None of the days is peaceful and that seems to have become the new standard for our modern times. In the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic, social ethics disorders, secularization, and the Russian-Ukrainian war, etc., all have directly and indirectly brought impacts and challenges to the church.
A few days ago, Brother W, a Christian scholar in South China, shared his thoughts based on some phenomena that he has observed in recent years. He believes that extreme speeches, secularization, church internal struggling, prosperity theology, and the generation gap between the older generation of pastors and young believers are the challenges that the church needs to face today.
He confessed that he didn’t necessarily have solutions to the above issues, but at least “raising the awareness of these problems could lead to reflections and thoughts”.
Challenge one: extreme remarks
Now is an era of social media so everyone is influenced by a variety of opinions on different grounds worsening the opinion gaps. Brother W observes that in the past few years, there have been similar problems of extreme speeches in the church community. For instance, many specific issues are being raised to a higher plane of principle in those comments to prove that “the Western moon is rounder” (a Chinese metaphor meaning “life in the West is better”, translator’s note) - just as Hu Shi, former president of Peking University, once said that “the moon in the United States is rounder than in China”, appealing to total westernization.
“The church community should not emphasize faith issues with a too strong ideology of other countries. The occurrence of many problems is actually caused by mankind’s sinful nature. The church needs to keep transcendence.”
“I think this is also a major obstacle to evangelism. Christians do not need to link Christianity with political ideology. Similarly, we don’t talk about which country is good or bad,” he reminded. “Specific things need specific solutions.”
“Therefore, I think the church needs to pay attention to the following aspects. First, pastors should teach believers to avoid making extreme remarks, which means they should be practical and not raise matters to a higher plane of principle. Second, try not to just view the problems from the political angle, but to view them from the angle of sinful nature.”
Challenge two: secularization
“The impact of secularization making believers care less about church affairs and spend more time on worldly affairs is another very serious problem,” Brother W said.
There are many reasons why many Christians have a weak sense of belonging to the church. Brother W shared that he saw that some Christians thought there are too many problems in the church and so they didn’t want to be part of it. Some people had painful memories brought by the church. For instance, the childhood memory of a sister he knew: her mother always cried every time she returned from a church service, so it was difficult for her to get close to the church.
Challenge three: internal struggling in the church
“This problem is definitely dishonorable to God, but it does occur in some local churches. One church worker has once exposed the corruption in the church, but he was kicked out from the church by other internal staff. Also, there are some church personnel who are the only children and have strong personalities. So the harmony among church staff is an issue that needs attention,” Brother W added.
Challenge four: prosperity theology
Successful theology is also a challenge that Brother W believes needs urgent attention, especially during the pandemic. He explained: “During the pandemic, I know that some Christians are full of doubts about their faith because their previous belief was the teachings of prosperity theology. When the epidemic comes and many people are infected including Christians and pastors they know, will they still believe in God? Will they have doubts about God?”
“I came across such cases while chatting online. I saw many Christian beliefs collapsed because the core values of their beliefs were not the gospel of Christ, but their own selfish desires.”
Challenge five: generation gap
The generation gap between the older pastors and young believers is yet another increasingly prominent challenge faced by the church. Brother W regrets that older pastors don’t seem to realize the problem of this generation gap. He saw that older pastors often shepherd young people in a rather simple and hush way, and the two parties cannot connect or understand each other and open their hearts. That would lead to the failure of pastoral care over time.
“A good way to raise young people is when pastors know what young people are thinking, know what are the painful points and needs of their time, and establish a true sense of belonging, which might better retain them.” He concluded that “specific matters may require pastors to think deeper and rely on God to solve them.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
世界每一天都不太平，这似乎已经成了这个时代的新常态。这三年的时间里，新冠疫情、社会伦理失常事件、世俗化、俄乌战争等，都直接间接地给教会带来冲击和挑战。
日前，华南一位基督徒学者W弟兄分享了他这几年所看到的一些现象和思考。他认为，极端言论、世俗化、教会内斗、成功神学、老一代教牧人员与年轻人的代沟都是当今教会需要看到的的挑战。
他也坦诚地说到，自己也并未有解决方案，但至少“抛出问题不代表能解决问题，但希望是可以引发思考。”
——极端言论
现在是一个社交媒体时代，人人受各种不同立场的信息影响，加剧了观点的撕裂。W弟兄观察到，这几年在教会的群体中，也存在类似的问题、存在着极端言论的问题。比如会把很多具体的问题或事情上纲上线，要证明“外国的月亮比较圆”，就好像曾经胡适说的“美国的月亮比中国圆”，主张全盘西化.
“教会群体不应该用太强的这个国家或者那个国家的意识形态来强调我们的信仰。很多问题的发生其实要从人的罪性上去看...教会需要有超越性。”
“我认为这也是传福音的一大阻碍，基督徒不需要把基督教和政治的意识形态挂钩。”他提醒说：“同样，我们没有必要谈地上的哪个国家有多么好或多么不好。具体事情，具体分析就行。”
“因此，我认为教会需要注意的方面：第一，牧养信徒要避免极端的言论，就事论事，不要上纲上线。第二，不要只是从政治的角度看这个或那个问题，而更要从人的罪性看问题比较好。”
——世俗化
“世俗化的冲击，让信徒对教会的事情越来越不关心，更多地花时间在世俗的宴乐和交往上，这也是很严重的问题。”W弟兄说。
不少基督徒对教会的参与感很弱的原因很多。W弟兄分享说，他看到有的基督徒认为教会问题太多了，他不想进来；有的人因教会带给他们一些痛苦的回忆。比如，他所认识的一个姐妹的童年记忆里是妈妈每次从教会开完会回来总是在哭，因此她很难靠近教会。
——教会内斗
“教会内斗的问题也是非常不荣耀神的事情，但它确实发生在某些地方教会之中，有的教会同工揭露了教会贪污的问题，这个人后来被教会内部的人排挤出局。还有的教会同工因是独生子女，性格比较强，教会内部同工的工作的和谐度也是需要关注的问题。”W弟兄补充道。
——成功神学
成功神学也是W弟兄认为亟需关注的挑战，尤其是疫情后。他解释说：“疫情之后，我知道有一些基督徒对信仰充满怀疑 ，因他们之前的信仰是强调成功神学。当疫情来了、很多人被传染之后——不少是他们认识的基督徒和牧者，那么，他们还会相信这位神吗？ 他们会不会对神有怀疑呢？”
“我网上聊天的时候接触到一些这样的案例，我看到相信成功神学的基督徒信仰倒塌了不少，因为他们信仰的核心价值观并不是出于基督的福音，而是自己的私欲。”
——与年轻人的代沟
关于老一辈教牧人员与当代青年人牧养上的代沟问题，也是教会面对的愈来愈凸显的一个挑战。 W弟兄觉得遗憾的是，老一辈的传道人和牧者似乎并没有认识到这个代沟的问题，他看到老一辈牧者常常会用简单粗暴的方式来牧养青年人，双方无法共情，无法相互理解和打开心门，久而久之会造成牧养的失败。“牧养年轻人好的办法是，牧者应该要知道年轻人在想什么，知道他们的时代痛点和需要，并且建立真实的归属感，这样会更好的留住他们。”他提醒说，“具体的操作可能需要牧者们更多的思考和依靠上帝来做成。”
对话|后疫情时代 一年轻学者提出当下教会需警醒的五大挑战
None of the days is peaceful and that seems to have become the new standard for our modern times. In the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic, social ethics disorders, secularization, and the Russian-Ukrainian war, etc., all have directly and indirectly brought impacts and challenges to the church.
A few days ago, Brother W, a Christian scholar in South China, shared his thoughts based on some phenomena that he has observed in recent years. He believes that extreme speeches, secularization, church internal struggling, prosperity theology, and the generation gap between the older generation of pastors and young believers are the challenges that the church needs to face today.
He confessed that he didn’t necessarily have solutions to the above issues, but at least “raising the awareness of these problems could lead to reflections and thoughts”.
Challenge one: extreme remarks
Now is an era of social media so everyone is influenced by a variety of opinions on different grounds worsening the opinion gaps. Brother W observes that in the past few years, there have been similar problems of extreme speeches in the church community. For instance, many specific issues are being raised to a higher plane of principle in those comments to prove that “the Western moon is rounder” (a Chinese metaphor meaning “life in the West is better”, translator’s note) - just as Hu Shi, former president of Peking University, once said that “the moon in the United States is rounder than in China”, appealing to total westernization.
“The church community should not emphasize faith issues with a too strong ideology of other countries. The occurrence of many problems is actually caused by mankind’s sinful nature. The church needs to keep transcendence.”
“I think this is also a major obstacle to evangelism. Christians do not need to link Christianity with political ideology. Similarly, we don’t talk about which country is good or bad,” he reminded. “Specific things need specific solutions.”
“Therefore, I think the church needs to pay attention to the following aspects. First, pastors should teach believers to avoid making extreme remarks, which means they should be practical and not raise matters to a higher plane of principle. Second, try not to just view the problems from the political angle, but to view them from the angle of sinful nature.”
Challenge two: secularization
“The impact of secularization making believers care less about church affairs and spend more time on worldly affairs is another very serious problem,” Brother W said.
There are many reasons why many Christians have a weak sense of belonging to the church. Brother W shared that he saw that some Christians thought there are too many problems in the church and so they didn’t want to be part of it. Some people had painful memories brought by the church. For instance, the childhood memory of a sister he knew: her mother always cried every time she returned from a church service, so it was difficult for her to get close to the church.
Challenge three: internal struggling in the church
“This problem is definitely dishonorable to God, but it does occur in some local churches. One church worker has once exposed the corruption in the church, but he was kicked out from the church by other internal staff. Also, there are some church personnel who are the only children and have strong personalities. So the harmony among church staff is an issue that needs attention,” Brother W added.
Challenge four: prosperity theology
Successful theology is also a challenge that Brother W believes needs urgent attention, especially during the pandemic. He explained: “During the pandemic, I know that some Christians are full of doubts about their faith because their previous belief was the teachings of prosperity theology. When the epidemic comes and many people are infected including Christians and pastors they know, will they still believe in God? Will they have doubts about God?”
“I came across such cases while chatting online. I saw many Christian beliefs collapsed because the core values of their beliefs were not the gospel of Christ, but their own selfish desires.”
Challenge five: generation gap
The generation gap between the older pastors and young believers is yet another increasingly prominent challenge faced by the church. Brother W regrets that older pastors don’t seem to realize the problem of this generation gap. He saw that older pastors often shepherd young people in a rather simple and hush way, and the two parties cannot connect or understand each other and open their hearts. That would lead to the failure of pastoral care over time.
“A good way to raise young people is when pastors know what young people are thinking, know what are the painful points and needs of their time, and establish a true sense of belonging, which might better retain them.” He concluded that “specific matters may require pastors to think deeper and rely on God to solve them.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
Dialogue: Five Challenges Faced by Church in the Post-Pandemic Era
