Biblical reflection on Next-Gen ministries
‘To Timothy, my beloved Child:’ (2 Tim 1:2)
As someone who has worked in the ‘Next-Gen’ space of CPC for the past 5 years, I have an opinion which may surprise you. I do not think ‘Young Adults’ is a biblical category. In the Old Testament the most common word for youth is ‘y(e)l(e)d’ which denotes a young boy or child. In the NT we see words for children ‘Paidon/teknon/brephos’ which all denote a young person who has not yet come of age - probably before they go through the rites of passage around the age 12-13 (there is much to learn in an in-depth study of these categories). In broad strokes, a child in God’s covenant community is a child, under their parents until they become an adult who then if they profess faith in Jesus gain full rights in worship, membership of the church and society. Young adulthood (18-30 something) is therefore in my opinion an unbiblical category, one which is informed more by our culture and by marketing strategy than by Scripture.
This may surprise you seeing that CPC places such an emphasis on building up the next generation and may cause you to question why we might have ministries that are seemingly devoted to these ‘young adults’ who are not found in Scripture. Of course, this is not to say we shouldn’t cherish those who are going through this stage of life, nor is it a statement that we should treat all 18 years olds the same as we do 50 year olds! In fact, the joy of CPC is that we have such a blend of generations which allows us to see the kaleidoscope of God’s generations at work. But if these things are not biblically based, then why are we doing these things? This is a question which may help us align our motivations more with what is taught in Scripture.
I would like to posit to us all that there is a biblical category of discipleship within God’s covenant community which empowers us to have ministries that serve this group of disciples. But Scripture describes this group of people by their function rather than their age. God’s covenant community is described in the language of ‘generations’. God’s people are all tasked to pass on God’s covenant faithfulness and truth to the next generation of believers (Gen 22:18, 2 Tim 1:5, Exodus 20:5-6) for the purpose of claiming the promises of God (Joshua 1) and the renewal of covenant faithfulness forgotten by generations prior (2 Kings 22-23). If the role of the older is to pass on the faithfulness to the younger, then the role of the next-gen is to faithfully learn and then lovingly challenge the status quo to be better aligned to God’s Scriptures. Scripture has a strong view on how families and members of the church have a responsibility to pass on God’s covenant promise to the next generation. The purpose of which is not to split the church into young and old (1 Peter 5, 1 Tim 5) but to join all generations together in worship of our Lord Jesus.
Therefore, it may be biblical to have youth and ‘next-gen’ focus on our ministries- for the purpose of strengthening the whole body in time. It is by building each generation upon each other that God’s church rises to the challenges of each era of society and the Kingdom of God grows into its new season (Matthew 13:31-32). In fact, Paul writes to Timothy - whom he loves as his own child - that, ‘let no one despise you because of your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity (1 Tim 4:12). To Paul, the youth of Timothy by no means a barrier to be an example and even in this case, the minister of a Church.
I write this to invite all of the church in considering how we are building up the next generation - whether in your families or in your ministry- and to see that it is a vital part of faithful living, not simply a side ministry. CPC has a renewal generation that is growing and flourishing, let’s all be a part of passing on God’s covenant faithfulness to them.
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下一代事工的聖經反思
「寫信給提摩太，我親愛的兒子。」（提後 1:2）
作為一位在過去五年一直投入教會「下一代」（Next-Gen）事工的人，我有一個或許會令你感到意外的看法：我認為「青年成人」（Young Adults）並不是聖經上的分類。在舊約中，最常用來指年幼者的字是 y(e)l(e)d，意思是小男孩或兒童；在新約中，我們看到用於稱孩子的詞彙如 paidon / teknon / brephos，都指尚未成年的少年——大概是在十二、三歲，尚未經歷成年禮之前（若深入研究這些分類，仍有許多可學習之處）。概括而言，在神的聖約子民中，孩子是父母之下的兒女；當他們成為成人，並公開承認信靠耶穌時，便在敬拜、教會會籍及社群生活中享有完全的權利。因此，在我看來，所謂「青年成人」（約 18–30 歲）其實不是聖經上的分類，更多是受文化和行銷策略影響，而非出於聖經本身。
這樣的觀點或許會令你驚訝，特別是教會一向非常重視建立下一代，也可能讓你質疑：既然聖經中沒有「青年成人」這個分類，為何我們仍有看似專為這群人而設的事工？當然，這並不是說我們不該珍惜正處於人生這階段的人，也不是說我們應該以對待五十歲成人的方式對待十八歲的年輕人！事實上，教會的喜樂之一，正是在於我們擁有跨世代的融合，使我們得以看見神在不同世代中工作的美妙。然而，若這些分類並非建立在聖經上，我們為何要這麼做呢？這問題能幫助我們更深省察，是否使事工的動機更貼近聖經教導。
我想向大家提出：在神的聖約子民中，確實存在一個聖經上合宜的門徒訓練類別，使我們能設立服事這群門徒的事工；但聖經描述這群人時，是按其「功能」而非「年齡」。神的聖約子民是以「世代」的語言來描述的。神的子民都蒙召，要將神在聖約中的信實與真理傳給下一代信徒（創 22:18；提後 1:5；出 20:5–6），其目的在於承受神的應許（書 1），並更新先前世代所遺忘的聖約信實（王下 22–23）。若年長者的角色是將信實傳給年幼者，那麼下一代的角色就是忠心學習，並以愛心挑戰現狀，使之更符合神的話語。聖經對家庭與教會成員在將神的聖約應許傳給下一代一事上，有明確而強烈的指示；其目的並不是將教會分為老與少（彼前 5；提前 5），而是使各世代一同敬拜主耶穌。
因此，為著在時間中建立整個基督的身體，從聖經角度來看，事工上聚焦於「青年」與「下一代」是合理的。正是透過一代又一代彼此建立，神的教會才能應對每個時代的挑戰，而神的國度也得以進入新的季節（太 13:31–32）。事實上，保羅寫信給他視如己出的提摩太時說：「不可叫人小看你年輕；總要在言語、行為、愛心、信心、清潔上，都作信徒的榜樣。」（提前 4:12）對保羅而言，提摩太的年輕並不是成為榜樣、甚至擔任教會牧者的障礙。
我寫下這些，是邀請全教會一同思想：我們如何在家庭與各樣事工中建立下一代，並看見這是忠心生活中不可或缺的一部分，而不僅僅是一項附屬的事工。教會正擁有一個正在成長並且蓬勃發展的新生世代；讓我們都參與其中，把神守約施慈愛的信實傳承給他們。
