The Tent: A safe place for shepherds to reflect together
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Sam Park
Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Flushing, NY
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:14 pm Post subject: Gathering the Scattered Shepherds |
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“I will gather those who have been scatteredâ€â€”Zephaniah 3:19. One of the most alarming discoveries as we planted our church has been the large number of Asian American Christians who had left the church. I’m not sure if I would call them “lost†though. They seem more “disillusioned†than lost. In our conversations, I have found that they may have in fact, lost faith in the church, but not necessarily in God. They believe in God, but feel that the churches are the ones who are lost—that they have “lost†touch with its members, especially, them… the younger generation. I know that these may merely be excuses for some, but I have to admit that there is some validity in what they say as well. I think it all starts with the way that the “scattered†new generation of shepherds are being “gathered†themselves.
In the first story of this chapter, Said experienced the “traditional way of learning responsibility for the family’s flock.†There is probably a great deal of wisdom in these traditions—and they are time proven methods. I wonder though, if it would be more effect to “tweak†the way that all this wisdom is communicated. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find healthy and vibrant leaders for the next generation of believers within the Asian American community. They grow up having a great deal of passion for ministering to their own people. However, they see the leadership and they see the way things are done and they become disillusioned about leading the flock. Sometimes, they come out having very little shepherding skills themselves (because they haven’t been taught properly or because they’ve been taught the “traditional†ways of doing things). One of the most important things that the older generations can do is to continue to offer their timeless wisdom, by modeling it, but also by empowering the next generation of leaders to discover how to shepherd their flock in the most relevant way. The most effect way to develop these leaders is for this offering of freedom and empowerment to occur while they are youth pastors or youth leaders within the traditional church. That way, tradition doesn’t have to leave a bad taste in their mouths, but something timeless to rediscover and redeploy when they begin to lead their flock themselves. |
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