
My name is Steve Chang and I teach New Testament at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Korea. Let me introduce to you the Listening Team for this GA (Stephen Pardue, Dick Eugenio, Sooi Ling Tan, and myself). As the Listening Team, we were All Ears! When GS Theresa asked me to summarize this GA, I knew right away her values; she values humor more than intellect and wisdom! So let me entertain you with my signature Light Bulb Jokes!
1. How many pre-millennials does it take to change a lightbulb?
- Four!
- one to argue that the lightbulb will not be changed until the end of the tribulation
- one to point out that the changed lightbulb should last a literal one thousand yearsā¦
- [wrong PREMILLENNIAL!]
2. How many (generational) pre-millennials does it take to change a lightbulb?
- 300! one to change the lightbulb
- two to ask why millennials arenāt changing lightbulbs
- three to complain about how millennials donāt have an attention span long enough to change a lightbulb
- four to preach that the future of lightbulb changing belongs to the millennials
- 290 to discuss about how to get millennials to engage lightbulbs and participate in lightbulb changing for the sake of the future churchā¦
3. How many millennials does it take to change a lightbulb?
- Seven! one to say that lightbulb changers are misunderstood.
- one to say, āthereās a mobile app for changing lightbulbs.ā
- one to take a selfie while talking about lightbulb changing
- one to document the whole lightbulb thing on Instagram
- one to make a viral video about attractive lightbulb changers
- and two to demand that all lightbulbs be green LED-type and complain that premillennials are killing the planet.
As a way of summary, Iād like to offer you something that embodies what we have heard about millennials, their characteristics and desires. After trying to come up with a way of wording bite-sized summaries of each plenary session, I sent it off to the Listening Team. Within a matter of minutes, the millennial member of team, who shall remain nameless (but his initials are DE!) came up with some amazing, tweetable lines. And then I asked a millennial among us to come up with some fitting #s. If you donāt understand them, join the club! Iām not sure I understand them! So here is the embodied summary, āFor Millennials, by Millennials, with 8-second attention spans, bite-sized microlearning, ready to publish on social media!ā
Session 1: Joey Asher Tan
Understanding the Millennials and Post-MillennialsĀ
āLearn to bait millennials with mini-bites of learningā
#ShortAttentionSpan
Session 2: So-Young Kang
Digital Christianity
āOnline living spaces must provide space for human-like living.ā
#MyCrib
Session 3: Dwi Maria Handayani
Building Communities
āMillennials create communities wherever they are present; our role is to creatively make our presence felt in their communities.ā
#TheCrew
Session 4: Samuel Koshy
AuthenticityĀ
āMillennials value truth that they can trust.ā
#RealTalk
Session 5: Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
Arts and Spirituality
āIf we seek to communicate with millennials, we need to learn their language.ā
#Artstagram
Session 6: Victor Lee
Theological Education and the Millennials
āMaking a difference among millennials might imply approaching them differently.ā
#StayFresh
Session 7: Motoaki Shinohara
Evangelical Diversity
āMillennials will lead in creating unity among evangelicals.ā
#OneFam
On a more serious note, I must offer a āTheological Response.ā One millennial among us noted that there wasnāt much of a ātheological responseā in the presentations and the Listening Team also found it difficult to find theological responses among the breakout sessions. As a theological response, let me share three points based on the acronym, ATA (since millennials love short acronyms!). We are ATA! Asia Theological Association.
Reconceptualizing āAsiaā
What is āAsiaā? We think of Asia as a geographic term. As opposed to the West or other major regions of the world, Africa, Latin America, etc. But ATA has already redefined āAsiaā as an ethnic identity of people on the move, i.e. diaspora Asia. And so ATA has extended its ministry into the diaspora. Now, I believe the Lord is telling us that ATAās mission must be generational, not just geographic or ethnic. Geography is not our mission; itās the people. Some mission movements have recognized that our mission is not geographical but generational: 4-14 window; Compassion International, etc. We must come to terms with the fact that 1/3 of India (more than 440 million) are millennials and beyond; 400 million in China are millennials. The mission of ATA must be reconceptualized, more than ever before, in generational terms.
Reaffirming āTheologicalā
What is āTheologicalā? The devotionals this week by Ivor Poobalan, Yohanna Katanacho, Michael Ortiz, and Bennet Arren have reminded us that our foundation, our hope, our dream, our empowerment is found in God alone, through JC alone. ATA have always insisted on being ātheologicalā in that sense that we hold to a limited set of timeless truths. Truths about the timeless God, about Godās timeless Word, the Scriptures, and about Godās timeless mission of the Gospel. We must continue to insist that God is relevant, that Godās word is relevant, that Godās mission is relevant, to everyone, including the millennials. Interestingly, this solid foundation is exactly what todayās anxiety-laden millennials want. They are looking something solid to hold on to in the tumultuous seas of todayās Asian cultures. The strength of ATA must be our evangelical theology.
Reframing āAssociationā
What is āAssociationā? Related words we have heard from our speakers: connection, community, and collaboration. First, millennials are looking for connection. The technology invented and used by millennials, even to the point of addiction, is driven by the search for connection. The irony, as some speakers have pointed out, is that millennials today are some of the loneliest people on earth. Second, millennials are looking for authentic community, we have heard. They are not looking for a loose āassociationā (this part of our name is not very appealing to millennials), but they are looking for real relationships and authentic sharing of life. We must deepen our sense of āassociation,ā in ways that are more akin to ancient Greco-Roman associations. They ate together, they drank together, they worshipped together, and they buried and mourned each other. In such a context, the NT church was born and formed a new āassociation.ā Perhaps ATA must go back to this type of āchurch association.ā Finally, millennials want to collaborate for a cause greater than themselves. They want to work and do things together. They innately know that two are better than one. How ironic that the church today, arguably the most collaborative, missional entity on the planet, is losing the millennials! We need to collaborate with millennials not only for conferences about reaching millennials, but for every meeting, every theological consultation, every theological institution, and every mission we serve. The goal of ATA must be inclusive of millennials at every opportunity.
Listen and Love
We all should be on the ālistening teamā and all be ALL EARS. Ralph Enlow repeatedly said last night, āGive me your heart!ā I felt that thatās what the millennials are saying to us; Ralph was embodying the cry of the millennials! We need to listen, really listen, wholeheartedly listen to the millennials. The way that James says, āquick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become frustratedā¦ā (Jas 1:19).
By listening, we are loving the millennials. It was heartwarming to show our love to our seniors and patriarchs last night. Asians are good at affirming our seniors (filial piety) but not so much our juniors. But I would argue that, more than the seniors, the millennials need us to say, āWe love and appreciate you!ā Look at the All Ears photo again. The Listening Team have made the Korean millennialsā sign for ālove,ā crossing the thumb and index finger. I am reminded of the apostle Johnās plea to the believers in Asia Minor: āDear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.ā (1 John 3:18). This is what millennials want from us, āto love with actions and in truth.ā This is our ātheological response.ā
I want to congratulate the ATA board and leadership for thinking seriously about the future and deciding to focus on probably the most important issue of our time. Especially as we approach the 50th anniversary of ATA, it is critical to invite the millennials and post-millennials to the table. In a conference like this, follow up is far more important than the conference itself. We must give our heart in listening to the millennials, and love them with actions and in truth. That is the future church of Asia. That is the future of ATA!
Iām convicted that this summary should have been done by a good-looking millennial, not by me! (Iām good looking but Iām not a millennial.) So I asked a millennial among us, Melanie from Malaysia, to come and bless us, and pray for the future of ATA from her heart! Let us extend our hearts and pray with Melanie.
Prayer of Melanie LimĀ
Lord, thank You for ATA, for what You are doing in the Asian Church. Thank You for how You have shaped and formed the Asian Church, so diverse in so many ways for You love diversity, and how You have put together different ethnic, generation and denomination that we find in Asia.
Lord, as we look to the Future Church, we look back at how You have led the Church, and we say, Lord we trust Your leadership. You are leading us forward, and You will continue to lead us in all that we are doing. You lead us, Lord, and show us what You are doing, that we may be sensitive to see what You are doing in our generation, that we may be able to partner with You in what You want to do in this world.Ā
Lord, thank You for those who have gone before us – who have mentored, who believed in us, who cared for us, who listened and loved us. Thank You for the focus in this GA that we are looking and trying to understand. I see how the generations that have gone before me are loving my generation. Lord, I thank You for this love, for this is only possible because of You Lord.Ā
Lord, I thank You for the gifts and challenges that the younger generation are giving us as a Church, to take seriously how You have created us as human beings – not just rational beings with brains to learn truth, but affective, volitional, relational beings – who are to be discipled, to be transformed into the image of Your Son, Jesus, and to redeem this world that You have created. You are the only one who can reconcile all things to Yourself.Ā
Lord, I take this time as well to ask for Your forgiveness. Forgive us millennials, Lord, for having zeal without knowledge, for making ourselves the locus of our orientation, for failing to pay attention to what You have done before us, for being entitled and failing to be grateful for those whoāve gone before us, and for being overly optimistic in our human ability to build utopia on earth. Lord, we need You. And our hope is in You alone. We say that the burden to save the world is not on our shoulders. You alone can save us.Ā
Lord, we need You. Give us grace to be Your agents of reconciliation. To bring the message of reconciliation not just to those who are yet to know You but to bring reconciliation between theological institutions and churches, among different nations, denominations, and generations, that we, of different nations, denominations, and generations, may all be one as You and the Father are One, that we may be in You and You in us. Lord, we need You, and we canāt do anything apart from You.Ā
Lord, in all that we do, may You be glorified, in having a people who is fully alive, a Body that exemplifies the peace that You have made possible, and a Body that loves and has concern for redeeming not just us humans, but the society and this world, for Your glory. May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace, in believing in Your leadership, that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope, as we persevere in endurance in all that You are calling us to do.Ā
In Jesusā name, Amen.
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