Digital Media and Youth Discipleship

Huong Nam Vo

Description

Today’s youth grow up immersed in digital technology. This presents a unique challenge to the church as it seeks to faithfully make disciples of the next generation. What does it look like – theologically and practically – to minister contextually to those whose lives are permeated by social media and digital culture?
In this in-depth study, Dr. Vo Huong Nam offers both social and theological insight into the task of discipling youth in the digital age. He examines the impact of digital media on both society and young people and offers an overview of Christian responses to the changing technological landscape. Engaging such authors as John Calvin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Henri Nouwen, he develops a constructive theology of spiritual formation relevant to the context of twenty-first century youth. He explores the implications of this theology on church practice, urging the church to take seriously its call to be all things for all people. Drawing specific examples from youth ministry in Vietnam, he addresses practical questions of application and contextualization and suggests that silence, solitude, and prayer are spiritual disciplines uniquely vital for the digital age. This book is an important resource for all those involved in discipling young people and longing to see today’s youth come to fullness of life in Christ.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Ministry
• Philosophie et théologie
• Youth

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839738814
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Nam Vo has commendably dug deep into the Christian theological traditions to weave the different strands together into a coherent thesis that can be applied to the digital milieu, in particular, to the reality and the issue of discipling today’s youth. One noteworthy aspect of this book is Vo’s effort to contextualize the theological discussions in his personal experiences with Vietnamese young people with whom he ministered. The situation of Vietnamese youth depicted in the book demonstrates that the digital culture has permeated every geographic, social, and cultural reality, and presents similar concerns for the global church. Thus Vo’s work is a valuable and unique contribution to the conversation that addresses the religious, spiritual, and moral development and well-being of the youth in the contemporary age – not in the least for the advancement of a theology of the youth in the author’s home country of Vietnam.
Anthony Le Duc, PhD
Executive Director,
Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication,
St John’s University, Thailand
Asian cultures have a reputation for embracing the internet with great enthusiasm. But what happens to people – to the church – when this momentous cultural change washes over a whole society? The first answers to this question are written in the lives of youth. Nam Vo’s burning desire for the church to disciple the next generation well yields an impressive book that asks how social media use changes us. To ask this question well demands asking in fine-grained detail how youth are having their attention, lives, and relationships to their elders reshaped in “wired” age. Vo’s careful engagement with these practical questions leads into a theologically rich response that offers a cutting-edge theological analysis of our social media culture and its effects. It should be mandatory reading for youth pastors in every nation in which having a smartphone is a rite of passage.
Brian Brock, PhD
Professor of Moral and Practical Theology,
School of Divinity, History and Philosophy,
University of Aberdeen, UK
Many churches seem to be fighting a losing battle to retain their youth in the digital age. This book addresses the problem head-on and offers a concrete proposal on how to help young people be faithful disciples of Christ. But it is not merely a how-to book; its unique strength lies in the solidly theological perspectives on which the praxis of youth discipleship is based. Perhaps more importantly, Vo shows that his practical proposals are doable by locating them in the context of Vietnam.
Simon Chan, PhD
Editor, Asia Journal of Theology
Formerly Professor of Theology,
Trinity Theological College, Singapore
Vo Nam moves us through and then beyond the tribal arguments of the evils or benefits of digital culture for young people and for the church. He leads the reader and the whole church to a place where we have a robust theological foundation for understanding discipleship that includes and uses the digital world. If you are reading this book, be prepared to be inspired to take your ministries of discipleship to new places and depths.
Rev. Steven Emery-Wright, PhD
Formerly Executive Committee Member,
International Association for Study of Youth Ministry
Former Lecturer,
Hyupsung Methodist University, South Korea
Fifty-two percent of the world’s population is under thirty years of age and almost every one of them a digital native. Effectively communicating the gospel with people of this generation, and facilitating their discipleship, presents the greatest challenge to cross-cultural missions since the apostolic era when the Jewish story of the Messiah had to be mediated to a gentile world.
The global disconnect between the church and millennials has not only distanced Christianity from unreached youth, it has led to staggering numbers of christianized young people exiting church communities at speed. Vo Huong Nam’s groundbreaking exploration of the relationship between digital media, youth, and discipleship could not therefore have been more exquisitely timed. Through his book, Dr. Vo expertly walks the reader through the complexities of ministering to young people immersed in the dynamic environment of the digital world. His Vietnamese heritage, research in Western Europe, and hands-on experience of youth ministry – together with deep insights into the theologies of formation of practitioners as diverse as Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and Nouwen – combine to ensure that Digital Media and Youth Discipleship will long remain an invaluable resource for this new frontier of missions for churches and seminaries worldwide.
Ivor Poobalan, PhD
Principal, Colombo Theological Seminary, Sri Lanka
Co-Chair, Lausanne Theology Working Group
Young people will be served well when leaders in the church listen well to the challenges they face, respond wisely with deep theological reflection, and seek above all things to present them with the good news of Jesus. Nam has served youth well in this work, and serves the church well, by bringing together a careful consideration of Christian spiritual formation with the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.
Graham Stanton, PhD
Lecturer, Practical Theology,
Director, Ridley Centre for Children’s and Youth Ministry,
Ridley College, Australia
Digital technology is here with us to stay. But it is an ambiguous medium. On the one hand, it opens up new possibilities for networking and innovative community building. On the other hand, it opens up space for abuse, misinformation, and an attack on the nature of truth that should not be underestimated. This book begins with the premise that it is the responsibility of the church to guide young people through the complexities of digital technology and to help them utilize it faithfully as they work to participate in God’s mission to the world. In wrestling with the question of what it means for young people to be disciples in a digital age, the book draws on theology as a dialogue partner and a guiding light, which can enable digital technology to fulfill its theological potential and to become a useful and valued aspect of the church’s ministry. This book is both fascinating and timely.
Rev. John Swinton, PhD
Professor, Practical Theology and Pastoral Care,
King’s College, University of Aberdeen, UK

Digital Media and Youth Discipleship
Pitfalls and Promise
Vo Huong Nam

© 2023 Vo Huong Nam
Published 2023 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-663-6 Print
978-1-83973-881-4 ePub
978-1-83973-882-1 PDF
Vo Huong Nam has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-663-6
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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Contents

Cover


Summary


Acknowledgments


Introduction


The Importance of This Project for the Church in Vietnam


Methodology, Context, and Audience


Definitions


My Church Tradition


Evangelical Spirituality


Approach to Spiritual Development


Thesis Introduction


The Path of the Thesis


Chapter 1 The Time of Digital Media


1. Description of the Emerging Connected Society


2. Christian Response


3. Theology of Youth Work


Chapter 2 The Impacts of Digital Media


1. The Impacts of Digital Media on Society


2. The Impacts of Digital Media on Youth


3. Youth Identity in the Digital Age


4. Mentoring Youth


Chapter 3 Theology of Spiritual Formation


1. The History of the Term “Spiritual Formation”


2. Theology of Spiritual Formation


3. The Practice of Solitude


Chapter 4 The Theologies Needed for Youth Discipleship Given by Dietrich Bonhoeffer


1. Digital Media and the Gospel


2. Theology of Self-Identity


3. Theology of Discipleship


4. Theology of Community


5. Theology of Youth


Chapter 5 Youth Discipleship in the Digital Age


1. What Aspects of Digital Technology Are Really Helpful?


2. Youth Ministry


3. Implications for the Church’s Practice of Discipling the Youth of the Digital Age


4. Contextualizing the Theology of Spiritual Formation for Youth Ministry in Vietnam


Conclusion


Appendix Definitions of Spiritual Formation


Bibliography


Social-Scientific Study on Digital Media and Technology


Youth Identity and Culture


Technology and Theology


Theology of Discipleship


Youth discipleship


Vietnamese Church Context


About Langham Partnership

Endnot