I have observed in many chinese churches in America, including some American ones.
The
lack of "a good helper" has always been a major problem in these
churches. So when there is some new strong, young blood showing up at
the door, the hunger for a "helper" today is so severe that one cannot
tell if the over zealous welcome has an ulterior motive. However, if one does
not go according to the wishes of the older members, he/she is
immediately treated as an outsider instead of being seen as a need to
be geared towards the right direction. The good name of the church has
been tainted by doubts in its sincerity.
This is not the point,
however. From what I could gather, the reason many churches cannot grow,
have "not enough" faithful servants, is because they follow the American way and the wrong
interpretation of the scripture which deals with children.
I have seen
many organizations such as the museums, having many programs and events
for children, very rarely do they have any for the adults. The same
thing is happening in many churches. True, children are the future and
therefore important, but who then is qualified to teach them? Guide
them? The Western principle insists on a qualified college graduate with
pay. As long as there are a few of the rich remain in the church, they have no
problem surviving with this principle or else the consequences are
unthinkable. As for the Chinese churches here, it is a hard principle
for most to swallow, so they use the same old "volunteering" system. When
there are no volunteers, it's the "everyone must serve, the younger the better" principle. As a
result, quality though verbally acknowledged is ignored, authority, true
will to learn, fellowship, relationship, etc. are all in chaos, covered
by a smile of hypocrisy.
Consequently, it really doesn't matter
who's qualified, as long as they are young (meaning more energy) and have yet
to form their own family (meaning more free time) will be the first candidates.
All God's principles are being thrown into the sea.
Young
teaching young, while those who have become parents usually commit to
things like cooking, cleaning, sweeping the floor, making "caring"
conversations, boasting their "hardships", etc. The world must have gone
upsidedown: Should not the adult parents be more apt to teach and be
role models to the younger generation and the young singles do the
cooking, sweeping floors and other manual labor? If the old are not
"educated" enough, should there not be such training? Should such prayer
not be wasted elsewhere?
The society today has the false
impression that there is no such opportunity for adults to pursue
advanced knowledge for free in the church. Any such advancement will have to be
accompolished in colleges and it is not free. After graduation, they
want the worth of their certificates with salary in programs pertaining
to the church. That which is free in the church is mostly only for
children. They are willing, because enjoying the cuteness of other
people's children is payment enough. There is no true love for God's
kingdom, no true responsibility, there is no true sacrifice for the benefit of others.
Recalling
a Chinese baptist church I've attended in Penang, Malaysia long time
ago, I feel very proud and honored to have known those people there,
eventhough I do not think I would ever see them again in this lifetime.
These are true servants of God. Evangelically, these have driven to mob towns
to pull people of all ages and backgrounds into the church. And in Boys
Brigade, Sunday Schools, they have parents leading such responsibility.
Some of these parents came from backgrounds far worse than these Chinese
in America, and they have proven true example to their own children as well
as other people's children in Sunday schools and such programs.
Children of the church grew up learning to respect teachers, parents, the true value of family,
etc. The Americans don't see this.
Without TRUE role models, they
have older youth guiding younger youth (and many wonder why these kids
follow the pop culture, undisciplined, disrespectful of their senior,
etc.). As the children grew up in the church, they see no family
structure in the church, they have no role models, they show no true respect, they learn nothing,
they get bored and they never return once they have left.
True, some
single youth are a special gift from God for certain special occasion.
Nonetheless, we must always start from the foundational principle taught
in the Bible. First, let those who have the role of leadership, spiritual role
model, teaching authority, be anyone who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. Titus 1:6
If
a church is given such resources and not able to make use of and bury
them until the arrival of our Lord, but instead, squeezes milk from
other farmers' heifers, what then? I could only pray that God take not
these resources away from them and give to someone else, for they
"probably" know not what they have done.