Our families face threats, Church must work to ward them off:
STORIES BY PETER
PICTURES BY DANIEL LIE
OUR families are under threat, and as Christians, we know that the Devil is constantly waging war against our families.
Stating this in his President’s Address at
One of these is the rapid development of technology. The world of cyberspace has a mesmerising effect on the lives of the youth, and some negative consequences in society are already being seen.
The Church is not constructively engaged in cyberspace, he said, and the problem is further complicated by the generational gap between the youthful savvy travellers in that world and the aging laggards in this world.
This contributes to family dysfunction by inhibiting, if not destroying, the interpersonal communication that is so vital to family wellbeing.
In addition, cyberspace and the various kinds of new media, as well as the “older” ones such as movies, television and print, influence changes to our value system. Children and youth receive messages over the Internet and mobile phones which are not aired in the “older”media, and this often goes unnoticed until it is too late.
“It is subtle and sublime, mostly subversive and regressive,” said the Rev Wee.
Urging pastors and leaders to enlist those who work in the new media to enter into a new “cyberspace ministry” of the Church, he said: “We must encourage Christians to enter into this world of media, entertainment and the arts, if possible to stop the slide, and produce works that reflect the biblical values we cherish with common humanity.
“We should not accept the absurd, the aberrant, and the exceptions to be portrayed as the norm,” he said.
Returning to the theme of threats to the family, he said that the ongoing tension between work and family continues as a potential threat to family life. This is further complicated by the demands upon time for ministry and other forms of service in the church.
“Life in church should be pro-family in that our activities should strengthen the bonds between wife and husband and between children and parents.”
He pointed out that pastors’ families and those of ministry staff are not exempt from these threats.
He likened warding off these threats to building up a healthy body to fight against infection, saying we have to pay attention to nurturing our, as well as our children’s spirituality, to a point where we have the necessary antibodies to identify and resist the unwanted and sublime enemy.
“Church and family must work together to achieve this goal,” he said. He then called on those
Turning to another issue, that of stewardship of the earth’s resources, he said: “As individual churches, we should begin, if we have not done so, to examine the way we have been using material, water, energy and other resources within our premises.
“It is an integral part of our witness to the world that we are found to be good stewards in this area.”
Bishop Dr Solomon ordaining Mr Jimmy Wong. At left is