Discipling the Generations

Written by Zechariah Yeung

Welcome to Youth Weekend! Youth Weekend is an annual event where the Youth Ministry, called Teenacity (Tee-neh-see-tee), takes over the running of the church services to bless the larger congregation and stay connected as an inter-generational church. After a two-year hiatus, we are glad to be able to hold our Youth Weekend services onsite again. 

The theme for Youth Weekend this year is “Discipling the Generations”. A situation at work was the first thing to come to mind when I heard the theme.

In my current place of work doing National Service, I have an upper study who holds six months of experience over me. With this experience, she has been a great aid in guiding me to do work well in my company. Yet, there have been many instances where the big boss, with many years more experience, comes and reveals more effective methods and better ways of completing the work.

To me, discipling comes in two forms. To bring others to the gospel; to faith in Christ and baptism AND to build others up in the faith. 

In Teenacity, we have tried to build a culture of discipleship as part of our Vision 2023 (Run the Race, Relay the Faith). Firstly, we have placed a greater emphasis on bible study during our discipleship group (DG) time, with our youths being tasked to read the Book of James together this year. We hope that by spending time reading the Bible as a group, the youths may be grounded in the word of God and equipped with the skills to study the Bible on their own. 

We have also launched "Discipleship 101", a programme where older youths are equipped to mentor younger youths. The sessions serve to aid youths in understanding how to effectively disciple younger youths in the faith, as well as to experience for themselves what such mentorship looks like. We hope the youths will be able to mentor others, whether in or out of church. 

Despite our efforts, we admit that we youths are naive, inexperienced and less mature (both physically and spiritually) than the adults in church, especially when, in most instances, our only points of reference are other young people. Going back to my previous anecdote at the beginning, youth leaders are like the upper study. The youths are like me, doing work but probably not in the most efficient way possible. The big boss? Those of a more senior generation in the faith, having a reservoir of experience and the ability to guide us younger believers.

It is for this reason that discipleship between generations is important. A fresh perspective can help youths better navigate the issues they face in life with a Christian lens. Though these issues may be expressed through different mediums, such as on social media platforms today, similar themes remain. Insecurities about our appearances; our hopes and dreams; our results; dealing with relationships with family and friends - does this sound familiar?

Understanding other age groups is challenging, and for many of us, it takes us out of our comfort zones. It takes great initiative to begin reaching out to others, let alone be an intentional part of their lives. It may take an even greater effort to reach out to a generation that seemingly does not care about anything except what are the latest trends on TikTok or using words like “cap”, “drip” and “suss” (feel free to Google what these terms mean, or even better, ask a youth). 

Still, intergenerational discipleship is nothing but meaningful. 

As Paul said to Timothy, let us build each other up in wisdom and faith across generations. We pray that God will instil in us patience, an open heart, and most importantly, love as His disciple-makers.