Challenges Faced By 2nd Generation Christians (SGCs) - Dorothy Mok

Introduction

As a second generation Christian myself, I have always thought of the bible as this mythical storybook filled with amazing stories to entertain me in children’s Sunday school just to occupy our time and never actually knew how the bible relates to our lives right now. It is until recent years that I understood why I should read the bible and how we are part of the written history. I thank God that this STEP programme has allowed me to widen my horizons and made me appreciate the bible more and how we can respond to it. Though this programme, I have also heard the sharing of many second generation Christians, and here is a breakdown of the common problems SGCs face and how we can respond to it.

Problems

No Defining Moment of Life Transformation

This factor may be only applicable to some, depending on your age and your environment. But for me, I was brought up in church and going to church was basically like a routine. When I was younger, everything was smooth sailing and something I often asked myself was, “Does the presence of God really matter? Would my life be any different without God?”

Another problem would be that we did not know when the moment God first came into our lives was. This is especially the case for SGCs as compared to First generation Christians (FGCs), since FGCs would know clearly when they accepted Christ and will be more definite when their lives started to change, while the line for SGCs of when we started to accept Christ can be really blur.

Not Having Good friends In Church

In this world that is filled with temptations, we tend to feel that people in church may not relate to us as well as friends outside of the Christian community. We want to be young, wild and free. This becomes a huge struggle especially for Sunday service. Some complaints that may pop up in our heads while we are at Sunday service may include, “Why must I attend service when I could be hanging out having fun?” We would prefer to be with our friends outside of church as compared to friends in church. We never understood what the preacher was talking about and our minds are just wandering during service and we are just here because your parents wants us to be here. 

Another possible case, would be that people in your church became too cliquish to the extent that you are unable to fit in to the community. You know everyone from young, yet you don’t belong anywhere. You do not have a spiritual partner to share with even if you are willing to open up.

Having to Meet Many Expectations When Growing Up

This is especially so for Children whose parents serve as Leaders of the church. We are expected to live up to the expectations of fellow church members and be greatly involved in church activities and seen as the successors of the church just because our parents bore more commitments in church. We have the stress to uphold this whole image of being ‘Holy’ in front of others just to avoid others’ criticism. We are under constant pressure to behave like a perfect Christian in church. Throughout our lives we were bring compared to other children in church by our parents, and we are expected to be the one to set the standards for being the most well behaved amongst all of the children in church. All just because our parents hold a certain ‘title’ in church.

Disappointing behaviour of adults

This happens when the adult we look up to as a spiritual elder or mentor, which is often our parents, tend to behave differently in and out of church. This becomes a stumbling block to many SGCs’ spiritual life as we realise that the person we look up to tend to be inconsistent with his or her teachings.

Finding that I Am still a Spiritual Infant

We are so used to coming to church on a Sunday that it seems to be a routine. We have heard the same lessons over and over again in bible study so much so that we already know what the teacher teaching is going to talk about next. But yet, we find no meaning in whatever is being taught. This is because we know the bible only in pieces and not as a whole. We can’t link the stories of Noah, Jacob and Moses together. They seem like a character coming out of a mythical storybook because we don’t see how it relates to us. We don’t understand the bible. Yet, when met with non-Christians, we have the urge to spread the gospel but due to the lack of knowledge of the bible we are afraid that we are unable to answer their burning questions so we would hold back from spreading the gospel.

Response

The following is how we should respond or think to curb these problems.

It Is God’ Blessing That I Grew Up In Church

Precisely because we are SGCs, we are blessed with a good foundation for our faith. We may know only bit and pieces of the bible and not the whole picture, but at least we have that knowledge to work with, while FGCs may have to start from zero. Although we may have taken the grace for granted, it is a fact that you experience God’s blessing. God fills our empty void at a young age, which may be what non-Christians are yearning for but yet they are still struggling to find it. When faced with troubles, we have God to look for, although no one seem to be able to help us sometimes.

2 Timothy 3:14-15 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Being Christian Is Between Me and Christ

We need to know that we do not inherit our Christian identity from our parents. Our salvation comes by grace through faith, not by works. It is a personal and highly individualised relationship with God that we are building throughout our faith journey.

Ephesians 2:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

We often tend to forget that our parents or spiritual mentors are sinners too and pin upon them the same expectations that others expect us to fulfil, which explains the disappointment that may stumble us.

Romans 3:23 New International Version (NIV)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We Do Not Need Others to Affirm Our Faith

Jesus is our only assurance. We need to learn to not look at others’ judgements and not serve with the intention of gaining recognition that we are a true Christian, because our works does not secure us of our salvation. Our faith is not self-centered but God-centered. It is not about what we can get out of this faith or what we can do to obtain eternal life but what we can give to reciprocate this grace and love given from God. (Rev Tan Tiong Ann, Theology of Worship)

Romans 5:2 New International Version (NIV)

² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

We Need Friends in Christ

We need to be proactive in finding friends that bring us back to Christ, that have preferably the same interest, age, share common topics or hobbies and so on. This is so that we can have accountability of each other’s spiritual development and it would be great if we can grow together by sharing struggles and going through hardships together that both of us can relate. A companion for the spiritual journey also means that we can have someone to remind us to attend fellowship or bible study together, which are the platforms where we can grow in God’s words. This is important as it helps us in distinguishing right from wrong especially when we are surrounded by an environment filled with friends that have strong worldly desires.

2 Timothy 2:22 New International Version (NIV)

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

We Need to Be Persistent In Our Faith

Believing in Christ is a life-long process. I believe that as SGCs, we have seen friends who fall out of the Christian faith and preferred to immerse in worldly desires and live without God, but we need to persevere. We know better how a life without God would look like. Even when we are lost God would not give up on us. Seek and you shall find. In our lives we are bound to be met with setbacks but we have to hold on to our faith so that we may not be led astray. Instead hardship may deepen our relationship with God when we put our trust in Him.

Conclusion

Second Generations face many doubts on their Christian faith, mainly arising from the sin of others and sometimes spiritual pride as we do take the church teachings and community for granted, since it is something that we are given from birth. We need to learn how to appreciate it and embrace it with a grateful heart and know that we are here due to God’s grace. There are bound to be times where we struggle, but what is important is that we need to stay close to God allow Him to work in our lives. We are responsible for our own spiritual journey with God and try our best to live out a good testimony, not because of other’s judgements but because Christ Himself has lived out the truth for us to follow and that we should strive to be like Him.

1 Timothy 4:12 New International Version (NIV)

¹² 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.

                                                                                                                                                          

Works Cited

Elder Tan Tong Aik. I am a Second Generation Christian. The SGC Challenges and Responses. [Presentation]. 4 February 2017.
Rev Tan Tiong Ann. Theology of Worship. [Presentation]. 25 May 2018.