‘Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.' Acts 13:36 (NIV)
Building through technology and
leadership, grounded in the word of God
David was largely regarded as an upright and God-pleasing man of his
generation despite committing adultery with Bathsheba as seen in 2 Samuel 11.
Yet, he still ‘fell asleep’ by the decree and counsel of God, which has set bounds to
man's life, and has fixed the time of his death. However, we know that this is
only the death of our temporal physical body, where one day we will be raised when
Christ returns. Thus, this brings hope in the work we are doing today as He has
already made a promise with us. This can be seen by the following verse (Acts
13:37), stating ‘But the
one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay’, telling us that even though Jesus was crucified on the cross,
leading to physical death for 3 days (before resurrecting on the 3rd
day), he did not experience ‘decay’ like David because He is God himself.
Hence, with a covenant of grace made
between God and man, we can serve Him wholeheartedly in the building of the
church by our generation. Throughout the STEP programme, we have learned a
significant amount of church history, especially the Reformation period of the
16th century. We are also experiencing the results of our reformers’
actions 500 years ago – Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, etc. Having
braced through the period of heresy and detouring from the true teachings, we
can now believe that what we are learning is the ‘correct’ doctrine.
But is that really the case? How do we
know exactly that what we are receiving in the church today is not grounded
upon human misinterpretations and falsification? Could we actually be living
like the Catholics before the 16th century? Believing that we are
absolutely right as well? Just as how Rev.
Tan Tiong Ann put it, 失之毫厘 差之千里
- having deviated minutely at
the beginning will ultimately cause a large digression from the original path. This sets me thinking about my church’s
teachings and the need for our generation to step up and carry on this
‘reforming’ in our respective churches today. Sola scriptura
(Latin: by Scripture alone) is a reformed theological doctrine which holds that
the Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice we need to
hold on to.
Definitely, Millennials are equipped
with many skills of the 21st century that are essential for
improving administrative efficiency of the church and becoming relevant in the
current society, making them assets to the churches today. However, this cannot
be done without grounding our gifts and skills on the word of God, which is the
Scripture. Having to accomplish tasks with human’s hands will only bring about
undesirable outcomes, ‘for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). Sadly, what my
current generation lacks, including myself, is biblical literacy, which is
defined by Dr. Larry Perkin as the ability and
motivation of people to read the Bible with sufficient understanding so that
they can explain its basic meaning, having sufficient knowledge and skill to
use resources that enable them to discern the basic meaning of a biblical text[i].
We also lack the spiritual zealousness for God’s words,
which I remembered was one of the major emphasis in Rev. Peter Chan’s lessons.
This is important because we believe that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2
Timothy 3:16-17). Hence, we need to first equip our generation with God’s
words such that they are ready to do good works for Him in both the church
and the community.
What I found to be an asset of my
generation are the technological skills they possess. A survey conducted
by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) in 2016 found that younger adults in Singapore, aged 16
to 34, are above the global average in literacy and numeracy, and were ranked
9th compared to their counterparts in other economies. However, older adults in
Singapore, those aged between 45 and 65, fared worse and attained some of the
lowest scores in literacy and numeracy among all participating economies. More
than one in four adults (26.1%) in Singapore are at Level 1 in literacy
compared to the OECD average of 18.9%, the survey found[ii].
This does not directly imply that the younger generation is better off with
technology, but it shows that the younger generation is equipped with higher
literacy and numeracy abilities, making it easier for them to pick up
technological skills as a result.
This is important to churches today as
we are living in the internet age, where
staying relevant to the trends of society can aid in integrating non-believers
and new believers into our midst. Having visited New Creation Church during our
STEP programme certainly opened up my mind on the wide array of possibilities
of integrating technology into our traditional services. Major takeaways from
the visitation includes the use of In-Ear monitors during worship so as to
promote better coordination between worship leader and musicians, high
resolution overhead cameras that capture the entire service for their TV
ministry (which I think also aided in removing certain mental barriers like the
usual embarrassment of raising our hands during worship), and finally the use
of Powerpoint during sermon to guide the flow of the entire process (and remove
the need to flip the Bible frequently which could cause some to miss out on
important points preached), to name a few. This attracts people of all ages and
races (as seen on the day we went), especially those from Generation Y.
Therefore, I believe it is necessary for churches to tap
into the younger generation to stay relevant and updated in the current society
as there are certainly many whose lives are technology-infused. It can be seen
that in most cases, the use of Powerpoint, for example, outweighs the traditional
preaching on the pulpit using words only. The lack of visual aid could possibly
allow many to lose track of the sermon’s flow (besides the use of bulletin),
and bring boredom easily to the congregation. My church (Providence
Presbyterian Church), for example, is also implementing the use of Powerpoint
during sermons in conjunction with having bulletins that indicate the sermon
outline. Our youth fellowship, on the other hand, uses Kahoot! (a free online
quiz platform) to replace the traditional pen and paper way of conducting
quizzes as it is much more convenient and appealing aesthetically.
Other forms of technology can also be applied to the fields
of communication and discipleship. For example, you can be sitting next to each
other week after week and never talk, but through technology, people in the
church can start sharing prayer requests through Whatsapp, Facebook, or even
Twitter. Some churches even have their individual
church app on Apple store, where people can download to access sermon outlines
and sermon recordings after being released, enabling those who have missed it
to catch up with the progress of the church. Congregants can also concurrently
use that church app to follow the sermon and take notes along the way[iii].
Some churches also have their individual Instagram accounts for youths to share
with their non-believer and believer friends alike, such that they can be
updated with the latest church activities and even have bible verses appearing
on their feed to provide timely reminders and encouragements (the account is
managed by youths from what I know).
Nonetheless, many may say that technology will soon replace
real-life relationships if churches carry on using social media to communicate
with their members or non-members alike. However, I would like to propose that
we consider two fundamental uses of technology first: Expose and Enable.
Technology can expose a person's tendencies, whether that's isolation or
addictiveness; technology can also enable a person to communicate with more
people in more ways without being constrained by time and space. By dispelling
these myths, we can learn to better steward technology together, to share
what's working, what didn't work, and discuss what we're thinking so we can
make informed technology decisions in the future to help promote our church’s
growth[iv].
However, this should be done with the
right balance of God's words in concurrence with daily applications. It is
necessary for churches to become relevant in today's society so as to avoid
being obsolete and outdated. On the other hand, we cannot leave the sole
doctrine – Bible, where we base all our decisions and actions upon such that we
would not fall into heresies and dissensions. Thus, even though there may be
many application and practical problems arising with the use of technology in
our churches, if the foundation of grounding on the word of God is done
properly, my generation would be able to overcome them appropriately.
Another important purpose of my current
generation, in my opinion, is to become the next leaders of the church.
This is especially important in a society like Singapore as we are facing an
ageing population problem, whereby 2030, one
in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 years and above[v]. Hence,
just like any other organisation, we need the younger generation to rise up to
take over church leadership. With a burning passion for bringing about radical
changes in the church, our generation will certainly be looking for new ways to
improve the original system[vi].
They will also be receptive to feedbacks despite failing, which will aid in
developing them into mature leaders with time. ‘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) Definitely, being young should not bring about
judgments by others (especially those older than us) when it comes to taking on
leadership positions, as it is fundamentally the example and testimony that we
display that should cause others’ oppositions.
Therefore, I hope churches can focus on developing the youth
ministry as it is this generation that will determine the direction of their
church in future. Having strong discipleship curriculums and lessons can help
in grounding our youths on God's words. My church, for instance, takes on the
approach of having two preachers working in the youth ministry. This is due to
the heavier emphasis on developing future leaders for the church, which I
believe is necessary today. Moreover, as Presbyterians, we need to teach the
differences between denominations such that our identity can continue
hereafter. For instance, we must not neglect the importance of the Westminister
Confession of Faith, which contains many doctrinal guides that were passed down
from the Church of Scotland in 1647 till today (even though it is not the
Scripture). As leaders, it is also important to carry a heart of humility in
serving the church, such that one can remain teachable and adaptable to
different situations faced.
In conclusion, I believe the Millennial
generation would be an asset to their churches in terms of technology and
leadership skills. It is thus necessary for various churches to tap into their
pool of talents in order for them to grow while remaining relevant. However,
this needs to be coupled with proper teaching of God’s words such that
decisions and actions are based upon the Bible.
All in all, ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths
straight.’ (Proverbs 3:5-6)
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