Disciplining youth is one of the most challenging ministries in churches today because their worldview, whether they are aware of it or not, is greatly shaped by media technologies. When I was young, until I enrolled in college to earn my degree, it was very evident that my loves, desires, behaviors, and values ​​were heavily influenced by my family, my culture, and my peers. Looking at our young generations today, as I observe and relate to them, it is very evident that their loves, desires, behaviors and values ​​are extremely influenced by the rapid advancement of technology and the rapidly changing social norms and standards, which it is also influenced by none other than information and communication technologies. According to the article Sharing an Integral Christian Worldview with a Younger Generation: Why and How Should It Be Done and Received? Benny J. Van Der Walt stated that: “Today's Christian youth are strongly influenced by contemporary cultural trends, often incompatible with a biblically based worldview (Walt 2017). I agree with this statement because these young generations are exposed to different cultures acquired through information technology. This is why the need to share the Christian worldview with them is essential and this can be achieved through discipleship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the youth group that I am currently supervising, all of them are struggling with their identity in terms of self-esteem, belonging and sometimes identity in terms of gender. Their worldview is strongly shaped by the massive transmission of information by advanced technologies in addition to their family and community culture. Their identity is at stake because they feel lost and long for the connectivity and peer-to-peer interaction they have found in social media. These are the effects of sin. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27) but because of sin he was lost (Romans 3:23). His identity has been lost because sin has distorted man's perspective of himself and his purpose. Technology itself is not bad, it is part of the cultural development that God has commissioned man to do (Genesis 1:28). It is very useful in economics, entertainment, arts, health and education. But it is also contaminated by sin. As stated in A Connected and Inserted Worldview: Youth and New Media by Bertie Loubser, The methods by which students and other young people acquire and assimilate new knowledge (epistemologically), process and understand information (cognitively), and create or formulate information personal. meaning and meaning (metaphysically), are all changed and informed by their consumption of new technologies. Therefore, in the pursuit of a worldview acceptable to their peers and community, young people must grapple with both the objectively perceived and subjectively experienced manifestations of the online world; a world immersed in new media (Loubser 2012). Their active involvement in social networking sites and use of instant messaging technology is greatly influencing their being because technology changes the way people learn, create and process information. This scenario will lead to a worldview reform of which younger generations will be the immediate recipients due to their high exposure to new technologies. Many students and young people consider multimedia technologies as somethingof great importance in their lives, has already become a necessity. Technologies such as mobile phones, tablets, iPads and computers are implicated in shaping the individuality and personality of young generations. It is widely used in youth culture to communicate a desired image to others, to express social status and to form a visible personal characteristic in the formation of an identity. Too many teenagers feel more comfortable in the online chat environment of in-room conversation than in the case of offline, face-to-face meetings (Loubser 2012). If we want to know them more, who their friends are, their activities, their thoughts and emotions, we just have to consult their profiles in their social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram, Line and Twitter. In short, the cultural vision of the world that is formed and which strongly influences the use of technologies permeates the lives of young generations, shaping their identity. An example of this is that in our group there are some students who grew up in the church but have a different perspective on things that are not part of their family culture. They have multiple worldviews that are not only influenced by family, community, school and workplace, but are globally based due to their unlimited access to world cultures through Internet browsing and social networking. Their worldviews are extremely influenced by the so-called online community, group chats or chat rooms. In the Asian context, even if you have reached the legal age of 18 or 21, as long as you still live with your parents, you must let them know where you stand despite your independence in terms of decisions and responsibilities. When I was this age, I still let my parents know these things to show them my honor and respect, but today's younger generation is different, independence means complete freedom from parental or guardian supervision. Albert M. Wolters in his book Creation Regained, writes that: What was formed in creation has been historically deformed by sin and must be reformed in Chris (Wolters 2005). Because of sin, humanity and all creation have been distorted. As Christians, we have a mandate to go and make disciples and teach them to obey God's commandments (Matthew 28:19-20). To counteract the habituation to the negative effects of media technology in younger generations, sharing the Christian worldview must be integrated into all aspects of ministries in the Church, especially in the area of ​​evangelism and disciple-making. As we reach younger generations, we need to make sure we present the gospel in a way that makes it relevant to their lives. Because their worldview is shaped by media technologies, their hearts are occupied by them, and their being-in-the-world is shaped by social media networks around the world, we can benefit from reaching them through cultural redemption in he area of ​​technology because information and communication technologies are so useful for our education, health, job skills, connecting us to families in different places and so on. The following are suggested steps we can take to evangelize: (1) Analyze recipients' worldviews by asking specific sets of questions. These questions focus on their loves and desires which are based on the five worldview questions; What is the ultimate reality? Who am I? Where are they? What's the problem? What is the remedy? Examples of these questions are; what is the most meaningful thing in your life, how do you spend most of your time, who are your friends and what are the things you do together. Through their answers we can be able to identify theentry point to connect more deeply to the goals. In this phase, we can apply presence evangelism by spending time with the target; (2) Strategize the right approach in building relationships with targets based on their worldviews. Basically, we will not stick to a single approach, even if the targets have similar worldviews, because most non-believers have multiple worldviews due to different backgrounds. Here we can invite the target to watch films together, outdoor activities and friendship meetings which will expose the target to cultural redemption in the area of ​​recreation and relationships with others; (3) Share the Christian worldview through stories with the intention of opening the target audience to another perspective like what Jesus did when teaching people. He used stories and parables to bring out the status of people's hearts and lead them to the truth; (4) Create a new way to present the gospel based on the entry point. Targets will most likely share their favorite movies, online activities, school, family and relationships. I will start sharing about creation, fall or redemption or it can be redemption first, I will simply explain why we need redemption; (5) Lead the target to receive Christ according to the leading of the Holy Spirit; (6) Disciple the new believer. Like what I mentioned at the beginning of this article, discipleship of young people is very challenging because the cultural worldview is permeated into their lives, but it is different because their worldview is extremely influenced by the media technologies that have brought to a variety or sometimes conflicting worldviews. Therefore, they have a tendency to adhere to a mix of worldviews. They are thus trapped in the negative effects of information and communication technologies. They can no longer stop using technology because it is already part of their breathing. As Christian leaders and mentors, we must work together to disciple younger generations into having a Bible-based worldview so that they reproduce generations strongly established in the truth. We must help them reap the benefits of using advancing media technology in their lives as intended as part of God's cultural mandate rather than rule and ultimately destroy them. Integrating the Christian worldview into all aspects of my life brings me to an awakening structurally and directionally. I have had a paradigm shift with a new worldview perspective and my loves have been recalibrated towards God and in the process of getting used to a new way of spending my life every day by consciously involving God in everything I do. My goal is to be fully satisfied with my Creator and my wants and desires are adjusted and aligned with His. As the Scripture says: Therefore, whether you eat, or whether you drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). For in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). From this awakening and restoration I experienced, I gained momentum in my passion to disciple people and pioneer small groups. Just to give you a brief overview of my ministries, I have been running the discipleship department at our church for over five years because of my passion for discipling and building people. I also pioneer small groups and send dying small groups to revive because I can easily grow a group. That's why I've experienced leading different affinity groups: singles, single parents, and couples, despite my single status. I have currently been supervising the Youth Group for two years and, ato be honest, as I said, this is the most challenging group. And somehow, I've lost momentum in pursuing my passion because I struggle to disciple them. Although there are other factors, but regulating them is very important. But then, as I learned how cultural worldviews influence people's lives, I understood the urgency of discipling this young generation. Wayne Cordiero said: You can teach what you know but you can only reproduce what you are (Cordiero n.d.). Considering the above factors, the following steps will be helpful in discipling the youth group. (1) Analyze their worldviews through their histories, families, cultures and beliefs, and most importantly, profile them through their social media accounts. Take time to read their posts and comments. Do some online investigation about them to know their hearts and thoughts through their thank you posts. This is useful to avoid instantly understanding a person's perspective on creation and God. This approach will result in proper management of young people with different backgrounds, “culture and faith commitments”. We will also know the right approach in dealing with their concerns in all aspects of their life. Praise God that in the last few weeks, as I have started to apply these principles, I have been able to make some progress in reaching them, especially to the few homosexuals in the group. My prayer is that I will continue to depend on the counsel of the Holy Spirit and the grace God has given me to disciple them. That my heart for them will be totally aligned with God's heart for them. (2) Train youth leaders to disciple others based on the new perspective of discipleship that incorporates worldview and discernment of structure and direction. Every disciple of Christ is commanded to go and make disciples. As redeemed children of God, we are vessels of His plan of redemption for all mankind and all of His creation. We participate in the reform of that which has been deformed by sin. It is the restoration of creational goodness to its original structure and direction. It is accomplished through the restoration of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a process of progressive inner renewal in every phase of human life in all its aspects (Wolters 2005). We will disciple the young generations by leading them to make an effort towards the progressive removal of the effects of sin in their lives through sanctification. Now may the God of peace sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23). It is the word of God that will sanctify us in every way (John 17:17). One of the common negative effects of communication technology and considered critical is space-time mismatch. This means that the use of digital media appears to disorient users in terms of perceived time and space (place). As if time has stopped for users and there seems to be a unity between users and technology (Loubser 2012). Addiction to digital media is becoming its slave. You are what you love (Smith 2016). This is why young people's social skills are not developed. They often preferred to be alone and spend time with their online community. Some of the practical things to do in this regard are to educate them about the benefits of using technologies in their studies and research, enhancing arts and entertainment, and maintaining communication with family members staying in other places. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay There are four.