Abstract
For many Christian educators invested in the faith of the next generation, we have come to recognize how digital media has become an ever-present “companion” to our young people. Given that digital media is often more accessible than family, friends, and mentors and is designed to maximize engagement, its ubiquitous influence hence raises a crucial question: how ought we to disciple young people in the age of digital media?
Pushing beyond the binary of “good versus bad” or “use versus abstain,” Vo Huong Nam’s constructive journey in Digital Media and Youth Discipleship: Pitfalls and Promise seeks to “find a balanced and holistic approach in discipling youth, both theologically and practically” (p. 19). If you are a Christian educator hoping to build a holistic understanding of discipling youth in the digital age, then Nam’s book is an excellent launchpad to propel your own theological and theoretical journey.
Nam begins by surveying social-scientific research to understand the ways in which digital media positively and negatively influences youth development. Building upon a practical understanding of the influence of social media, Nam synthesizes Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and Nouwen’s theologies of self, community, and youth to argue for a theology of youth discipleship. Through this process, Nam defines youth discipleship as, “teaching youth, whose personal identity is profoundly influenced by the digital culture, to practice experiencing intimacy with Christ in the context of the faith community and personal daily life” (p. 244). Nam finishes his book by considering how this theology of youth discipleship can be embodied in practice and draws examples from his work in Vietnam and the United Kingdom.
A tremendous help Nam offers to the Christian educator lies in his meticulous literature review. Nam tackles a dizzying array of social science theory, Christian thought, and theology as he seeks to understand how each variable might coalesce into a working theology. Nam’s review guides the reader into a breadth of academic dialogue, which helps identify research, theories, and thinkers who can serve as further guides toward understanding how to disciple youth amidst the digital age. I was particularly grateful for Nam’s introduction to Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (PublicAffairs, 2019), which explores how Big Tech harvests human experiences in order to design digital experiences which maximize attention and profit from the user. Drawing on the lens of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of identity formation in Identity: Youth and Crisis (Norton, 1968), Nam identifies the frightening implication that youth are building their sense of identity amidst a context designed to maximize profit, rather than to promote the welfare and actualization of the young person. As one interested in learning design, this alerts me to the importance of designing formation experiences which promote critical media literacy and reflection.
While Nam expertly organizes the dialogue, readers who hope for a practical framework may find themselves a bit disappointed by the limitation Nam's work holds for direct praxis. As previously stated, Nam summarizes his youth discipleship theology as “teaching youth, whose personal identity is profoundly influenced by the digital culture, to practice experiencing intimacy with Christ in the context of the faith community and personal daily life” (p. 244). While the orthodoxy of Nam’s theology reminds us that the identity and journey of the Christian is the same regardless of time and technology, there is not much practical direction as to how one is to approach discipling youth who are profoundly influenced by digital culture; nor is there a theoretical framework to explain why a particular approach might work best.
I think the limitation of Nam’s theology for praxis stems primarily from how Nam deals with the social-scientific dimension of his research. Whereas Nam steadily leans upon theological giants to construct his theology of youth discipleship, he does not similarly root himself in any of the social-scientific thinkers he references. Consequently, Nam’s usage of the social-scientific research becomes more of a wide range of observed effects, rather than an explanatory, conceptual understanding of how digital media informs discipleship practice. I believe a commitment to a particular line of social science theory would have helped Nam generate a practical working model to accompany and actualize his theology.
While this book may have its limitations in creating a conclusive framework, Nam’s excellent literature review paves the way for Christian educators to begin thinking holistically and theologically about digital media’s relationship with youth and the implications for discipling young people during this age. I am excited to see how Nam's book inspires and shapes the ways Christian educators minister to young people in this digital age.