as a sign that you should begin working toward baptism. Many wait for the feeling of “catching fire” that new members often talk about, but this is a misconception. You must start the process by studying and praying that God shows you where you should be. Having attended for several years or perhaps even from birth, you are already familiar with God’s truth and way of life, having learned it for years.

Children of members are sanctified (I Cor. 7:14), meaning they are “set apart.” They are not cut off like the rest of the world, nor are they automatically called. Therefore, they are free to seek God and should “seek…the Lord while He may be found” (Isa. 55:6).

Also, you are learning the truth in a way that is different from those discovering the Church for the first time, when everything is brand new. Because of this, there will not be the same reaction. God’s truth will not hit you like a ton of bricks because you already know many of His doctrines and commandments. Most who come from the world are surprised and excited by all the new truths being revealed to them. There is a zeal and “first love” from the sheer excitement that does not occur in the same way with one who has heard these truths taught for years, sometimes decades.

Here is the point: Do not wait for a “sign” from the heavens or the instantaneous zeal you think will eventually come! You must make an effort to study God’s truths deeply—to prove this way of life. Ask God—on your knees—to help you work toward baptism. He will answer your prayer.

Similarly, do not wait until you feel “good enough” for baptism. You cannot overcome spiritual problems without God’s Holy Spirit. To wait until you are good enough is an indefinite and futile wait, as you will never be good enough without God’s help.

Finally, realize you are held accountable for what you know, even if you are not baptized. Do not take this lightly. Notice Ecclesiastes 11:9: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (Also read 12:1.)

Where to Start

Although you may ask your minister questions, there are several things you can do before coming to a minister to officially counsel for baptism. If you have not done so already, you should thoroughly prove—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that God exists, that the Bible is His Word and that The Restored Church of God is God’s one true Church. The Church provides literature that aids in these three areas.

When you feel you are ready to begin counseling, talk to your local minister.

Again, this article does not institute a policy that sets the exact amount of time you have to decide to become baptized. However, it does make the point that when you turn 20, you should actively pursue goals, events and decisions ahead of you. The most important is committing to God’s way of life.

If you recently turned 20 and are not yet baptized, take time to prove this way—and live it for the rest of your life!