The Pen of Twelve

Doing Good vis-a-vis Kind Intentions

2010-06-30T22:48:00.001+08:00

"To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world." ~1Cor 4:11-13

Christianity has been around for over two thousand years, and as long as the Earth if we include Judaism as part of her historical lineage. It was not all smooth-sailing in the beginning; in fact, their Messiah, Jesus Christ, had to suffer and even died on the cross in order to save the world of their sins. Following Jesus' ascension to heaven, His disciples attempted to fulfill the near impossible Great Commission task of making disciples of all nations. They formed the minority, having the urgency to find their self-identity in the greater Greco-Roman society, apart from their Jewish heritage. They were severely persecuted during their times.

Those are the context from which the above passage was written by Apostle Paul. Increasingly, modern Christians like to (mis)quote the passage when they do not get what they wanted. They think that being ostracized by their social circle on account of their Christian faith is persecution. What they fail to realize is that they are not being persecuted for the good actions produced by their faith, instead they are being judged by the kind intentions because of their faith. There is a subtle difference between the two actions, which we can see in greater details below.

Good Actions
For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. ~1Peter 2:15

The epistle of 1Peter teaches us that it is God's will to do good. In fact, this is one of God's character, in which He wants us to imitate. In the book of Genesis, Creation was so well formed together that God assessed it to be good. An active good engagement can help us to silence the unceasing ignorant talk of people. We need to understand that good is something that we constantly need to strive for without giving up. It is futile to address people as good when they have ceased to continue to do good. For such people, we will usually add in "used to be" to remember their past good but not their present bad. In this aspect, we can view the final destination of doing good to be perfection, from which all goodness will radiate. Only when we actively pursue good can we mute the ignorant talk of people. Those who do not know God also understand what is good because we are all created with the capacity to do good and be perfect. Unknowingly, we all tend to project our image or standard of good towards others, and rarely to ourselves. For example, we demand good customer service from service staffs without thinking that we may fail terribly if placed in the same shoe of serving others. These kinds of unpleasant words come naturally from the lips of Christians and non-Christians alike, simply because the world has not yet attained perfection. Our mandate is to fulfill the Great Commandments and the Great Commission by relentlessly doing what is good. We also need to educate the foolish by doing what is right. God's way of salvation is never to beat others at their own game. We should strive to win over others by doing what is right in God's eyes. This is to say that we should never try to outran others in terms of worldly pursuit, for that is foolishness in the kingdom of God. Material possessions often come as a test and a temptation. When one fails the test, it will become an even bigger temptation that is far more difficult to resist. Doing good may not necessary be doing something so great that will impact the world, instead it is often exemplifies in the little help that we render our neighbors and the needy. Doing good does not equate to sticking around in church premise trying to lend a helping hand. It is to venture out of our comfort zone and into our local community to sense the needs of fellow citizens. Doing good also does not translate to tangible actions. It can be in a passive form of responsible restriction of our own privileges in order not to do something bad. In whatever manners we can think of, doing good is ultimately God's will for all of us.

Kind Intentions
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. ~James 2:26

Many non-Christians criticize Christianity because of our kind intentions. In fulfilling the Great Commission, we tend to "over-evangelize" to our loved ones, our friends and even strangers out there in the street. The greater the enthusiasm, the greater the criticism. Why so? People are just not convinced that Christianity will help them to become a better person. Granted that the message of the gospel is to save sinners, not produce saints. But people perceive the same gospel will have a transforming effect on believers, especially on someone whom they have known for some time. Besides learning how to evangelize, would it be more appropriate to allocate some regular times to examine ourselves before God and to ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins. Then we can learn to repent and learn how to overcome our weaknesses by the grace of God. Who knows, perhaps the process of getting rid of our own weaknesses can be a good and powerful testimony of God's transforming deeds in our lives. Kind intentions and doing good are two different actions. A kind intention can produce a good action, but it is merely a kind gesture, or a by-the-way kind of deed, whereas doing good is an intentional will to engage in good actions with the aim of perfection. For example, one can help a colleague to open a door out of kind intention, whereas he will also proceed to engage in deep conversation with that colleague to understand his/her needs better because he wants to do something good for him/her.

The next time when we are faced with "persecutions", we need to ask ourselves whether we have been doing good and become a positive source of influence in our current social setting. Quite often, the things that we matter does not matter to others unless we matter what they matter too. It is not out of pure kind intention that missionaries help the poor and needy to build houses, schools, hospitals and other important facilities. Instead, they engage in social projects precisely because they want to imitate Jesus Christ. It is only when we show with visible actions that we care and love them that they will start to appreciate the love of God, which is embedded in every part of the gospel message. So the next time you have kind intention for a person or a group of people, ask God to give you compassion and love for them, so that you can walk the extra mile and do good to meet their felt and real needs by the power of the gospel in Christ. Amen!

Movie Review on the End of the Spear

2009-11-24T02:02:00.005+08:00

Introduction
The End of the Spear was a life transformation story of a tribal people in Ecuador called the Waodani, through the relentless efforts of five missionary men (Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, Roger Youderin and Peter Fleming) and their family members. All five men were brutally speared to death by a group of fierce Waodani warriors. Their devastated family members, however, continued the missions by living among the violent tribal people. As a result, the entire tribe of Waodani accepted the Christian gospel and experienced positive changes in their lives.

What was the key to their dramatic transformation? In my personal critics of this movie, i think the question was answered by the apt employment of a literary device – the Chiasm (a literary structural device that exhibits the A-B-B-A pattern), in the overall structure of the movie. In total, there were five distinct inclusios (a literary bracket formed by making the ending of a section parallels the beginning) that form a nice inversion (an extended Chiasm that is shaped like a pyramid, e.g. A-B-C-B1-A1) to point to the crux of the story. All these will be discussed in greater details below.

The Five Inclusios
Inclusios are normally added to form an inversion in order to draw attention to something important. Each inclusio will prompt audience to the next one until the eventual climax is revealed. In this case, five inclusios were employed to point to the crux of the story.

Violence and Hatred vis-à-vis Peace and Reconciliation
Set in the Ecuadorian jungles, the Waodani were depicted as violent people right from the beginning of the show. Apparently, they were taught since young to spear and live or be speared and die. They risk extinction through their vicious cycles of revenge killings among themselves. Towards the end of the show, this hopeless state was contrasted by the peaceful living within the Waodani village. Even Steve Saint, a missionary’s son, was reconciled with Mincayane, the tribal leader and murderer of his dad. What caused the dramatic change in the conventional lifestyle and attitudes of the Waodani and the family member of the missionary?

Escape of Dayumae vis-à-vis Return of Steve Saint
Having lived and witnessed such violent and harsh environment, young Dayumae, one of the Waodani, decided to run off and escaped to the ‘white foreigners’. She saw no hope or whatsoever in staying any longer with the tribe and perceived the other ‘world’ as a better place to live in. This was contrasted by the return of Steve Saint from the developed country of United States to the rural compound of Waodani. After paying his last respect to his deceased aunt, Rachel Saint, Steve decided to live among the transformed Waodani with his family members. What caused the change to the living conditions and perception in the land of Waodani?

Nate Saint to Waodani vis-à-vis Waodani to Steve Saint
Nate Saint, the father of Steve, was the pilot among the missionary team. He was flying as often as he could in search of the secluded Waodani settlement. The search was not easy because they were always on the move, especially if they were targeted by their rival tribesmen. They were an exclusive community with the sole purpose of self-preservation. Later, it was the Waodani who began to look for Steve to have him return back to them. Their community was thus expanded to include rival tribesmen and even non-Waodani people. What caused the change from exclusivity to inclusivity of the Waodani community?

Distant Contact vis-à-vis Intimate Contact
When Nate Saint first discovered the Waodani people, he began to drop gifts from his aircraft in order to establish good rapport with them. The reciprocal of a gift from them made him perceived that he had succeeded in his pre-contact mission. The movie later depicted that it was not so. Surface contact is never as effective as in-depth relationship building. After the death of the five male missionaries, their family members took the risk of living among the Waodani. Through their ways of life, they were able to convince the tribal people of their sincerity and pure motives of establishing contact with them. What caused the long persistency and the strong courage of the difficult contact works by the missionary team to the Waodani?

Problems vis-à-vis Solutions
After some time, the five missionary men finally came into physical contact with the Waodani males. That short encounter witnessed the real problems of the Waodani – their chronic fears, violence and revenge killing instincts. Due to a miscommunication, all five were massacred. This was the practical communication problem faced by the missionaries. They undermined the need to acquire native language before coming into close contact with the primitive Waodani. When the family members of the deceased missionaries went to stay with the Waodani, they brought along Dayumae so that she could help with the oral translation work. In addressing Waodani’s problems, they demonstrated in very practical ways on how one should extend hospitality to people, even enemies, and tend to their needs. Slowly, the Waodani people followed suit and realized the fruits of showing kindness to others, thus ending their constant fears and endless revenge killings spree. What caused the change to their ways of life and conduct to others?

The Crux
After five inclusios, the movie finally revealed the crux of the story – the Christian gospel. It was precisely this piece of good news that first called the missionary team to embark on such dangerous missions, and at the same time, converted the revenge killings Waodani people into a peaceable tribal group. The changes mentioned earlier were all made possible because of this seemingly impossible task of sharing the gospel to the Waodani.

Gospel on the Missionary Team
The gospel inspired the missionary team to step foot into the uncivilized regions of Ecuador. They were committed, as an entire family unit, to invest their time and efforts to bring the good news to the unreached Waodani people. The inherent risk was high but the potential rewards were even higher. A few lives for the many lives of Waodani and their future generations to come. The intensity of the call could be clearly seen when Nate responded to Steve: “Son, we can't shoot the Waodani, they are not ready for Heaven. We are!”

It was the same gospel that helped the family members of the deceased missionaries to forgive their enemies and live among them. For them, the gospel was not merely something to grasp and know, rather it was to be internalized and lived out. The impact of such strong life testimonies enabled the gospel message to penetrate into the lives of the illiterate Waodani people.

Gospel for the Waodani
From unbelief to accepting the gospel, the Waodani experienced what they had never encountered in their tradition. Initially, they could not accept the gospel from the words of Dayumae. How could Waengongi’s son, who was speared to death, not speared back at his enemies? Literally, this gospel message was reinforced by the fact that the family members of the deceased missionaries did not seek any form of revenge. Instead, they showed kindness to Waodani people, and such hospitality was even extended to their rival tribesmen.

The gospel message was not forcibly given to the Waodani people. They were given the gospel and the practical life testimonies that corresponded with the gospel. Slowly, when the Waodani people began to embrace the gospel, it liberated their mindsets and ways of life, and resulted in positive changes in their lives. The local Christians, in terms, through their own life testimonies, advanced the gospel further to the rest of their tribesmen. Eventually, the Waodani Chief and the entire tribe were converted to Christianity.

Conclusion
The End of the Spear first discussed the problems faced by the Waodani and the missionary team. Through the transforming power of the gospel, the missionary team overcame all odds to bring the same gospel to the Waodani. Indeed, the gospel was what the Waodani people needed the most to bring an end to the spear – the ceasing of their revenge killings problems and start of their more humane and civilized ways of life, in accordance to the gospel.

Religious Contradiction of Taoism (Part 1)

2009-09-22T12:56:00.008+08:00

Many times I had asked myself whether i would opt to remain a Taoist, following my family's religion, if I was not exposed to the Christian faith in the first place. The answer seems very obvious to me based on the sheer logic of rational thinking. I would probably be more an atheist if not a Christian, as many 'nominal' modern Taoists around me are behaving. Besides having the practical form of basic Taoist rituals, many would be unqualified to be called a true blue Taoist if probed further in terms of their scriptural and historical understanding. If people can now accept Science as the basis for modern evolution, then I think, Taoism has no place to be a valid religion, except for the fact that it was involuntarily forced down onto us by our illiterate ancestors. And it does not help much to know that our old habits die hard, by which I mean our childhood's ways of life have a much hypnotizing effect on us than we think we have safely escaped through modern education and experience.

Here I stand, committed to highlight what I think are the key religious contradictions of Taoism. It would be very useful, I think, if interested parties can spin off further discussions arising from this topic.

"I think therefore I am" ~Rene Descartes

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1) Providing for the Deceased
Common Taoist's understanding of their deceased family members is that they are somewhere in the underworld or in the far East Paradise (more like a Buddhist's influence). And they require some forms of food (mainly vegetables, sometimes chicken and fishes) and resources (hell-notes, property, servants, and gaining popularity, credit cards) to sustain their post-death standard of living. Offering joss stick and burning candle (nowadays electric light bulb) is a daily affair, failing which a terrible misdeed is done unto the decreased. If one does not do some or all the things above, they are condemned as unfilial family member by their elderly or nosy neighbors.

Contradictions:
- Only Taoists practice the above-mentioned rituals, so what will become of the rest of the billions of non-Taoist deceased? Do they go hungry and be in perpetual poverty in the 'other-world'?

- If we notice carefully, there appear only a handful of names in the altar of a Taoist's house. So what happen to the previous generations before them? Let us do a simple mathematics to illustrate this point. A child has two parents and the two parents each has another two parents of their own. The list goes up exponentially. In a hundred years, there are probably 5 or more generations of a particular family. That will be 2 to the power of 4 (excluding the child), which is 16. How long has the world be in existence? Biblically, it is about 6000 years, but Scientists estimated it to be 13-14 billion years. We do not know exactly how old. But even if we take the more conservative approach, we will still end up with a very long genealogy, longer than any known quoted figure in this world. How do we measure filial piety from this aspect? Would they, I mean non-beneficiaries ancestors, grow 'hungry' and be in perpetual poverty as well? If that is the case, we are all 'unfilial' descendants, Taoists or non-Taoists alike.

2) Money for the Deceased
The current World's currency system is a complex and dynamic form of economics structures. Back in the good old days, people use Barter Trade or precious metals and gems for their daily market transactions. As the economy prospers, there is an inevitable need to revamp the old system and exchange it with the more fluid currency system. What is the currency system? Basically, the dollar notes that we have in our pocket are worthless piece of paper. It has purchasing power because our government guarantees and pegs the paper to certain kinds of value. When we use it to buy things, it will only be accepted if the seller has sufficient trust in our government's guarantee. In other words, the seller is willing to trade his goods or services in exchange for this worthless piece of paper because he can use that to buy other things, provided his seller also has the same trust in that government. A good example of the lack of trust was the banana notes printed by the Japanese when they invaded South-East Asia. These notes devalued quickly because people have no trust in the guarantee provided by the Japanese's government. When the Japanese needed more funds, they simply resorted to printing more notes, having no concrete form of value guarantee. Does it sound like the US government now?

Contradictions:
- Now, who is guaranteeing the hell notes that all Taoists are burning? No one! This is further confirmed by the fact that the printed value is getting larger and larger, even worst than Indonesian Rupiah. It is always easy and profitable for merchants to print big value dollar notes. After all, who will refuse to own more money.

- Again, what about the billions of non-Taoist decreased? Won't there be a major riot in the 'other-world' if hell notes are indeed needed to survive? How about small change? We do not see people burning small changes to their ancestors. Either there is a big inflation in the 'other-world' or hell notes are worthless over there.

- That brings us to another interesting question. What can they buy with the hell notes? If indeed there are thriving economy over there, then offering of joss sticks would be redundant because they can simply buy whatever they need using the hell notes. Economically, Taoists would be the sole wealthy class because they are the only people group with money, the rest of the non-Taoists would perhaps live on the outskirts of economical center, living on non-monetary means. Is that realistic? Non-Taoists can easily outnumber the money-laden Taoists by many millions or billions times. And the amount of hell notes they burned would not be suffice to meet everyone's needs.

to be continued ...]

Prevailing Grace

2008-09-08T15:03:00.004+08:00

Human beings lament on our current state of being so much that often we ended up in questioning the existence of the Almighty Creator. If there is a God, why would He allow such seemingly "bad" things to happen to us? We tried to justify ourselves like Job, who simply refused to accept his friends' verdicts. I did no wrong to deserve all these. And what about Tom? He is a better guy than me. What such predicament for him? It is simply unfair. Why would God, if He ever exists, allow such calamities to happen? Doesn't He love the world as the Bible states? What has gone wrong?

This is the topic of Pain and Suffering which many people ask, regardless of their religious beliefs. Some people advocate complete escape from pain and suffering, others resort to preventive measures, yet a majority of us choose to ignore this complex issue altogether and resign reluctantly to fate.

What do the teachings of the major world religion taught us? All acknowledges that pain and suffering are ever so real and present in our midst. No one is spared. As mentioned above, some teach on how to avoid them (more so in future), some how to minimize them (a peace of mind), but none except Christianity explains the root cause of pain and suffering.

The Bible teaches that human beings and the world have been agonizing from the very beginning of time since our first ancestors sinned ("We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." ~ Rom 8:22). And everyone is anticipating redemption from such a fallen state ("Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." ~ Rom 8:23).

Indeed, God has provided an effective redemption for all of us. It is through His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose on the cross for our sins. Through God's saving grace, our relationship with our Creator has been restored. It is precisely the undaunting faith in this gospel message that instills hope for the future glory and joy when we finally arrive in heaven's gate.

Yet, that does not solve the current problem of pain and suffering. There is another form of grace mentioned in the Bible. It is the prevailing grace of God ("For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. ~ Rom 1:20"). Such prevailing grace of God are eloquently discussed in chapters 38 and 39 from the Book of Job. To those who questioned God, He has this to say: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" (~Job 38:4). To those who think they are wise, God probes: "Who endowed the heart with wisdom?" (~ Job 38:36). To pseudo-Nature lovers, God interrogates: "Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?"

The climax of God's prevailing grace would be summed up in these two key verses, "He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished" (Rom 3:25b), explaining that God has left sins committed in the past to go unpunished "so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus" (Rom 8:26b). This is a valid response to those who think that God is unfair to those before Jesus' time. For all who acknowledged their wrongdoings, repented of their sins, and believed in the coming Messiah (or Savior) from the Almighty God will be saved.

O How sweet the prevailing grace
That paves the way for the saving grace

Someone once asked me to define hell. How could I since I have never been there before? But the Bible states that it is definitely an undesirable place of eternal torments and sufferings. And those people continued to question why does a loving God wants to create such a horrible place? True enough, it did occur to me that eternal damnation is not really biblical because Jesus had taught His disciples to forgive their enemies, and to Apostle Peter's question on how many times, He replied seventy-seven times! That form of forgiveness requires a lot of help and trust in God.

Now that I have a better grasp on the prevailing grace of God, the issue on hell can be better read in this light. Hell, in its definition, is a place without any form of God's grace. Yes, the absence of saving grace and prevailing grace. Technically, it is not a place created by God, it is a self-made exile prison where all the rebels chose to be at when they rejected God's grace which was avail and given freely to them. In such a self-centered environment, there can be neither happiness nor joy within the imprisoned cell. And there is no sentence of duration of stay, because these people had renounced their creation rights to live in such a detached place. The Bible further teaches that it is the grace of God that enables people to come to repentance. Without it, human beings are hopelessly lost and incapable of knowing our divine Creator. That is the vicious cycle revolving in the place called hell.

Therefore, the prevailing grace of God in the world has enabled us to know our Creator. It has also sustained the ecological system and made life possible. It has created justice and law in our midst to protect inhabitants. It has remedied and unwound the mistakes that human beings have committed. It has instilled hope and love for the continuation of our offsprings. It is the utmost precious gift from God to His creation.

So now, back to the problem of pain and suffering. With this understanding of the prevailing grace of God, we can perhaps use another theological len to view the issue. Imagine a world without prevailing grace, it would be like a little child without his parents or guardians. It would be like a sick person or wounded chap without any medical assistance. And what is the end-result? They will suffer and pass away tragically. But not so in our world. God's prevailing grace has actually allowed human beings to experience lesser pain and suffering. The fact remained that the actual creation of pain and suffering is by human beings ourselves. If only everyone in this world can make right godly decisions, then the problem of pain and suffering will be minimized or even cease to be in existence. But no, that would not happened at all because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). There will be some people out there trying to create havocs in this world. They are governed by their own greed, pride, self-centeredness, jealousy, and all sorts of other vices. They renounce the presence of final divine judgment and ignore the One who judge. That is the root cause of pain and suffering. People making selfish decisions and hence bad actions that deprive some people of good. Some pain and suffering can even be traced back to a few generations back or more.

Therefore, we need God to come and intervene in our life. We need His saving grace to set things back to normal again. We have heard too many surface explanations which states that God allow such things to happen. However, we must also be reminded that God will not sit back and do nothing. His prevailing grace will prompt remedy actions to be effected swiftly in order to minimize our pain and suffering. A clear example would be the termination of the Tower of Babel. If God did not stop that massive building project, i am quite certain that all human beings would ultimately denied the grace of God and chose to go to hell instead. This is yet another prevailing grace of God.

"Heavenly Father, thank You for Your prevailing and saving grace."

Movie Review on "Amazing Grace"

2008-07-28T22:43:00.003+08:00

The first half of this year was extremely busy for me. I was pre-occupied with many things, and now that i looked back, it was truly God's grace that brought me through everything. My only Christian works during this period were the two term papers, which i had submitted for my church history module.

What i have below is a movie review for "Amazing Grace". This movie had inspired me in many ways and will continue to remind me of my true calling in Christ. In fact, i firmly believe this is what God wants His people to do in this world:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

(Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1,2)

Praise the Lord!

...

“When people speak of great men, they think about man like Napoleon, man of violence, rarely do they think of peaceful man. The contrast of reception they will receive when they return home from their battle. Napoleon will arrive in prom and in power. A man who has achieved the very summit of their earthly ambitions. And his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, returned to his family, laid his head on his pillow, and remembered that the slave trade is no more.”

Introduction
The title of this movie is adapted from the familiar Christian hymn "Amazing Grace", which was composed by John Newton (1725-1807), a penitent priest who was haunted by his past as a slave-ship captain. It was with this old hymn and many other Newton's sermons that captivated the heart of a young man named William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This animated biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and politician. Along with other slave trade abolition activists, he took up their cause and became a champion for the abolition of the slave trade. After a long twenty years fight, the British slave trade was finally abolished in 1807.

This movie review is structured in such a way to discuss the life of Wilberforce as portrayed in the show, as well as his hidden life, which was excluded from the movie. The visible portions of Wilberforce’s life include his calling, career, challenge and comeback towards the relentless fight for slave abolition. The hidden parts, on the other hand, touch on issues like his understanding of Christianity and undertaking of social reforms in England.

The Life of Wilberforce
Wilberforce grew up in a well-to-do merchant in the port city of Hull. Since childhood, he had a sickly constitution, suffering from both severe myopia and ulcerative colitis, for which opium was used for decades to ease the pain. Nonetheless, young Wilberforce grew up to possess a good temperament, an extraordinary charisma, an enchanting singing voice and a vigorous mind, as vividly illustrated in the movie.

His Calling
Young Wilberforce studied and grew up with the potential of becoming both a great politician and a strong social reformer. His close friend William Pitt recognized his natural talents and invited him to render his service to the nation together. At almost the same time, however, he also received a certain kind of divine calling to serve God as priest. Torn between politics and the church, he sought the opinion of Newton, who advised him to pursue both in the political arena. Henceforth, the calling of Wilberforce was better articulated in his famous proclamation: “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”

His Career
In 1784, Wilberforce, then aged 21, was elected to the British House of Commons with a seat from Yorkshire. He remained steadfast to his calling of fighting for the slave trade abolition and social reformation in his country. Several years later, his close friend William Pitt became prime minister, and together they tried to introduce a bill banning slavery before the English legislature. Aided by a small band of radical thinkers, he annually presented a bill for abolition to the Parliament. The impact of his noble ambition could be best seen in the last letter of John Wesley, which was written to encourage Wilberforce to continue his good fight against the slave trade.

His Challenge
Naturally, such a major political agenda would be met with plenty of resistance, especially from those profiteers of the slave trade. But Wilberforce confronted those hurdles with relentless hard work and endless determination. In parliament, their opponents pro-slavery Lord Tarleton and the Duke of Clarence initiated a hard-fought opposition to the legislation. They argued that if the slave trade was abolished, it would be devastating to the wealth of the people. When the war with France generated patriotism in the people that makes opposition to slavery seemed seditious, Wilberforce became disillusioned.

In 1797, Wilberforce left politics due to poor health and a battered spirit. During his recuperation, he became acquainted with Barbara Spooner, a beautiful woman with progressive views. Spooner became deeply infatuated with Wilberforce, and she encouraged him not to give up on his noble goals. With her support, he gained new determination to pursue his dream of abolition and launched a second campaign to persuade England's lawmakers to end the slave trade.

His Comeback
Along with the support of his closest friend, Prime Minister William Pitt and a dedicated group of anti-slavery activists, Wilberforce waged the first modern political campaign, using boycotts, mass meetings, badges, slogans and petitions, of which 3,000 signatories were garnered.. Segmenting the abolition plan in stages, they first targeted the slave trade, in part by communicating its vices to the innocent populace. Their key strategy was to win by the will of the people. Eventually, Wilberforce and his team persuaded those in power to end the inhumane slave trade in 1807, and later secured the Slave Abolition Act in 1833, granting true freedom to the African natives.

The Hidden Life of Wilberforce
Interesting as they might sound, those were not the entire life of Wilberforce. Many other aspects of his life were missing or hidden from the movie. Henceforth, two aspects of his hidden life would be presented to rediscover and reexamine the kind of person Wilberforce was.

His Understanding of Christianity
Along with most wealthy families, Wilberforce's parents practiced Anglicanism, whose Church dogma would not interfere with their social practices. But young William, due to some family unrest, had gone to stay with his uncle for 2 years, where he began to observe and embrace a more active faith in Methodism instead. Upon his return to Hull, Wilberforce’s family was eager to dispose his newfound "enthusiasm". A few years later, however, he experienced a personal conversion which he called "the great change", which had an immense impact on his spiritual life formation. As a matter of fact, he also became the de facto leader of the new ‘Evangelical Party’, of which Newton was also associated with. Being fervent in his study of God's Word, Wilberforce began to anchor his life on solid Christian doctrines.

In one of his books entitled “Real Christianity: Discerning Truth and False Faith” , Wilberforce exposed the depressing generalization of Christianity by both Christians and non-Christians alike, leading to a terrible disparity between Christian’s faith and deed. He mentioned that many people over-simplified the teachings of the Gospel because they did not read deep enough into the Word of God. Such generalization was likened to killing the prophets mentioned in the Bible because their central messages had gone to deaf ears.

In his another book entitled “A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians” , Wilberforce argued for a more practical approach towards Christianity by all professed Christians. Some key issues liked moral standards to be in line with the biblical teachings, striving hard on secular and spiritual aspects of life, clearer understanding on the Word of God, and difference between nominal and real Christians were discussed. The following statement could help summed up his content: “… his desiring to please God in all his thoughts, and words, and actions; to take the revealed word to be the rule of his belief and practice; to ‘let his light shine before men’; and in all things to adorn the doctrine which he professes.”

As can be seen, Wilberforce continued to base his personal and public life on his deep Christian commitment, which filled him with the motivation and perseverance to advance social justice in the face of enormous obstacles. This was well-captured by historian G.M. Trevelyan when he made the following remarks about Wilberforce: “With his talents and position he would probably have been Pitt's successor as Prime Minister if he had preferred party to mankind.”

His Undertaking of Social Reforms
Besides being remembered as the liberator of African slaves, Wilberforce was also a dynamic social reformer. He engaged himself in numerous organizations, no fewer than 69, that were dedicated to improve the conditions of poor and oppressed people in and outside Britain. Amidst his busy schedule, he helped to establish schools for poor children, reform prisons, limit capital punishment, outlaw bull-baiting, reform child labor practices, assist orphans and widows, counteract widespread prostitution and much more. Such great achievements slowly began to attract many other fellow evangelicals to come forward and engage themselves in a high level of public and political discourse. People were more conscious of the society well-being as a whole, rather than their own individualism. All these and more were triggered by the tireless hands of Wilberforce and his team.

Conclusion
Metaxas observed that: “Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.” Wilberforce was, without a doubt, the father of our modern conception of social conscience. Convictions about social justice and responsibility that buttress the work of countless churches, religious organizations and nonprofit agencies find their roots in Wilberforce and the moral revolution that he led. Yet, on the other hand, Pollock reminded us that “Wilberforce proved that a man can change his times, but that he cannot do it alone.” Indeed, good social reforms need to take plenty of time and concerted team effort in order to be successful. But we do not lose heart. Let the amazing grace, that is, the life of Wilberforce continues to motivate us in all our visible or hidden aspects, so that we can pursue the greater calling placed in our life.

References
Brown, Ford K. Fathers of the Victorians: The Age of Wilberforce. Cambridge, England: The University Press, 1961.

Metaxas, Eric. Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.

Guinness, Os. Character Counts: Leadership Qualities in Washington, Wilberforce, Lincloln, Solzhenitsyn. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 1999.

Hill, Jonathan. The New Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity. Oxford: Lion Hudson 2007.

Hindmarsh, D. Bruce. John Newton and the English Evangelical Tradition: Between the Conversion of Wesley and Wilberforce. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B Eerdmans, 2000.

Wesley, John. “Wesley to Wilberforce,” In Christian History, Issue 2, 1983.

Wilberforce, Robert Isaac and Wilberforce Samuel. The Life of William Wilberforce. Vol. 1 London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1860.

Wilberforce, William. Real Christianity: Discerning Truth and False Faith. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2003.

Wilberforce, William. A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians. London: SCM Press, 1958.

(End)

Parable of the Librarians

2008-04-19T13:15:00.013+08:00

Some people mentioned to me that it is better to share the gospel in a narrative style. Through stories and illustrations, the content of the gospel becomes animated and is much easier to understand. Even my dad once commented that biblical stories were things of the past and had no relevance to our life now. That statement could be a true reflection on how pre-believers are viewing the Bible text.

The following narrative parable is one of my first few attempts to illustrate the gospel in a more contemporary way. I understand that more works need to be done in order to perfect the narration, but it should suffice for now to prove my earlier point.

Enjoy!

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There was once a great Architect who built a very magnificent world-renowned library. In this grand architectural masterpiece were many librarians who were tasked to manage the various sections of the huge knowledge depository, each according to their abilities and potential. These staffs had been given total autonomy in whatever they do.

Soon after, many librarians began to take things to their own hands. They had completely forgotten about the detailed and careful instructions given during the induction programme. Each one of them started to do things as they please, oblivious of the consequences of their course of actions. It followed naturally that they also began to separate from one another and formed visible boundaries with the selfish ambition to claim territories in this enormous library. As a result, many sections were left sub-optimized, either having too many duplicates or found to be heavily lacking. They were so messed up that they began to hide their face from the Architect.

But one interesting observation was that a collection of architectural books were found available in every single section. Yet, a closer examination informed that many of these books were hand-scribbled and none was from the authentic source. In their power struggles, they seemed to have copied and modified the text from a primary source, which was nowhere to be found in this disillusion state of the library.

Occasionally, some parts of the library would encounter territorial fights, whereby librarians themselves tried to assert their influences on one another so as to gain more territories. They had failed to realize that their employment contract only promised them a fixed amount of salary, regardless of their achievement in this library. In fact, there was even a severe penalty in place if they are unable to fulfill their current job responsibilities. It was no wonder that the air-cons in the library were getting weaker and weaker because of the lack of proper maintenance.

One fine day, the Architect did secretly return to teach one particular librarian on the proper way to managing a library. That librarian then began to gather a group of oppressed librarians, ill-treated by other more influential librarians. With the help of the Architect , they were transferred to a well-situated section in the library so that they can help supervise and manage the prime spot. Since then, they held very dearly to the teachings of the Architect, differentiating themselves to be a special and distinct group of librarians in the library.

The daily routines of all librarians were to try to manage and sort out the different types of books in their assigned sections. Various types of books had to be returned to their proper place in the library. It was no easy task because some shelves were extremely messy and some books were tagged wrongly. Many librarians, therefore, had to rush and ration their limited time. Some chose to organize books in the more critical sections first. Others adopted a more random approach. Yet, there were many who chose to remain idle, simply because of the overwhelming work to be done.

Strangely, whenever they came to a familiar section called 'Architect', they would walk past it without even taking a glance. To them, it seemed to be an obsolete shelf, not worthy of their serious attention. They would rather frequent other popular shelves such as wealth, health, sealth (power and politics) and stealth (detachment from this world).

Days went by, followed by months and years. A deep sense of emptiness began to fill the hearts of many librarians in the library. Many were asking the purpose of their existence in the library. There were stories of great librarians who managed to seize premium sections in the library, but immediately after their dismissal, were quickly handed over to the charge of other librarians. It was utterly meaningless. In all their pursues, nothing was ever gained. There were also folktales of insignificant librarians who only took charge of 1-2 small shelves, yet they were pretty much contented and retired without any regret. What an irony! Many began to ask, "What on earth was the true purpose for this library institution?"

Then came the era where many librarians turned to notice the now dusty shelf of 'Architect'. By comparing writings from the various manuscripts, they came to the understanding of the need to locate the one true source describing the authentic 'Architect'. Through a series of careful research, they began to realize that they had all went astray and departed from the original duties for a librarian in the library.

Just then, the Son of Architect appeared in the prime section and showed the special group of librarians the correct way and mindset to manage the library.

"You do not need to scramble for fast and easy solutions in these piles of books," said the Son of Architect in a gentle tone, "You just need to ask and i will show you how."

Some accepted his advises and followed his ways. Others, they became jealous and began to plot to chase the Son out of their vicinity, or even better, out of the library completely. Their plot eventually succeeded and the Son was mercilessly thrown out of the library. Yet, the words of the Son of Architect remained in the heart and mind of some librarians who wanted to reform the library according to what the Son had taught them. With the help of library automation, which was promised to them by the Son of Architect, this group of obedient librarians were able to do things more efficiently and effectively in the library, often far exceeding what they ever could imagine. They even have the luxury of time to assist other librarians with their tasks, henceforth lessening their burden in the library. Wherever they go, these group of librarians will try to teach the words from the Son of Architect to others and empower them with the proper use of the library automation.

The words from the Son of Architect also taught them that the sole purpose of them being in the library was so that they could become co-heirs of this grand library. It was the Architect's intention all along to groom many co-heirs to this magnificent library that he had built. And it would be these co-heirs who would share in the future glory and honor associated with the library. Those unworthy librarians would be asked to leave the library when their tenant expired.

Librarians, who had heard the words from the Son of Architect and believed, began to see great transformation in their lives. Following the right and proper guidance and advices from the Son of Architect, they were able to restore several sections of the library back to their original state through the help of library automation. The revamped library was now much orderly and vibrant than the previous messy and chaotic states. Such a renewed scene has attracted many others to follow suit. They began to close down the obsolete 'Architect' shelf and engage in an extreme makeover of their respective sections. Slowly, the library was being restored back to its former glorious state, though many works were still left undone.

In one accord, those joyful librarians began to sing, "All credits to the Son of Architect, who was and is and always will be our counselor, model and inspiration in the library."

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I have located the Son of Architect in the library of life. Have you?

A Proposed Evergreen Framework for the Great Commission

2008-01-21T00:45:00.001+08:00

Lately, i have been too involved in my family affairs, so much so that i need to take a break from writing. It was a period of great trials, yet of great rejoicing too. But the output of this episode are anxiety, frustration, helplessness, confusion and despair as i drift along with the unpredictable current. Fortunately, the winds of hope, anticipation, joy, encouragement, support and peace are still blowing within me, enabling me to sail my entire family safely towards the shore. We have not reached our final destination yet, but we are hopeful that everything will be on track to mark a marvelous voyage experience. Do pray for us as we continue to experience divine intervention in our family. Thank you.

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Simplicity is beaut.

People often lose sight of the core issues at hand when they dwell too much in the complex particularities of their tasks. For example, corporations tend to spend millions of dollars to engage consultants to resolve the huge chunks of inter-twined cobwebs found in their normal operations. In promoting specialization, they somewhat miss the bigger picture, that is, their core business visions.

Every organization, therefore, has an impetus need to derive a good framework with which all current and future operations can adhere and conform. Such a system, when well executed, would prevent the accumulation of legacy dust and give rise to new innovation frontiers.

At this juncture, i want to propose a feasible evergreen framework that would include a cyclic equation consisting of two key elements - persistence and consistency. In essence, it is a synergy of active and passive mode of operations, designed to produce remarkable and sustenance results in the long run.

Persistence has to do with pursuing actively things that correspond to your values and goals. In utilizing appropriate methods and techniques, you are determined to achieve the desired outcomes no matter the cost. Some failures during this long process are acceptable to gain valuable insights for improvement feedbacks on your current approaches. Creativity is the norm for such an experimental setup. Ultimately, when the desired state is attained, there would be a rich collection of lessons learned for future reference.

Consistency is a passive mode of verification that all proven solutions are still as effective as before, even when the problems at hand may have mutated. In today's fast changing global climate, solutions of yesterday may cease to be antidotes for tomorrow. It is, therefore, very important for people or organization to ascertain constantly whether the current processes are still relevant or whether they have to be replaced by new and better alternatives.

I believe such a dynamic combination of persistence and consistency will almost ensure that a system continues to evolve and adapt, producing effective outcomes in her stated visions and goals.

The Bible tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb 13:8)

Yet the same Jesus also mentioned to His disciples that, "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. (Luke 5:37-38)

Unmistakably, Jesus never change. He need not, because He is the perfect Son of God. But we need to change because we have not attained perfection yet. This is the process of sanctification. Furthermore, the world we are living is also undergoing a face lift. With new issues like terrorism and global warming ascending to the top of our human agenda, we better be ready for an extreme makeover. What is effective for us in the past may not hold true in the distant future.

Therefore, the Church can consider to adopt the above-mentioned evergreen framework in fulfilling the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ. For over two thousands year, plenty of mission and evangelical tactics and strategies have been devised and implemented to advance the gospel. Yet, in recent Centuries, the conversion rate of Christians have gone down to a slump, as compared to earlier periods. Why is this so? Can we identify the root problem of this decline? Can we say that God is no longer interested in this BIG salvation task? No, of course not!

What have changed (or for that matter, lack of change) are actually ourselves, Christians, or on a macro term, the Church. Internally, our humans' weaknesses have allowed bureaucracy and traditions to hinder the advancement of the gospel. Externally, globalization has introduced new hurdles like consumerism, elitism, new age movement, post-modernism, financial-freedom-craze, information (overload) economy, and so on so forth. The Church just are not moving fast enough to adapt to the new economy.

Indeed, we can do with a persistence pursue of effective channels and methods of advancing the Gospel. With an attitude of experimentation, Christians should be courageous enough to explore new means of reaching to new people, new methods of preaching to the unsaved and new mediums of building the Church. We should ask ourselves. Must it always be the western Christianity's doctrines and liturgies? Why can't we appropriate the Word of God in the context of the places we evangelize? Look at what the western Europe has become in terms of their spirituality, when in fact, they were the champions of Christian evangelism for the past ten Centuries. By following their footsteps, are we also destined for spiritual decline in the distant future? When theology cannot meet the modern challenges, should we drop our faith to pursue the worldly attractions? Of course not! We should all the more persevere and rethink about our Christian theology.

"We may know in part now but there will be a time when God's people will understand in full."

Christian theology should not cease, but through an active process of reflecting and contemplating, be able to picture God better in all His magnificent glory and majesty.

Yet, this active process of pursue should not exceed the pace of our modernization. We need to have a consistency plan on how to implement and document the most effective evangelical solutions of our times. Through a process of sharing and collaboration, churches can come together and advance the Gospel in one accord. No longer will there be any meaningless denominational disputes or rivalries, because we have learnt to appreciate the true one body of Christ. Mega-churches, with all their rich resources, should assist the smaller ones to grow in faith and in spiritual gifts. Traditional churches, with their renowned doctrines and heritages, should share with the newer ones in order to appreciate the invaluable Christian inheritance past down from generations to generations. Through continuous process of check-and-balance, churches can mold one another to eliminate their blind areas and create new Gospel territories. Instead of the individualistic pursue, Church can now have a communal type of synergy, which is fueled by the same Holy Spirit, to enable Christians to make Jesus' disciples from their hometown all the way to the ends of the earth.

I believe that this proposed evergreen framework, when well-executed, can continue to spiral itself to greater height, reaching an unseen climax in the history of Christianity. This i pray and dream for Christ.

To God be the highest glory forever and ever! Amen.

神所创造的人（二）

2007-07-30T23:58:00.000+08:00

大家还记得小时候所听到一个关于[国王新衣]的故事吗？故事里叙述到国王如何招徕许多

知名的裁缝师来为他缝制美丽的衣裳。那些做的不好看的都一一被严厉处分。后来，有两位骗子出现在皇宫里。他们夸耀能缝制出世上最美丽的衣裳。经过长时间的制作，他们终于完成了，就让国王穿上。可是，当国王更衣完毕，大家只看到国王仍是赤身露体，并没有看到任何衣服。两位骗子便解释说只有聪明人才能看到这华丽非凡的衣裳。国王因不愿承认自己愚拙，就开始评论他所穿戴的衣裳果真是世上最美丽的！众臣听了，因想讨他的欢心，也都纷纷赞赏国王的衣裳。国王便开始得意忘形，便决定游街展示一下他的奇特新服装。在整个过程，众百姓都觉得很奇怪，但都不敢啃声，因害怕惹国王生气。但一位天真的孩童在国王经过他的一刹哪，忍不住便问了他身边的妈妈，《为何国王不穿任何衣服，光着身子走来走去呢？》就在这时，国王才恍然大悟，知道自己已被那两位骗子给耍了。但这全都怪他的自恋心在作祟，使到他完全没有警惕。真是丢脸啊！

说到衣服，我想大多数的人都有穿衣服和脱衣服的习惯。当衣服脏了，破久了，不合穿，不适合，不喜欢的时候，我们就会脱下来，另选一套，然后再把新衣服穿上。在不同的场合，我们就会穿不一样的衣服。在不同的国家或文化，我们就会拥有属于那个地方处境的服装。无可否认，衣服已成为了我们自我肯定，自我身份，自我保护，自我划分，自我表达，自我创造的重要道具。衣服也有神奇的能力可以拉近或隔离人群，例如华族服装，马来服装，大衣，棉衣，寒装，夏天装，等等。跟着文化的交流，衣服也成了人与人，国与国彼此接纳和沟通的管道。但同样的，衣服也可以成为排斥，表达不满的反益器皿，例如撕裂衣服，游街大众，等等。

让我们一起探讨圣经如何提到人所穿的衣服。就从第一个目的开始，接下来若有机会的话，可以在别的月份讨论关于衣服所含有的其它目的。

圣经第一次提到衣服是在创世记，当亚当和夏娃犯罪后，自觉是赤身露体，上帝就用动物的皮缝制了一套衣服给他们遮掩（创3：21）。所以，衣服的第一个用途是成为遮掩人的羞愧。换句话说，衣服是要恢复人起初被造时的尊严。但是，我们可以看到现今社会，时髦的衣服，妖艳的时尚，贵气的华服，甚至破烂的衣裳，都已袭卷了全世界，造成贫富的区分，试探的泛滥，身份的不平，等尊严颠覆的倾向。到底人穿衣服是要恢复起初被造的尊严，还是要证明自己，剥夺他人的尊严呢？当耶稣教导门徒要为最小的穿衣服（马25：36），难道不是要恢复那人的尊严吗？圣经还说做这事的人能得到天国的奖赏，就是在创世以来就已经预备好了（马25：34）。可见，神多么想要恢复人起初被造的尊严啊！

试问自己，我们有尊严吗？或许，现在穿戴体面服装的我们会回答“有”！但是，这只是表面的评估。人是看外表的，但神是看内心（撒上16：7）。一个人的尊严并不取决于他衣服多整齐，多华丽，多昂贵，多清洁，多耀眼，等等装饰。

其实，人的尊严是来自内心的。穿戴衣服除了体面，取暖，更深一层的意义就是要帮助我们了解内心有缺乏，有软弱。（记得，亚当和夏娃是犯罪过后才需穿衣服的。）所以，新约就有提到关于《圣灵的果子》，例如，仁爱、喜乐、和平、忍耐、恩慈、良善、信实、温柔、节制（加5：22-23）；如何穿上《良好品格》，例如，怜悯、恩慈、谦虚、温柔、忍耐的心（歌3：12）；论到《属灵操练》，例如，以谦卑束腰，彼此顺服（彼前5：5）；及更重要要穿戴神所赐的《全副军装》，用真理当作带子束腰，用公义当作护心镜遮胸，又用平安的福音当作预备走路的鞋穿在脚上。此外，又拿著信德当作藤牌，可以灭尽那恶者一切的火箭；并戴上救恩的头盔，拿著圣灵的宝剑，就是神的道（弗6：13-17）。

怎么做基督徒需要穿戴这么多肉眼看不见的衣裳呀？对，没错！人被造的尊严本来就是如此。只是，我们因为罪的缘故，已经远离了这些美好的品格与特质。取而代之的是我们自己所想象出来的有形服装，以为拥有这些装饰就能带给我们所谓的尊严。不，这些绝不是真正的衣服！正如国王被两位骗子给蒙蔽了，我们千万别犯了这个错误。让我们寻回远古的衣服，就是内心的属灵品格与特质，以恢复我们人所该有的尊严。让我们也帮助周遭的人也来穿戴这等的衣服，好恢复他们应有的尊严。这是神所喜悦的，也是蒙神所祝福的。

难怪耶稣也教导门徒不要为明天吃什么，喝什么，穿什么，因为的确，生命更胜于饮食，身体更胜于衣裳（马6：25）。所以，让我们不要为这些东西而忧愁，让我们先寻求神的国，神的义，这一切就要加给我们了（马6：33）。对，这一切（包括尊严在内）都要加给我们了。只要我们能坚守神的诫命，就是尽心，尽性，尽意，尽力爱神和爱人如己，神就要亲自缝制光明洁白的细麻衣给我们穿戴，以预备我们进入他在天国所预备的大宴席（启19：7-9）。那日，我们就可以恢复到起初被造的原有尊严，人的尊严。这真是何等大的盼望呀！

你今天穿上了衣服没？

(完)

Pastoral Contribution in the Book of Malachi

2007-06-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

The Book of Malachi: A Summary
The book of Malachi is called an “oracle” (1:1). The author is either a person named Malachi, which translated into “my messenger”, or a person given the title “Malachi”, most likely a prophet or priest who is also called the messenger of God in the Bible. The book contains a series of questions asked by both God and the people. In these questions, there is a repeated literary pattern – a statement from God, followed by the phrase “(But) you ask …” , and finally a response from God.

It begins with a description of the wasteland of Edom (1:3–4) and ends with a stern warning of a curse in the land of Israel (4:6). There are frequent reminders of blessings and curses for those who obey God’s words and those who do not. Having the name “Lord Almighty” occurring 20 times within the short four-chapters book further emphasizes the divine nature of the text.

Several vivid images capture the attention of the audience. For examples, there are descriptions of the priests sniffing contemptuously at the Lord’s table (1:13); the Lord spreading on their faces the offal from their festival sacrifices (2:3); the Lord being like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap (3:2); the sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings (4:2a); and the people going out and leap like calves released from the stall (4:2b).

The old sins committed by God’s people are brought to attention. They have shown contempt for God’s name (1:6); offered blemished animals as sacrifices (1:8,13–14); deprived God of his due honor by turning from his way and giving false teachings (2:2,8); broke faith with one another by marrying foreign women and divorcing wife of their youth (2:10b,11,14); despised God’s justice (2:17b;3:14-15); engaged in sorcery, adultery, perjury, defrauded laborers of their wages, oppressed the widows and the fatherless, deprived aliens of justice, and do not fear God (3:5); robbed God by not giving the whole tithes and offerings (3:8).

In response, God rebukes them by emphasizing the divine election of Jacob’s descendants (1:2–5); his divine and majesty name and kingship among the nations (1:11,14), the curses of those who do not obey his words and break the divine covenant (1:14;2:1-4,9;3:9); the warnings of a future judgment (3:1-5;4:1-3; cf. 4:6b).

Once again, God reaffirms his unchanging nature (3:6), and shows his great love and mercy by allowing his “faithless” people to return from their disobedience (3:7). A sharp distinction is made between the people who feared God and honored his name versus the ones who do not (3:16-18). At his judgment day, the former will be healed from all the injustice suffered, and they will “trample down the wicked”, whereas the latter will be severely punished (3:16–4:3).

In conclusion, God charges his people to “remember the law of Moses” (4:4). He will also send “the prophet Elijah” to turn their heart back to God so that the land can be free from the curse (4:5–6) – a motif that was mentioned throughout the book, as if it has already engulfed the disobedient people of God.

The Book of Malachi: Pastoral Contribution
True Worship
Achtemeier suggests that God’s people can use their attitudes and actions to worship God but God’s people in the book of Malachi have failed to do so. In their worship, they have shown contempt for his name (1:6), defiled food on his altar (1:7), brought blemished animals for sacrifice (1:13-14), broken faith with one another (2:10), renounced the justice of God (2:17), robbed God in tithes and offerings (3:8), said harsh things against God (3:13) and neglected the Mosaic laws altogether (cf. 4:4).

Such worship is detestable to God (1:10). Baker correctly points out that Malachi focuses on individual’s lifestyle, both negative (avoiding sin) and positive (living righteously according to God’s covenant). He adds that many Christians live a life of “dissociative identity disorder”, meaning to separate religious activities from the secular ones. For illustration, Baker highlights that God’s people presume that their minimal attempts at religiosity would satisfy God (1:8,13-14; 3:8), forgetting that their secular activities (or relationship with one another) need to be attended to as well (2:10; 3:5).

This is a reminder for Christians to be mindful of their attitudes and actions when worshipping God. A set of routine sacraments or services may not be sufficient to gain God’s approval. He desires their total commitment and self to him during their worship, not only in church, but also outside the church, and in all aspects of their lives.

Marriage as a Covenant
One aspect of Christians living is marriage. Achtemeier observes the high view of marriage in the book, inferring from Malachi 2:14, which states that it is a covenant between a woman and a man, and a pledge to which God is a witness. He continues to describe that the marriage here is characterized by companionship, mutuality, and lifelong covenant faithfulness to one another. And a “godly offspring” (2:15) will emerge from such a faithful marriage. In contrast, a divorce is associated with domestic violence (2:16), which results in the breaking of the covenant relationship in a hateful way. Such offence is susceptible to divine judgment and against one’s own life (cf. 2:15b,16b).

Sadly, the divorce rate is rising steadily in today’s society, both for Christians and non-Christians as well. Therefore, it is important for (at least the) Christians to return back to God’s words and relearn the actual meaning of marriage as a covenant. Malachi has taught that marriage is not for convenience or for one’s own temporal comfort; it is a lifelong commitment [covenant] to one another. Such a relationship will ensure “godly offspring”, meaning a healthy environment for the next generation and beyond to be raised. In contrast, God hates divorce because it is destructive [violence]. It affects the relationship between the husband and his wife, between them and God (since he was the witness), between them and their children, and themselves (since one or both of them went back on their oath) too. Since God establishes an everlasting covenant with his people, he desires his people to do likewise with their spouse. Only when people learn how to keep an earthly covenant can they keep the heavenly covenant as well.

The Principle of Giving
Another aspect of Christians living is giving to God. The Israelites are accused of robbing God because they did not bring the whole tithes and offerings to the temple (3:8). They have treated such giving as a form of legalism and a chore (cf. 1:13; 2:14), forgetting that all their blessings came actually from God. No wonder God reminds them of the blessings and curses (3:9-12) , which demands their total obedience to him before they can receive any blessings from him. Likewise, Christians should not think of giving as a chore, instead, they must first recognize that the root source of their blessings comes from God. Only then will it be natural for them to give, out of genuine love and gratitude for what God has accomplished on the cross for their salvation and also for what he has blessed them with.

Baker cautions people to read Malachi 3:8-12 in context and using a proper hermeneutic. He asserts that, contrary to the charismatic movement’s claims, a past record of God’s acts or requirements does not necessarily make them into a universal principle. This means that Christians should not use this passage to test him, in particular, on the blessings of prosperity. They should not harbor the erroneous hope of gaining more blessings from God just by giving a higher percentage of their usual tithes.

The guiding principle of giving is a cheerful heart (2Corinthians 9:7). Christians should their offerings of money, time and talents to God not because they are commanded to do so, but because they want to do so. Achtemeier summarizes that the foundation of all Christian generosity should be the generosity of God.

References
Achtemeier, Elizabeth Rice. Preaching from the Minor Prophets: Texts and sermon suggestions. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1998.

Baker, David Weston. Joel, Obadiah, Malachi. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2006.

Hugenberger, Gordon Paul. Marriage as a covenant: A study of biblical law and ethics governing marriage, developed from the perspective of Malachi. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998.

O'Brien, Julia M. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004.

(End)

Pastoral Contribution in the Book of Ruth

2007-05-30T23:56:00.000+08:00

The Book of Ruth: A Summary
The book of Ruth is named after one of its main characters, a young woman of Moab. It is set in the time of the judges, before any official monarchy is established in Israel. According to the book of Judges, “everyone did as he saw fit” during that time. It is a period of religious and moral degeneracy, national disunity and frequent foreign oppression.

The story begins with a famine in the land. As a result, a man brings his wife, Naomi, and his two sons to live in the country of Moab. Subsequently, the man died and Naomi is left with her two sons. They each marry a Moabite woman, one of whom is named Ruth. After ten years, the two sons also died and leave the three widows by themselves. They decide to return back to Naomi’s hometown. During the journey, Naomi asks her two daughters-in-law to go back to their mother’s home so that they can remarry and set up another family of their own. One of them complies but Ruth, instead, chooses to stay by Naomi’s side. When prompted to change her decision, she demonstrates her strong determination by replying,
"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

With that, they proceed on and arrive in their hometown. For a living, Ruth volunteers to go down to the fields and collect the leftover grain behind the harvesters. Coincidentally, the field she works in actually belongs to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband. When Boaz gets to know of Ruth and her filial piety, he begins to extend much kindness to her throughout her labor in his field.

Now, there is a law in Israel that requires the nearest relative of a poor countryman to redeem the sold property so that the land will not be permanently sold to outsiders. And there is another law that commands a fellow kinsman to marry the childless widow in the family and stated that the first child must carry the name of the deceased. Knowing these, Naomi devises a plan so that Ruth can approach Boaz, their kinsman-redeemer, to fulfill the redemption.

In response, Boaz points out that there is another kinsman-redeemer nearer than him who has the first right of refusal. Subsequently, the man forsakes the redemption right for fear of endangering his inheritance. And Boaz, therefore, keeps his promise and redeems the property belonging to Naomi’s husband and sons, and marries Ruth as his wife. The story ends with a genealogy that referred to them as the great-grandparents of David, the second king of Israel.

The Book of Ruth: Pastoral Contribution
The Unseen Hand of God
Though there is no explicit mention of God’s intervention in Ruth, there are four ways that reveal his presence in the story. His unseen hand can be recognized through the unpredictable natural events (1:1,6,22), the apparent chance events (2:3), the risky human schemes (3:1-14), and even during the impartial legal process (4:1-10). Barber affirms God’s presence in the book, arguing that everything was orchestrated to accomplish his ultimate plan for the ancestry of Christ.

Often, Christians tend to overlook the unseen hand of God and as a result, create doubts in his love for them. This is more apparent during the period of crisis. Like Naomi, they might complain that God does not render timely help to them; instead, he causes them to suffer unbearable misery. A few more such setbacks and they will resign to their fate, concluding that God is not going to answer their prayers.

The book of Ruth, however, tells of the unseen hand of God, which is always at work to accomplish “his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2b), and “all for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28a). In a drastic manner, God turns the course of Naomi’s life from experiencing great calamities into a great celebration by controlling the natural events, by allowing “coincidences” to happen, by working through humans’ plans, and by determining the outcome of complex processes. Surely, God’s unseen hand can do much more to help those in distress who call on his name by a true faith.

True Faith
The heart of God for his people is not only to respond to his love, but also to show mercy and compassion for one another. This is illustrated through some of the Mosaic laws, which the Israelites are commanded to abide, in the story. For a start, Ruth, a Moabitess, is accepted into the Israelites community; then she is allowed to pick the leftover crops behind the harvesters; at the same time, Boaz ordered his men not to embarrass [or oppress] her; and finally, Boaz, their kinsman-redeemer, agrees to redeem her family and marry her. These are the practical application of God’s laws, giving glory to him and grace to his people.

For modern readers, these are what people of true faith should do, that is, to obey God and show concern for the welfare of others. Indeed, faith must be accompanied by corresponding deed; otherwise it is as good as dead (cf. James 2:17). Therefore, Christians should not develop disillusioned faith, but they must practice true faith so that the living hope they have in Christ can be revealed.

Living Hope
In chapter 1, Naomi sees only God’s power without his pity, sovereignty without sympathy and justice without grace. In her disappointment with God, however, she does not lose hope in him. Instead, she continues to place her trust in God. This can be seen from her return to her hometown when she heard that God has provided food to his people (1:6); from her permission to allow Ruth to glean at the fields, knowing that God’s people will show kindness to them (2:20); from her scheme to ask Boaz, their kinsman-redeemer, to redeem them in accordance to God’s laws (3:1-4); and from her anticipation of the divine will of God to be fulfilled, believing that their lives will be changed for the better (3:18).

As Barber has put it, one must always have hope, for without it there is only increasing discouragement and eventual despair. In life, things can go very wrong, but Christians should never give up hope in the living God. By entrusting their lives to God, they can be confident that God will deliver them in his appointed time, just like the case for Naomi. With hope, Christians can have the courage to take a step forward in anticipation of God’s providence, then later many more steps until they begin to see the entire picture of God’s ultimate plan in their lives.

References
Barber, Cyril J. Ruth: A Story of God's grace. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003.

Block, Daniel Isaac. Judges, Ruth. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

Phillips, W. Gary. Judges, Ruth. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004.

(End)

神所创造的人（一）

2007-04-30T23:56:00.000+08:00

这是个很棘手的课题，因为我们都知道人类是个非常复杂的生物，就连科学家，医学家和人

物学家都还在不断的研究，摸索，推断，等等，却始终没有很完善的结论。但因为这样，这课题就显得更加重要，且直的一提再提。所以我想尝试从一个新的角度去切入这个严肃的课题，从而讨论关于人类从前，现在及未来的命运。深信这篇文章能帮助我们更加了解关于[神所创造的人]。

在此要特别声明本人是从圣经的题材[或释真理]来支持我的论点，是由一个基督徒的角度来看待事物。

首先，我想倘若真要更了解人类，就要知道神创造人的目的是什么。有的人说是要帮助神治理大地，也有人说是要敬拜[敬畏，俯伏下拜的意思]神，更有人说是要受苦，甚至大有人说是根本毫无意义。果真是这样子的吗？难道人类活着就为了要预备死亡？人世间难道是一个苦难的巨型竞技场吗？我想不然。神创造人一定有他的美意在其中，只是因为人类远离了他们的创造主，所以就把起初的目的给混淆，甚至给遗忘了。

人类在世上活着是有目的。

那究竟是什么目的呢？圣经记载了耶稣的一段话，可以帮助我们更加明白这目的。当被问到什么是上帝神给[犹太]人最大的戒命时，耶稣就很清楚地回答说：

[你要尽心、尽性、尽意、尽力爱主—你的神。] ~可12:30 (也参马22:37, 申6:5)

耶稣说这是神给予人的最大戒命，其次就是要爱人如己。原来我们人类被创造的首要目的就是要去爱我们的创造主。这爱不是人所想象中或人世间所教导的一般特殊的情感，她乃是超越了人所能给予的，所以耶稣才说要尽一切的能力，因为人类不一定做的到这爱里面的需求。这爱是先从神而来，从亘古直到现在未来，都一直体现在每一个人的生命里头，只是个别程度会有所不同。因着人的愚昧，圣经也尝试用文字来形容这伟大的爱。

[爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈；爱是不嫉妒；爱是不自夸，不张狂，不做害羞的事，不求自己的益处，不轻易发怒，不计算人的恶，不喜欢不义，只喜欢真理；凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。爱是永不止息。] ~哥13:4-8a

如此可见，这爱是多么的深奥，多么的有丰富内涵，并非只是停留在普通的喜欢，喜爱那么简单。当人类学习到如何爱神时，他们就会开始敬拜他，开始思神所思的事，做神所做的事，爱神所爱的人，厌神所厌的罪，完全和彻底的与神建立一个坚固，互动，密切的关系。这是人类起初的光景，也是原本被造的目的，更是神所要藉着他独生子耶稣基督所要成就的救赎计划。原来耶稣被钉死在十字架，且三天后复活，升天，完全是为了让人类能够恢复到那起初被造的目的。如此般的大爱，绝对值的让他们做出那信心的回应，并学习如何的去爱神。

人类被造的目的是要去爱神。

那么人类怎么学习去爱神呢？耶稣也把这宝贵的功课教导了他们，就是要[尽心]、[尽性]、[尽意]、[尽力]去爱神。或许一般人会把这句话解释成为要尽一切所能去爱神，但事实上，这简短的一句话却包含了极为丰富的神学观念，若掌握了就能明白基督教的整个福音精髓。先问几个问题。为什么基督徒要每个礼拜天[或释主日]去教会？为什么基督徒要去传福音？为什么基督徒要去服侍贫穷有需要的人？为什么基督徒不能抽烟，赌博，醉酒，等等恶习惯？这些答案都要回到人类被创造的目的，就是要去爱神。这里其实跟耶稣所教导的如何去爱神有很密切的关连。

什么才算得上是[尽心]、[尽性]、[尽意]、[尽力]呢？这里不单单是指要尽人的全部而已，乃是要指出人类所包含的四个全人层面，就是[灵性(Spiritual)]、[感性(Emotional)]、[理性(Rational)]和[肉性(Physical)]。

人类包含四个全人层面，就是[灵性]、[感性]、[理性]、[肉性]。

在此，我想多加解释关于人类被造的过程。圣经提到说：

[耶和华神用地上的尘土造人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了有灵的活人，名叫亚当。] ~创2:7

原来人类本质上跟其他动物没什么两样，都是从地上的尘土所造的。所以，他们就跟动物一样有[肉性]或释为肉体上的欲望，比如说人会饿，会困，会痛，等等状态。人类和动物也拥有[感性]或释为情感的表达，比如说他们会笑，会哭，会开心，会难过，等等情绪。同样的，人类也拥有少数动物所雨生俱来的[理性]或释为思维的能力比如说他们会分辨是非，会策划，会选择，等等智能。但跟其他动物不一样，人类拥有神所吹的气，使到他们成了有灵的活物，也称作拥有[灵性]的特征。这[灵性]能够使到人类与神沟通，相交，亲近，并且更重要就是有能力去爱他。很多神学家把这四个层面称作是[灵(Spirit)]、[魂(Soul)]、[体(Body)](参帖前5:23)。但实际上，我觉得[魂]应该再被区分成为两个不同的层面-[感性]、[理性]才能更有效的去讨论关于人类的总结构。更何况，心理学，人物学和管理学在这两个层面上已有很丰富的资源、研究及结论，可供我们去参考。其实，我们应该问更关键的问题，就是为什么神要将这四个全人层面设计在人类被造的蓝图呢？为何神要让人类与其他地球上的被造物与众不同呢？难道说神他有一些特别的使命要让[或只让]人类去完成？试想想看吧！

人类有很特别的使命。

论到神给人类的使命，圣经的确有一处提到说：

[神就照著自己的形像造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。神就赐福给他们，又对他们说：要生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地，也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。] ~创1:27-28

显然的，这个使命需要到四个全人层面才能够被完成。怎么说呢？人类的[灵性]能促使他们选择去遵崇神，从而完成这个使命。人类的[肉性]会使他们健壮成长，找寻配偶，最终生养众多。人类的[感性]能使到人与人之间能够有效的来往、交流、沟通，否则就不能够遍满地面，因战火、纠纷、等麻烦会摧残这世界。人类的[理性]能帮助他们治理大地，因为必须用聪明智慧去降伏万物和发展社会。而从以上的经文(参"神就赐福给他们，又对他们说")，就可以看到神是先在这四个层面上祝福人类，然后才让他们去完成他的使命。如此可见，这四个全人层面的建造对人类所要去完成的使命可是非常的重要，缺一不可。

人类需要透过四个全人层面才能完成神的使命。

既然耶稣教导了他们如何去爱神，那他在这四个全人层面的建造到底有没有追求(所谓以身作则)呢？肯定有！圣经也很明确的让人类知道耶稣的整个操练过程。关于耶稣小时候的成长岁月，圣经提到说：

[孩子渐渐长大，强健起来，充满智慧，又有神的恩在他身上。] ~路2:40

从这里可以看到耶稣的[肉性](强健起来)、[理性](充满智慧)、[灵性](神的恩在他身上)都有被操练。虽然这里没提到[感性]的层面，但从接下来的51节("...并且顺从他们。")就可以知道他很敏感父母(或旁人)的感受，因此他的[感性]从小也有被建造。

论到耶稣十二岁至开始出来做神的工(约三十岁)的时期，圣经提到说：

[耶稣的智慧和身量，并神和人喜爱他的心，都一齐增长。] ~路2:52

在这里更具体的提到耶稣如何的操练这四个全人层面。他的[灵性](神喜爱他的心)、[感性](人喜爱他的心)、[理性](智慧)、[肉性](身量)都一齐增长，并没有任何一个层面是处在后头。所以，这里看到耶稣能够完成神的使命，并且能够去爱神、爱人，全凭他有在四个全人层面追求上进，一直操练，一齐增长。这点可真的是值得我们去反思，去效法。

人类需要不断地操练四个全人层面。

曾经听到有人说: "不进则退"。这句话很有内涵，因为如果人类不去追求进步，就自然而然会慢慢(或有时迅速)的被淘汰，成列为落伍。的确，若人类不去追求这四个全人层面的增长，当恶者攻击他们的时侯，便无法去抵挡。人类犯第一个罪时，也是因为如此。圣经提到说：

[耶和华神所造的，惟有蛇比田野一切的活物更狡猾。蛇对女人说：神岂是真说不许你们吃园中所有树上的果子吗？女人对蛇说：园中树上的果子，我们可以吃，惟有园当中那棵树上的果子，神曾说：你们不可吃，也不可摸，免得你们死。蛇对女人说：你们不一定死；因为神知道，你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如神能知道善恶。於是女人见那棵树的果子好作食物，也悦人的眼目，且是可喜爱的，能使人有智慧，就摘下果子来吃了，又给她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。] ~创3:1-6

当那女人被蛇欺骗时，她的[灵性](如神能知道善恶)、[感性](悦人的眼目，且是可喜爱的)、[理性](使人有智慧)、[肉性](见那棵树的果子好作食物)都被影响了。四个全人层面本是应该要去完成神的使命，但却变成了完成个人的欲望。恶者他得逞了，因为那女子(过后连那男子)都没有好好的操练他们那四个全人层面，所以他们才犯了罪，远离了神。这也是现代人的光景，无论信主与否，都不能躲过被恶者给的试探。所以，人类[特别是基督徒]更加要警醒祷告，且要多多操练这四个全人层面。他们[尤其是基督徒]应当效法基督耶稣，因为当他被试探时，经上提到说：

[魔鬼对他说：你若是神的儿子，可以吩咐这块石头变成食物。耶稣回答说：经上记著说：人活著不是单靠食物，乃是靠神口里所出的一切话。魔鬼又领他上了高山，霎时间把天下的万国都指给他看，对他说：这一切权柄、荣华，我都要给你，因为这原是交付我的，我愿意给谁就给谁。你若在我面前下拜，这都要归你。耶稣说：经上记著说：当拜主—你的神，单要事奉他。魔鬼又领他到耶路撒冷去，叫他站在殿顶（顶：原文是翅）上，对他说：你若是神的儿子，可以从这里跳下去；因为经上记著说：主要为你吩咐他的使者保护你；他们要用手托著你，免得你的脚碰在石头上。耶稣对他说：经上说：不可试探主—你的神。] ~路4:3-12

人类操练四个全人层面能帮助抵挡恶者的试探。

不像亚当和夏娃，耶稣他能胜过恶者所有的试探。在试探中，他的[灵性](靠神口里所出的一切话)、[感性](当拜主—你的神，单要事奉他)、[理性](不可试探主—你的神)、[肉性](人活著不是单靠食物)都没有被影响，却仍然体贴神的心意，使他能继续的去爱神。耶稣没有满足自己的欲望，全凭他一直不断的操练这四个全人层面，使到恶者无机可乘。有些人能在某些方面胜过试探，但却在另外几个陷入罪愆里头，原因是他们只建立了一两个全人层面罢了。其实，每一个全人层面都很重要，且息息相关，不能被忽视。说到底，人类最弱的一环也只不过是那被冷落的全人层面，恶者只须攻击那个就已足够了。这是给人类的一个很重要的提醒。

总结，我们开始讨论了关于[神所创造的人]的课题。首先，我们提到人类在世上活着是有目的。这目的就是要去爱神。过后，也提到人类被造时，包含了四个全人层面，就是[灵性]、[感性]、[理性]、[肉性]。这跟神所给予每个人的特别使命有关。人类需要透过这四个全人层面去完成他们的特别使命。最后，就提到人类[特别是基督徒]需要不断地操练这四个全人层面，因为这能够帮助他们去抵挡恶者的试探，且使他们能更像基督耶稣，最终使他们的智慧和身量，并神和人喜爱他们的心，都能一齐增长。

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Reflection on the Movie “Babette’s Feast” with respect to the Book of 1Corinthians

2007-03-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

The movie was about the two devout daughters of a Lutheran minister and their servant named Babette. Both daughters devoted their entire lives in service of God by leading a small fellowship of Christian believers and attending to the needs of elderly townspeople. Years after the dismissed of the minister, the unity of the Christian community was endangered by the growing internal disceptation and arguments. Along came Babette, a French woman who had lost her family in a civil war, seeking refuge from the two sisters. The story culminated in a sumptuous feast prepared by Babette coinciding with a memorial to the reverend minister's 100th birthday. The feast was mistaken to be a serious crisis by the two sisters, and consequently, involved the disunited Christian group. Surprisingly, they began to collaborate and agreed upon a common strategy together to overcome this seeming crisis. The story concluded with a central theme that love transcends all things, bringing even different and difficult people to one accord.

In 1Corinthians 12:12-27, we see the Church (or her members) being described as the body of Christ. Similar to the movie, there could be internal divisions or conflicts within the Corinth church at that time. As their spiritual mentor, apostle Paul resolved this issue by stressing the importance of unity within the Church. He did this by giving a vivid illustration of the familiar body parts and their tightly coupled relationship with one another. He reminded that the Church does not consist of only one kind of person but several. And even though the members (parts) have different roles and abilities but they still belong to the same Church (body). As such, every member should have equal concern for one another, suffering and rejoicing together as one body. In the movie, there were also members with different personalities and traits. Small quarrels later became big conflicts because they did not know how to accommodate one another. Everyone had their own views on how things were being perceived or ought to be done. Focusing on their narrow self-interests, they failed to see the wider Church issues at large; for example, the shrinking congregation size.

In the subsequent chapter, apostle Paul also concluded that love is the essence in developing unity within the Church. The movie scriptwriter may have gathered his inspiration from here but have we, as members of the Church, truly understood and internalized this message?

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Reflection on the Movie “Babe” with respect to the Book of Romans

2007-02-28T23:55:00.000+08:00

The story of Babe was set in a farm where there were pre-defined roles for each animal. Seemingly, the animals knew their individual place in the farm and tried to do their own job well in order to please their owners. Though living in close proximity, the animals were behaving like separate and independent entities with respect to one another. Then along came a pig, named Babe, with an unprejudiced heart that regarded all other animals at face value and treated the sheep and all other animals as equals. He quickly learnt that each animal had a role to play except for himself and Ferdinand the duck who were both fated to be lunch. Both began to take on new roles to escape their fate. Gradually, all the animals grew to accept Babe, crumbling psychological barriers within the farm that had stood for years. Such pro-active and unbiased attitudes inevitably changed their lives and he finally became a world champion “sheepdog” in the process.

In Romans 12:3-21, we can see similar themes of unity in diversity and love for one another. Paul compared the members of the church as the body of Christ, each having different functions according to the gifts given by the gracious God. He urged each member to do their own function well in order to build up the body of Christ. In verse 3, the members were taught not to be arrogant because all of them have a certain part to play in the body. The wonderful ending of Babe allows us to imagine a positive kind of synergy and dynamism if there is true unity within the church. Like the farm, true unity occurs when everyone is willing to step out of their individual boundary and help one another to better fulfill their roles as a cohesive single entity, rather than separate ones.

Later in the passage, Paul also instructed on the genuine love for one another. Surely, he considered that as an essential component in developing true unity within the church. Similarly, the movie demonstrated that loving someone was about giving and forgiving without condition. Ultimately, the animals changed their perception and attitudes towards Babe for the better because they could feel his genuine love for them. Therefore, if we want to see true unity within our church, perhaps all of us should examine ourselves and rekindle our genuine love for one another.

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New Wine into New Wineskin

2007-01-30T23:53:00.000+08:00

A lecturer from a certain theological college once criticized pastors who use the 3-points sermons delivery methods. She commented that the Word of God cannot (always) be condensed into just three main points, which as a consequence, mould the congregation to digest only bullet-form (or generalized) truths. I thought that was a very valuable piece of advise and a timely reminder for a generation cluttered with powerpoint. This 21th Century information era propagates people to try to grasp a bit of everything so that they will not be left mercilessly behind.

As a theological student, i could supplement my lecture slides with some of the recommended texts. But as ordinary Christians, most of them can only have direct access to their bible, or at most a study bible. Reference materials like biblical commentaries, concordances, dictionary and Christian literature are rare commodities, biased towards those who can afford the money, time and interests. As a result, many Christians obtain their spiritual inputs from the Sunday's pulpit or weekly cell group (if any).

2006 had been a fruitful year for me, especially so with the many essays which i had produced. I must confess that these articles were presented in an unpolished form and may raised many controversial issues, which can be easily resolved with a much detailed research. Nonetheless, like what most bible scholars described the Apostle Paul as a Theologizer, i am still gabbling with the profound Word of God too, establishing known Christian Theology and venturing into unfamiliar grounds in a process called theologizing. In due time and according to the grace given to me by the Almighty God, i hope to be able to pen down volumes of concrete Christian Theology, in particular, the evolution of God's intervention into the history of human race in the 21th Century. Pray along with me, will you?

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"And no one pours new wine into old wineskin. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskin." ~Mark2:22

Have you ever tried pouring boiling hot water into a non-thermal plastic flask? If you have not, then well and good, try to refrain from doing so at any cost! Not every container can hold boiling hot water, some would melt, pollute the water and destroy the container. This is just an illustration for us to appreciate the saying of Jesus above.

According to David[1],

"A wineskin would expand under the pressure of fermentation, so if you put new, non-fermented wine in an old, brittle wineskin, it was sure to burst."

There are two issues being mentioned here - the new wine and the old wineskin. In our resolution, do we change the new wine back to the old wine or do we change the old wineskin into a new wineskin? One thing is certain, new wineskin can hold both the old and new wine because of its durability, but not for the older one. That provides us with a good clue to which aspect of the saying is more important and that is where we should focus our attention.

Around 2000 years ago, the Jewish community in Jesus' time saw him as a Rabbi (or teacher) who was introducing something new and revolutionary to their Jewish religious traditions (now known as Judaism). Most of them, especially the teachers of the Laws and the Pharisees, could not accept Jesus' teachings. The contemporary interpretation of the Torah (The Laws of Moses) by Jesus was regarded as blasphemy by the Jewish religious leaders and hence rejected without further clarification. Seemingly, Jesus was subsequently labeled as a dangerous rebel who had instigated people to go against the Jewish religious practices at that times. It may not be too surprising if some had also likened him to a new wine, resulting in the "drunkenness" of the Jewish people who had followed him.

Earlier we have established that the old wineskin must be changed in order for both the new and old wine to be poured into them. Without a constant renewal, the old wineskin is subjected to constant wear and tear, resulting in a more rugged state. The eventual stage is where there is no choice but to throw it away because it has lost the primary purpose of holding wine. We can compare this phenomenon to the regular exterior painting of our house, where the primary objective is not merely to brighten up the colors but also to strengthen the weather resistance capability of the house. In fact, many things around us are evolving and constantly changing to avoid getting retired by the society. Some examples include the design of aircrafts, ships, television programmes, advertisements, movie plots, electronics and the list goes on and on.

In deeper examination, there are dual roles in the above saying of Jesus. The first is to introduce us to new wine and the second is to change the old wineskin which we have so that we can hold the new wine. For Christians, we have already taken a sip of the new wine. But if we merely accept the new wine without changing our old wineskin, then we may find ourselves getting stuck in many of the controversial theological issues without any valid resolution. Supposedly, if we only change our old wineskin without taking in more new wine, then we would always find our wineskin half-full because the old wine is unable to completely fill up the wineskin. In the process of changing the old wineskin, we must also be taking in new wine so that the new wineskin can be fully utilized. The converse applies too.

By now, some would have guessed correctly that the wineskin actually referred to our mindsets. According to social behavioral theories, one's actions or behaviors are pretty much influenced or driven by our attitudes and cognition, that is, the ways in which we think or look at things. Therefore, when Jesus asked his disciples to change their old wineskin, he was actually asking them to change their old perception (way of looking and interpreting things) and mindsets. For Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit is coming and will teach them all things[2]. The "all" here implies that there are things not revealed yet but will be shown fully when the Holy Spirit comes. That explains why the disciples were so disheartened over the death of Jesus. They were still having their old wineskin which is unable to hold the new wine, that is, the reality of Jesus' death. Only after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the many post-resurrection teachings by Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost did they finally change their old wineskin into a new one. But even then, the old wineskin of salvation to the Gentiles was not yet changed. The Jewish Christians still refused to acknowledge the salvation to the Gentiles. It was until the time of Apostle Paul's missions when this old wineskin was finally changed into a new one. Therefore, we can see that the changing of the old wineskin is a continuous process, ceasing only when we reach perfection in Christ.

The immediate application is for us to ask ourselves what is the old wineskin which we need to change. We can also reflect whether we have taken a new sip of the new wine from Jesus recently. If not, could it be the right time for us to renew our old wineskin? Or are we too comfortable with the current one and refused to bulge, even when the Holy Spirit is actively prompting us? Perhaps it is also high time for us to wake up from our slumber and move on. The new wine which Jesus gives does not lead us into drunkenness. In fact, it cures us of the negative effects of the worldly wine as it is said:

"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" ~Mark 7:21-22

and also:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will." ~Rom 12:2

Therefore, let us rid ourselves of the old wineskin and obtain new ones from our gracious heavenly Father. Then we would be able to take in the new wine of Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit. By assimilating in this way, we can truly be regarded as legitimate branches of the true vine[3], producing quality grapes used for making new wine of Christ, to where Christ is proclaimed!

References
1. Blue Letter Bible, http://blueletterbible.org/Comm/david_guzik/sg/Mar_2.html accessed on 22 Jan 07.
2. John 14:26
3. John 15:1-8

(End)

The True Body of Christ

2006-12-30T23:47:00.000+08:00

As a christian, there is something which i have observed over the years in my church. And this supposedly erroneous perceived phenomenon has not faded away, instead, has gained some momentum sufficient enough to capture one's attention. I am guessing, with a certain degree of confidence, that it might be presence in many other churches too. As a result, the unity within the house of God is slowly eroding away. So then, what is the true body of Christ? If we look closely, some existing churches of today are not, in the strictest sense, exhibiting the full characteristics of the biological analogy taught in the bible. And why is this so? Perhaps it is worthwhile to discuss further on this topic.

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The main reference bible passage is taken from 1Cor 12:12-27.

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

From this passage, what can we understand by the word "body"? First of all, a body consists of many parts. All the various parts are doing their rightful functions. Every functions are needed for a body to perform her tasks. Though some parts are more desirable, but no part can ever claim that she is the most essential because they depend on and complement one another to fulfil the required tasks of the body. Quoting from the movie [Spiderman]: "More powers come more responsibilties". Therefore, the stronger parts will need to protect the weaker ones in order to preserve the overall good of the body.

Here are some of the common ways which many of us would understand the above passage. Firstly, every person[1] is important, though not equal in comparison, which means that no one should be despised or overly honoured. Secondly, every person has different gifts or talents, which means no one is insignificant or indispensable. Thirdly, every person is associated with the church in some ways, meaning no one is a bystander or a total monarch. Lastly, every person is inter-connected with one another, meaning no one is a lone ranger or an Indian chief.

Such discrete categorisation are useful and important to establishing the unity of the church, but by focusing solely on the individuals, it has inevitably excluded an important element from the main equation. This crucial factor is termed as the "fullness" of a body. Not surprisingly, this oversight has caused a great deal of distress in many churches, especially when their members begin to realise that their church is not a true body of Christ or is just a pseudo body of Christ. It is, in fact, more correctly to describe such churches as a factory of Christ's body, which excels in producing many similiar parts (but not all) of the body.

Let us explore more on the definition of a factory. A factory can be defined as a place that produces an uniform product, without concern for individuality [2]. In order to examine such analogy, perhaps we can pause for a moment and recap the past and existing initiatives and emphasis in which your local church were/are engaging in. In our enthusiastic efforts to fulfil the Great Commission [3], are we not moulding and conferring many members of a quick diploma or degree in Evangelism and/or Mission? In our passion to make disciples, are we not conducting countless workshops, conferences, seminars, classes and training just to tell the world that we are a disciple-making church? In our zealous to lead a Davidic worship, are we not holding a wide variety of music lessons, dance practises, vocal training and what have you, so that we can be on par or near world-class music standards? What exactly are we doing?

Are we producing or assimilating parts of the body of Christ? Did the bible tell us to manufacture or to assemble?

Has God called all of us to be evangelists? Are we all disciplers? Are we all nominated to be worship leaders? My simple answer to all these questions is NO! Now, God has called each and every one of us to be the ONE body of Christ and not a factory of body parts. If everyone is an evangelist, who is left to influence the workplace? If everyone is a shepherd, who is left to teach? Each one of us ought to do what God has called us to accomplish in His divine will. Pastors, elders, deacons and church leaders should, all the more, help their members to discover their spiritual gifts and talents which God has graciously given so that they can use them to build up the church and thus fulfil the visions of the church.

But sadly, what some churches of today are doing is to tell and teach their members to first ignore or adjorn the fulfilment of God's primary calling in their lives, and simply to engage in other priorities which the church is currently involved in. Some leaders even claimed that their members can slowly discover their primary calling through their involvement in such church priorities. Granted, sometimes it works. But is it better to first quiet down our heart and seek God for our primary calling? Today, i see many devout christians who are afraid of serving because they are confused and unsure of their primary calling. They lamented that they cannot do the job or someone more capable should take over them. Now, if the eyes cannot recognise distant objects and lamented, can the feet take over their roles? No, the feet are meant for walking and not for seeing. Conveniently (or carelessly), most of the churches are generalising the sacred God's calling universal set to just a mere handful of serving positions. Are we missing some parts of the body of Christ? To put it more correctly, are we neglecting certain functions of the parts of the body of Christ so much so that they cease to become operational (or even important) over a long period of time?

Recently, i met a usher in a church at Monterey. He is an old man but his wide smiles and passionate welcome can really brightens up all the visitors' day. After service, i heard another church member mentioning that he has been a usher for many years, yet is still full of energy and passion in that serving position. I am quite certain that God has put the gift of hospitality into his life and he is realising this great potential to welcome people into the house of the Lord.

Now, imagine discovering your hidden potential which God has put into your life so that you can accomplish the unique purpose(s) of your existence in God's kingdom. I believe that is the greatest joy for which a person can ever receive on Earth. We can compare that feeling to a young eagle soaring to the vast sky or a little penguin diving into the deep sea for the very first time. Finally, they have discovered their true self and begin to venture out on to a more meaningful and complete life.

In conclusion, the body of Christ is not restricted to the few parts which we are familiar with in our church. In fact, there are so many others, some of which may not have been discovered yet. Therefore, as we continue to share the great gospels to the world, let us be mindful that some rare parts can exist and are waiting to join the body of Christ. Therefore, we must learn to accept these people and allow them to assimilate smoothly into our midst, hence building up the church. When receiving them, we should not be quick to train them or assign them serving positions. Rather, we should be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, hence discovering their primary calling and spiritual gifts from God. Then we will truly know how they can fit nicely or complement our shortcomings. Only then can all the existing parts, along with the newer ones, be called the true body of Christ.

References
1. Person here means all christians associated in a specific or universal church.
2. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/factory assessed at 6th Dec 06.
3. Matthew 28:18-20

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The Apostles Creed

2006-11-30T23:49:00.000+08:00

The topic for the month of November has long been set, waiting to be penned down. Shall leave it for the December issue. For now, let us examine the Apostles' Creed.

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I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.
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PS: The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

References
http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html

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The Choice of Barabbas: A Post-Resurrection Trial of the Jews for the Death of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels

2006-10-30T23:46:00.000+08:00

1. Introduction
As literary tools, real or imaginary characters are often used to define and build story plots. The author’s intent is depicted through the skillful creation and deployment of the characters. Beside theological study, the bible can also be read as a form of literature with many genres. In this aspect, all biblical characters can be understood as literary tools, which bible authors employed for achieving certain purposes within their texts.

In this paper, we will examine a biblical character named Barabbas in the context of the Synoptic Gospels. P. Winter described the Barabbas’s Episode as the most enigmatical of all parts of Jesus’ trial in the Gospels. Indeed, to prove Winter’s point, Barabbas was the insurrectionist whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem instead of the innocent Jesus by the unison cries from the ‘crowd’ (ochlos), also translated as ‘the Jews’ or ‘the multitude’. Some questions are raised. Why did the crowd choose him instead of other criminals, e.g. the two robbers who were crucified together with Jesus? What was so peculiar about him? What were the gospel authors’ intentions in using this character? Could there be a hidden agenda within the texts?

The above questions will all be tackled in this paper, which are divided into four main sections. The first section will touch on the historicity of the events mentioned in the Barabbas Narrative. The second section will examine the Barabbas character in greater detail, particularly, his name, crimes and release. The third section will focus on literary criticism of the Barabbas Narrative in the Synoptic Gospels. The final section will summarize and offer a proposition that the Gospel authors’ intent for the Barabbas Narrative is really to put the Jews on trial for Christ’s death.

2. Main Body
2.1 Examining from Historicity
Firstly, we want to examine the Barabbas Narrative from the historicity of the events mentioned in the text. The Synoptic Gospels stated that there was a custom at Passover during which the Roman governor would release a prisoner of the crowd's choice. Luke 23:17 was not present in the earliest manuscripts and might be a later addition to conform to the rest of the Gospels. The repetition of this custom was shown by the imperfect use of apolyein (“used to release”) in Mark 15:6, (“usually did”) in Mark 15:8 and the verb eiōthein (“to be accustomed”) in Matt 27:15.

During the reign of Pontius Pilate, however, there was no record of this Passover custom. Moreover, this kind act was questionable because it was more lenient than the usual Roman administration style. Some pointed to the perception of Pontius Pilate as having no respect for Jewish religious and national customs. Never would this cruel governor ever accede to the release of a ‘notorious’ insurrectionist. However, other historians took the exact opposite view, arguing that Pilate showed careful regard to customs in order to avoid revolts in an unruly province, and this might be an example of Pilate creating an ‘ad hoc’ tradition in order to avoid a possibly explosive situation. Meier had described Pilate as a skillful master of pragmatic politics in his time where major disturbances and bloodshed in Judea were brought to a minimal.

Besides the dubious Passover custom, the insurrection mentioned in Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:19 would have been known by the pioneer Palestinian Jewish Christians as they read the Barabbas Narrative. However no such political revolt was recorded, not even by historians such as Josephus, during the time usually associated with Jesus’ crucifixion, ca. 30CE. Some had reconciled this issue by saying that the Gospel authors adopted an apologetic stance, in order to protect their infant communities against Roman reprisal.

2.2 Examining from Barabbas Character
Secondly, we want to examine the Barabbas Narrative from the character himself, in particular, his name, crimes and release as recorded in the synoptic gospels. Literally, Bar-abbas means ‘son of the father’. Some early Syriac manuscripts of Matthew recorded Barabbas as ‘Jesus Barabbas’ in Matthew 27:17, which translated to ‘Jesus, son of the Father’. The fact that the name of Barabbas was preserved in the tradition while the names of the two crucified lēstai (robbers) with Jesus did not, could imply that he was indeed a very prominent troublemaker at that time.

Barabbas or bar-abbas could also be a surname but it was not common in any other Hebrew text. Some scholars have speculated that Jesus was known as ‘bar-Abba’, due to his custom of addressing God as father or ‘Abba’ in prayer, as well as referring to God as Abba in his preaching. In the Gospels, however, Jesus rarely referred to himself as the ‘son of God’ and never referred to himself as the ‘son of the father’. The alternative possibility was that the name ‘Jesus’ was unintentionally inserted twice before Barabbas' name in Matthew 27:16-17. This was unlikely, especially since Barabbas was mentioned first in each verse. Most modern translations of the New Testament do not contain ‘Jesus’ as part of the Barabbas’ name.

Maccoby have averred that when the Jewish crowd clamored before Pontius Pilate to free ‘Bar Abba’, they could have meant Jesus. The argument given states that Anti-Semitic element in the Christian church altered the narrative to make it appear that the demand was for the freedom of somebody else named ‘Barabbas’, thus shifting the blame for the Crucifixion towards the Jews and away from the Romans.

Looking at the crimes of Barabbas, Mark and Luke had referred to him as one involved in a stasis, a riot (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). He was described as a notorious prisoner (Matthew 27:16), an insurrectionist (Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19) and a murderer (Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19). Some scholars posit that Barabbas was a member of the sicarii, a militant Jewish movement that sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers of their land by force, noting that Mark (15:7) mentioned that he had committed murder in an insurrection. Robert Eisenman has discussed the sicarii and the ongoing revolt of Jews against foreign presence in Judea. Many historians, however, maintained that the Sicarii only arose in the 40's or 50's of the 1st Century after Jesus' execution.

Regarding the peculiar choice of Barabbas’ release, Cheney stated that Pilate acquiesced the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus to satisfy the crowd (Mark 15:15), to stop a riot (Matt. 27:24) and to silence the people’s pleas for Jesus’ death (Luke 23:18-25). Other views maintained that Pontius Pilate, encouraged by the antipathy of the temple priesthood, considered Jesus as a threat to the Roman state, and thus, released Barabbas instead of Jesus.

Faced with similar charges, Barabbas, guilty as pronounced , was released, whereas Jesus, innocent from false accusations , was condemned to death. Looking further into the texts, the three questions posted by Pilate in Mark (vv. 15:9, 11, 14), the three declarations of Jesus’ innocence in Luke (vv. 23:4, 14, 22) and the dream of Pilate’s wife and his washing of hands in Matthew (vv. 27:19, 24), showed that the gospels authors believed that the drive to kill Jesus was primarily the responsibility of the Jewish leaders though the execution was by the Romans. Beck mentioned that Pilate’s hand washing and his wife’s dream could be local traditions which were added to the main narrative to lessen Romans’ responsibility. They reflected a trying period where the Jews persecuted the Palestinian Jewish Christians and when it was important for them to avoid Romans’ suspicion.

Also, Barabbas’ release illustrated the irony of the pardon and condemnation of the similar crimes of insurrection, both at the same time. It downplayed the penalty of murder in two ways. The first was through the release of a real murderer, Barabbas, and the second was through the murder of an innocent person, Jesus.

2.3 Examining from Literary Criticism
Thirdly, we want to examine the Barabbas Narrative from a literary criticism perspective. As mentioned earlier, this Barabbas scene presented a dramatic contrast between the guilty and the innocent. It was not alien to the Jews since the condemning of the innocent and letting the guilty go free was a Judaic motif. From Matthew 27:17, the neat pattern of ‘Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Messiah’ could reflect a copyist’s dramatic touch to heighten the parallelism of the two figures whom Pilate faced. Therefore, the entire Barabbas Narrative could be read like a parable to compare the true and false ‘son of the father’. Using the reader-response theory, the contrast between Barabbas and Jesus were meant to draw the readers of the Gospels into the narrative so that they must decide whose revolution was truly from the Father - the violent insurgency of Barabbas, or the challenging Gospel of Jesus.

As literary tool, Barabbas could be a totally fictional character to relate the story of a huge injustice wrought against a supremely just One. In the gospel of Mark, the author needed someone for his plot purposes to give testimony at the end that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. In the same fictitious light, Aus had argued that the Barabbas Narrative was basically a Christian composition drawing many similarities from an earlier major insurrection in Jerusalem in 4 BCE. He also illustrated that the pro-Roman sentiment among the Palestinian Jewish Christians could be due to the favorable deeds of Vitellius, a Roman governor, notably the transfer of the custody of the high priest’s special garments back to the priests at a Passover festival in Jerusalem in 36 CE. He maintained that the positive character of Vitellius had been transferred back to Pilate in the Barabbas Narrative.

Scholars like Cohn, Rigg, Maccoby and S.L. Davies interpreted the Barabbas Narrative to state that there was only one Jesus who stood at the Roman’s trial. Barabbas was not another person but an aspect of Jesus’ identity, e.g. under a religious charge Jesus was called ‘Barabbas’, the son of the Father, and under a political charge he was called the king of the Jews. Eventually, Pilate dismissed the religious charge or ‘Barabbas’ but sentenced Jesus on the political one. These arguments, however, do not stand under critical analysis because the creation of a nonexistent person was too early in the Gospel tradition, and moreover, Jesus rarely spoke of God as his father or called himself the son of God.

2.4 Summary and Proposition
At this juncture, the paper has covered the historicity, the character examination and the literary criticism of the Barabbas Narrative in the context of the Synoptic Gospels. As much as they have provided new insights, they have equally highlighted new questions on the authenticity of the texts. First of all, there was no recorded source of the custom of releasing a prisoner chosen by the people, nor was there any recorded record of an insurrection during Jesus’ time. Pontius Pilate, as historians had recorded, could not have possibly gave in to the cries of the ‘crowd’ or otherwise translated as ‘the Jews’. Next, the name of Barabbas, which literally means ‘son of the father’, was impossibly odd. The many crimes committed by Barabbas were also ‘too coincidentally’ similar to the false accusations thrown at Jesus. Ironically, these crimes were pardoned and Barabbas released, whereas the innocent Jesus was convicted and sentenced to crucifixion. Lastly, most literary criticism asserts that this particular plot was an invention of the early Church, devised in order to exhibit a simple rhetorical antithesis between the good Jesus and the bad one, so that the Jews could be shown for evermore to have rejected his authentic, good counterpart.

Approaching from the reader-response’s perspective, I will now offer another proposition that there is indeed another secondary trial within the Barabbas Narrative. This trial aims to convict the Jews for shedding innocent’s blood of Jesus. The narrative begins by drawing all its readers to the familiar court setting in front of Pilate, the governor. Then it starts to introduce all the different characters that are necessary in a typical court hearing. The ‘defendant’ is ‘the crowd’ or ‘the Jews’, in particular, their religious leaders on multiple charges of slander, giving false testimonies and murder. The ‘plaintiff’ or ‘prosecutor’ is the team of synoptic gospel authors whose purposes are to convince the court through their consistent narration and to convict the ‘defendant’ of his murder crime. The ‘defendant attorney’ is formed by the collective voices of the chief priests and the elders, who formulated the accusations against Jesus. They must prove to the court that Jesus had indeed committed the crimes that led to a death sentence. The witnesses are the council of three formed by Pilate himself, his wife and Herod. They have, consistently, maintained the innocence of Jesus through their personal testimonies. Finally, the responsibility of the ‘judge’ or ‘jury’ is bestowed onto the readers themselves so that they can make an independent verdict on whether the ‘defendant’ is guilty of Jesus’ death.

The character Barabbas, therefore, is used in the narrative as a marker to advance the court’s hearing. From the initial accusations to the illogical choice of Barabbas’ release, the defendant attorney is portrayed as self-centered and holds little regard for justice. Moreover, the notorious list of crimes attributed to Barabbas provides a sharp contrast to the false accusations of Jesus by the chief priest and elders. This should be noted as strong evidence by the judge. Repeatedly, the witnesses have shown many evidences that Jesus was indeed innocent and call for a just verdict to be passed. The mass cries of the defendant overrule the rightful judgment and caused an innocent person, Jesus, to be crucified. As an added twist, the defendant in Matthew was heard to make a self-confession on the charge of causing Jesus’ death by saying, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” Ultimately, the reader-response’s intent of this Barabbas Narrative is that the readers, who now act as the judge, will be challenged to make their own assessment on whether the ‘defendant’ is guilty of Jesus’ death.

3. Conclusion
Notwithstanding the authenticity issue, Aug explained that the Barabbas Narrative has special social significance to the Palestinian Jewish Christians when it transferred the main responsibility of Jesus’ death from the Romans back to the Jews. Firstly, they could use this narrative to better establish their self-identity apart from Judaism. Secondly, it was advantageous for them to lean towards Rome, the occupying military power in Palestine and ruler of the world then.

The main exegesis of the Barabbas Narrative often evolves around Pontius Pilate and the Jews, shifting the blame of Jesus’ death from one party to another. Primarily, Pontius Pilate should be held responsible because only he alone, as the governor, could pronounce a death sentence at that time. The Jews, however, should also bear the fault because they had instigated the crucifixion to take place. But perhaps, we should not be quick to point our fingers at others. From a theological perspective, all of us are guilty of his death because of our sins. This is mentioned in the bible when it says that Jesus came and died for our sins so that whoever believes in him shall not perished but have eternal life. In that case, we have all taken part in the crucifixion of Jesus, and like Barabbas, our many sins are forgiven simply because he had bore our sins to himself.

In future, when we study the Barabbas Narrative or any other narrative within the biblical texts, we can, for a change, employ some literary criticism techniques such as the reader-response theory to them, so that we, as readers, can be made active and be directly involved in the plots. Surely, if there is any original reader-response purpose from the bible authors, it will only be more apparent to us when we assume the intended role and give our own response in the context of the narrative.

References
Aus, Roger David. Caught in the act, walking on the sea, and the release of Barabbas revisited. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1998.

Beck, Dwight Marion. Through the Gospels to Jesus. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1954.
Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: The Roots of the Problem and the Person, Vol. I. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1991.

Brown, Raymond E. The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels Vol. 1. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994.

Eisenman, Robert H. James, Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1998.

Freedman, David Noel, et al., eds. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.

Grant, Michael. Jesus, An Historian's Review of the Gospels. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977.

MacCoby, Hyam. Revolution in Judaea: Jesus and the Jewish Resistance. New York, NY: Taplinger Pub. Co., 1980.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: The Roots of the Problem and the Person, Vol. I. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1991.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: The Roots of the Problem and the Person, Vol. 3. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1991.

Sloyan, Gerard Stephen. The Crucifixion of Jesus: History, Myth, Faith. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

Winter, Paul. On the trial of Jesus. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1974.

(End)

Do You have a Religion?

2006-09-30T23:45:00.000+08:00

Sometimes a coffeeshop talk can spark off a series of interesting discussion. Recently, I was catching up with two of my former classmates when one of them popped the question on terrorism. Is that a religious or political issue? Are they (the terrorists) instigated by their religion or some other factors? The conversation went on to talk more about religion instead. From these, i somehow sense that people (at least for my two friends) are beginning to lose trust in religion. They begin to question the necessity of religion in the modern world today. Do we harbour such thoughts too?

I think it is important to understand what people perceive when we mention them of our Christian identity. Is this identity a positive or negative one? Sometimes, presumption from their past life experiences can affect the way they understand Christian. So how can we introduce our faith to them as a Christian? Is it just another form of religion? Or do we have more to offer?

---
"Hey, what is your religion?", asked John.

"Oh, I believe in _________.", replied John's friend.

When approaching the topic of religion, technical terms like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Atheism and so on so forth come to our mind. But what do we really understand by the term 'religion'? Is it suffice to give a one-word answer for something which we (assuming we have a religion) hold so dearly in our heart? Perhaps, for some, this topic is mediocre. But, i think, for Christians, such issues are important because their past, present and future could be held ransom by a mere religious label if nothing concrete is done to address the fundamentals of thir faith. More details are required to define the authenticity of their faith. More explanations are necessary to clear the misunderstandings people may have. More discussions are essential to engage the non-Christians with the Word of God. At this point, Christians (readers) should establish that a simple religious label is insufficient and often redundant to tell people of their faith. On the contrary, it will create even more ambiguities for those who are new or alien in the Christian faith.

From the wikipedia website, religion is defined as

"... a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unseen being, or system of thought considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine or highest truth, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions, and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought. It is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system", but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions."[1]

It seems that sociologists, anthropologists, theologists and other professional scholars have attempted to classify sacred, supernatural and superstitious social beliefs, practices, traditions and customs into some sort of taxonomy. One of the major limitations of this classification is 'over-simplificity'. Such diverse and non-scientific activities are extremely difficult to be grouped into a set of generic headers. One may be right to ask concerning the feasibility of this impossible task. It tends to fall apart easily when dissected for rigorous scrutiny.

Perhaps the next time when we hear people stating their religion, we can, for a change, make the conversation more interesting by probing further on the elaboration of their faith. The delight will be revealed when by sheer coincidence, two or more people actually embrace the same religion. After lengthy expounding, they may begin to realise that they do not share similiar understanding (or faith) in their religion after all. If, at that moment, one can read their thoughts, they may be presuming (or accusing) other parties from having some sort of knowledge deficiency or fallacy in their understanding of the religion.

Such illustration, i should say, is common in our society. Many people seem to be ignorant of what they believe (or profess) in. For the majority, a simple religious label is sufficient, leaving the hearers to interpret the rest. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is present across all religions. Exactly, why do people want to embrace a set of religious teachings and practises? Could it be for a sense of identity or are they following a social norm? Allow me to present the following three reasons to further our discussion. Detailed explanation are delibrately excluded to scope the content of this article.

Why do people embrace a religion?

Firstly, people embrace religion for a peace of mind. With so many unexplained events happening in this world, people are wary of the physical realm which they are living in. Some may believe that there is also a spiritual realm in existence which they cannot see. Therefore, they resort to having a religion in the hope that unknown or uncontrollable events can be contained (or explained) by the supernatural powers which their religion claims. If we study the diversity of the god(s) in each religion, it is not difficult to identify the main area of concerns of their followers.

Secondly, people embrace religion for a sense of identity. Quite often, family members share a common religion. Religious traditions and customs are passed down from generations to generations without much resistance. In the early Church history, some people embraced Christianity because they wanted to associate themselves with the prestigious Caesar and his royal officials who had made Christianity the national religion. Similiarly, most Chinese in China are atheist because of their closed policies which prevented the freedom of religious worship and development in their countries.

Thirdly, people embrace religion for a source of power. Mysterious as it can be, not many can comprehend the essence of the religion's core. Those who are capable of doing so are held in great regards, e.g. the High Priests, Catholic Pope, Venerables. With more knowledge come greater powers. Therefore, the knowledgeable ones are bestowed with the authority to instruct, influence and even manipulate their "religion" which, inevitably, affect others too.

No doubt the same over-simplificity problem exists here too. Notwithstanding that, most of the people tend to fall into one or more of the above justification when they embrace a religion. They want to acquire a piece of mind, a sense of identity and/or a source of power. In each of the three reasons, it is almost certain that there are overlaps as well as differing views within. The three reasons can even be mix-and-match to generate higher degree of complexity for the more sophisticated individuals. What all these imply is that religion is something which human beings had created, simply to satisfy their own self-centered desires.

So what did the bible say about religion?

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." ~ Rom 1:20-23

The bible says that those who attempt to create religion(s) are like fools. They have denied the existence of the one true God whose invisible qualities can be clearly seen and understood from the creation. Although they know somehow that there is a God, but they do not acknowledge Him. In their self-centredness, they create false idols to satisfy their personal desires. This brings us to the important question on the purpose of our existence on earth. Are we created to serve (worship) God or to be served (attended to) by our god(s)?

On the same track, the bible also teaches that even if people claim to know a lot of things, but they cannot possibly comprehend everything (Ecc 8:17). Even with rapid medical science advances, no one has yet to fully understand the forces of nature at work or how a life is formed right from the beginning; let alone the work of God (Ecc 11:5). It can, therefore, be seen that the naive ideology of Man has failed miserably when we try to articulate God in the form of religion. For if God is truly God, then it is impossible for us to understand Him apart from His divine revelation. Yet, even with divine revelation, God remains mysterious because His ways and thoughts are far beyond our comprehension (Isa 55:9).

Till now, we have noted that a simple religious label is pretty much meaningless. The exact interpretation depends largely on people's life context and experiences. This problem is made worsened by the enormous volume of religious text available for reference. As a result, the same religion can be taught and practised in many different ways, depending on the needs of the people during that period of time. We also read three reasons why people want to embrace a religion; all for self purposes. Religions, therefore, are attractive because they seek to provide immediate solutions for all our needs and wants. They can even complement the deficiency of modern science in our society by providing alternative answers to unexplainable events. Most religions also adopt a modular design structure which means that new teachings can be added later in order to cater for present and future requirements. Henceforth, it is not surprising for religions to lure and rally a constant stream of followers into their respective system.

From a Christian's viewpoint, we should not regard our beliefs as a form of religion. Though some forms of systematic mechanism can be achieved and are beneficial from an academic point of view, we should be careful not to allow such doctrinal issues to take precedence over God, hence limiting His work in our midst. When we tell people we are a Christian, we should be careful not to let them garner the idea that we belong to a generalised religion called "Christianity", a term which may contain false associations or presumption based on their past and current life experiences. Instead, we should allow our faith to be at work, in both our speeches and actions; changing their old mindsets and perhaps their life experiences with us. This faith, which is in Jesus Christ, is strengthened in our daily meditation on God's Word and constant experiences enabled by the Holy Spirit. It is both alive and real, always anticipating what is come from the will of God. In God's Word, we are moulded and transformed to be like Christ (Rom 12:2), the perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2). In experiences, we stand in awe of the marvelous things that the Lord has done before our very sight. Those will form yet another part of our personal testimonies and thanksgiving in Christ. That is why the bible mentions that Christians are to be commissioned to testify for Christ, teaching people of the good news found in God's Word and telling people of the wonderful things that happened in Christ. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen!

References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

(End)

God's Delight: Faithful or Diligent Workers

2006-08-30T23:44:00.000+08:00

Hope this simple rendition will generate sufficient thought-provoking mental discourse in your inquisitive and discerning mind, that has endured and persevered with me thus far, surviving as victorious remnant to a glimpse of first-hand, some Christian masterpieces (in small caps) in production. Christian literary works pen down by Man, all by the grace of God and for the glory of God. Amen!

---
Let us read from the passage extracted from Matthew 20:1-16 below.

...
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.

He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
...

In Matthew 20:1-16, we read the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Verse 16 sums up the main theme of this parable, that is, Christians must always stay alert in their faith, else they face the danger of being judged by God. This reminder is timely for veteran Christians who are constantly enticed by the devil to forsake their humility and sole dependence on God, and to pursue self-righteousness, which leads to the ancient sin of pride, resulting in the downfall of Mankind.

Two points which we can ponder upon.

In this parable, we first observe that the workers were busy working in the vineyard, even though there was a huge shortage of manpower. Such familiar scenes are echoed in, I say, most churches today where Christians are more pre-occupied engaging in their ministry work than going out and inviting the unchurched or unsaved into the house of the Lord. Seriously, have we considered taking a break and ask God what He really want us to do?

Secondly, we discover the growing appetite of the workers in the vineyard. They were all promised to receive a denarius after the completion of their work. But the workers who were hired earlier became greedy and demanded for more compensation. The Ephesus church was reprimanded (Rev 2:4) for this exact reason when they started to forsake their first love. Now, in our zeal for God, have we also forgotten of our wretched sinful nature, that we are saved only by God’s grace through our faith and not by our own deeds (Eph 2:8-9)?

Therefore, we must always stay vigilant in our faith because the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1Pet 5:8). Resist the sin of pride and let verse 16 be a constant reminder to us that those who wish to be the first will be made the last in the kingdom of God.

(End)

Did Jesus Succumb to Extreme Pressure?

2006-07-30T23:43:00.000+08:00

Let us read from the passage extracted from Mark 11:11-25 below.

...
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

When evening came, they went out of the city.

In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
...

From the above passage, we see a different side of Jesus. In comparison to his previous trip to Jerusalem when he was only twelve, Jesus seems to have changed from a mild and inquisitive teenager to an aggressive and critical adult. What can we observe from this passage?

Firstly, Jesus seems to have been unreasonable. Though it was not the season for figs, he cursed the fruitless fig tree because it did not satisfy his hunger. Secondly, Jesus resorted to the use of violence in the temple court. The temple market was a widely-accepted commercial practice during his time, yet he disapproved of it and created a big scene in that area. Now, was Jesus a changed person at the final lap of his messianic journey?

Looking deeper into the scripture, we can see that Jesus was definitely not being unreasonable. He had overcome the 40 days of trials and temptation prior to the commencement of his ministry. He said that Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from God. Therefore, Jesus could not have possibly cursed the fig tree because of his hunger, but rather as a vivid illustration to teach his disciples the importance of faith in prayer. This was crucial because he was going to leave them soon.

Jesus, being zealous for God, was exhibiting a type of holy anger in the temple court. His actions resembled that of Moses when he smashed the Ten Commandments in front of the Israelites during the golden calf incident. Obviously, the people still had not understood the laws of Moses fully and Jesus’ gestures seems to suggest that the written laws were smashed the second time and they would find fulfillment through Him.

Perhaps we can ask ourselves some practical questions. When we pray, are we placing our faith in God or are we subjected to the status quo of the world? Do we obey a set of written rules blindly or do we obey God by letting Jesus Christ reign in our lives? Instead of asking whether Jesus had changed, maybe we need a real change ourselves.

(End)

The Love on the Cross

2006-06-30T23:42:00.000+08:00

Love comes in various attributes, forms and presentation. We understand love from the way we interact with family members, friends, lovers and acquaintances. Sometimes, we offer our love and sometimes we receive love from others. This cyclic flow of reciprocal love is what propels us to move on with life; a tiny glimpse of what Christians should be expecting in heaven.

Have you noticed?

Perhaps a few more years for some and you will realise that this world which we are living in has some inherent weaknesses and errors. From the day which we were born, endless vacuum of wants and desires surrounded us. Our basic instinct is to first seek out all the possible sources of love in whatever manners we can. As babies, we cry so that our requests can be met. Some have argued that this is the only "known" form of communication by the babies and should not be considered as a selfish way but time will tell. As kids, we learn new languague(s), verbal as well as non-verbal, so that we can communicate with our family members. But we fall back to our tears when our wants are left undone. Progressively over time, we acquire new techniques of achieving our desires into our learned skillsets. As teenagers, we probably have so many love-seeking methods that we are spoilt for choices. At this juncture, some may start to realise that love is not all about receiving, we can also offer, if we want to, a portion of our love to people we hold so dearly. As adults, we tend to start to engage in mutual forms of loving interaction. This is really an art rather than a science because a precision must be achieved to avoid costly experiments. There is no empirical result that holds true between different human entities because each one of us are unique. As such, we start to mourn because love has finally taken her toil at us. Love becomes a mysterious element to be very wary of. She has emerged as a big question mark where answers are being sought throughout our lives.

So, how does the bible describes love?

The bible states that the highest form of love is the "Agape", a selfish form of sacrifical love which God has demonstrated for us when He sent Jesus, His only begotten son, to die for us on the cross. Have we got anything worthy of such a cause? Absolutely not! For all has sinned and fall short of the glory of God [Rom 3:23]. But because of God's great love, we are not consumed [Lam 3:22]. God is love [1John 4:8] and is the Author of our life [Acts 3:15], therefore He has personally come to show us how to love both our Creator and the people in this world [Matt 22:37-39].

The bible also commanded us to love one another just as Christ has loved us [John 13:34]. A command is something which we must obey, regardless of our own choices. In other words, to love is the core of Jesus's message to His disciples which summarises the two greatest commandments - to love God and to love our neighbours [Matt 22:37-39].

Are there any differences between the divine love and the earthly love? Plenty!

Most earthly love are temporal. When trials come, earthly love fade away. Reflect and count the number of times that your family and friends had disappointed you because of their lack of love. Think and recount the number of times you had neglected people because of inherent biased love. We find it hard to time-share our love to many people, especially when they come all at the same time. Often, we will choose carefully the recipient whom we want to love. Our love has a limit. At times, love can also mutate into negative feelings like hatred, jealousy and anger. The bottomline is - we do not know how to love.

What then for us?

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Rom 8:38-39

God's Word is everlasting [Matt 24:35]. His promises hold forever. The love of God has such great strength that it binds our relationship with Him tightly together. Therefore, we can be assured that no one and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Even sins can no longer divide us from our Creator because Christ has died on the cross for all our wrongdoings. God's love is universal, inviting all to put their faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. And because of our faith in God's saving grace; we are justified and clothed with righteousness. We become heirs to God's kingdom in Christ [Rom 8:17].

Such were the vast differences between the divine love and the earthly love. And if we look carefully at the Calvary's cross, there are some interesting insights for us to ponder upon.

"... And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." ~ Eph 3:17b-19

When examined carefully from all angles, the crucifix has many dimensions - wide, long, high and deep. Indeed, Christ has demonstrated all these attributes of the divine love when He died for us, all sinners, on the cross. Perhaps, if one can measure the width between the east and the west, the length between the north and the south, the height between the heaven and the earth, the depth between the sky and the ocean bed, then that is how wide, long, high and deep God's love has for us.

For those non-mathematics inclined, the divine love that Christ had shown on the Calvary's cross can be seen as how God has extended the invitation of His salvation from the Israelites to all the nations (wide); has levelled the racial, culture, color discrimination among people to be equal in His eyes (long); has bridged the great gulf separating Man and Himself (tall), has won the victory over sins and death (deep).

Such is the divine love of God which is poured out to all those who believe and receive. Such is the "Agape" love whom Apostle Peter was being asked for three times by the Lord. He has responded. What about you?

Be blessed! You, who are being loved by God [Jedidiah].

(End)

Sense-Making in the Great Commission - Part 2 of 2

2006-05-30T23:38:00.000+08:00

If God allows it, i shall be on my way to obtain plenary knowledge about theology and sociology, and how they can be studied in parallel. Someone may asked, including myself, about the true intention of this decision. Honestly speaking, i am still seeking a crystal clear answer for the calling to do full-time ministry has not arrived yet. Perhaps the upcoming Korean Prayer Conference in July can shed some light to the dark Damascus cloud that is looming over my path.

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This month, we will continue to touch on the Synefin Framework[1] and how it can be applicable when fulfiling the Great Commission, which world-wide christians are engaging, in one form or another. Also, we want to first acknowledge the efforts invested by the various christian mission pioneers, missionaries and leaders whom have developed many valuable theories and teachings for the Great Commission based on their own experiences. This Synefin Framework that i am introducing serves as an alternative perspective to view things, one that we often neglect when we started to take things for granted.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Great Commission calls us (i.e. all christians) to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us[2].

But how do we make sense out of the challenges arising from the Great Commission? Perhaps the Synefin Framework can help to facilitate and further our discussion. Let us go for a quick recap.

The Synefin Framework contains four domains called "known", "knowable", "complex" and "chaos" respectively. There is also a fifth obscured domain termed "disorder" which is actually the overlapping area among the four domains, resulting from the different interpretation by different people on the same subject of interest. Generally, the ordered domains (known and knowable) have some forms of linear cause-and-effect relationships, whereas the unordered domains (complex and chaos) present little or no cause-and-effect connection at all. At the very fundamental level, the Cynefin framework attempts to question the universality of the assumption of order, the assumption of rational choice and the assumption of intentional capability. But these are beyond the scope of this article, at least for the time being.

With these in mind, let us study the actual application of the Cynefin Framework on the Great Commision.

In order for us to accomplish the Great Commission, we must be prepared to go into the harvest fields (local or overseas) to sow seads (i.e. gospel sharing and bible teaching) and then to reap the crops (i.e. new christian converts and new church leaders). The "known" domain will include pre-mission preparation like mastering our bible knowledge and evangelism tools, learning foreign languages and cultures, plotting maps and geographical topography, recruiting zealous members, raising funds, coordinating prayer and information network and so on so forth. Within this domain, people tend to plan as much as they could so that, via a systematic process, a lot of unexpected surprises can be minimized or even eliminated, and the remaining procedures ahead will be made smoother. The converse is also true, if there are insufficient preparation for a mission trip, then the final outcomes would most likely be far from desirable. Hence, the "known" domain keeps us busy by the process of planning and preparation because we know that jobs well done at these earlier stages will eventually lead to a greater success or better desirable outcomes at a later time. Generally, church leaders have little problems at managing tasks at this domain.

What about past experiences and the common pitfalls that we want to avoid? All these fall into the "knowable" domain where the highly specialized knowledge are held by a very limited group of people. Typically, they are the experts, practitioners, researchers and advisors in the realms of interest. In today's context, we could tap on these valuable resources to gain a better appreciation of the unfamiliar contexts that we are interested in, and perhaps, include some important lessons learnt into our existing training programmes. That explains why it is so important to have (but not limited to) mission post-sharing sessions, conferences and collaboration; the ultimate aim is to impart restricted knowledge, which are important, to the missionaries, who are getting ready to venture into the unfamiliar mission fields. Christianity faith has been making good progress over the centuries; (in my opinion) it would be impractical for a church to start a new mission without exploring the "knowable" domain in details. Why disadvantage ourselves by ignoring the unity of the Christ's body? I want to propose to all Churches to begin constructive communication and share the talents that God has entrusted to each individual so that the kingdom of God may truly advance without any man-made hindrance.

Even with the luxury of ample preparation, chaos theory has taught us that we cannot eliminate or contain the influence of irregularity in the world, no matter how hard we try. This is something which has facinated many scientists around the world, whom (i believe) many could have internalized and attributed this strange phenomenon to non other than the grand mastery work of the Great Architect Himself(God). Numerous empirical experiments can be conducted, but there will always be emergent chaotic elements existing in the world that do not conform to the existing scientific theories. And when that happened, either new theories or patterns have to be observed again, or we can simply label them as tolerable abnormalities in an otherwise ordered system. Does it sounds like the box office hit - The Matrix, to you? Such chaotic behaviours bring us to the next two Cynefin domains, in which the cause-and-effect line is not that apparent to people from the beginning.

In the "complex" domain, the causal relationship is coherent in retrospect and do not repeat. Hence, time is key for the identification of emerging patterns and the application of appropriate reactive measures to those identified patterns. Such instances often occur in isolation and cannot be taught because they may not happen ever again. Frequent exemplification of such domain happened during the actual ground mission work itself. In my opinion, they do, in a way, provide a wonderful space for God to display His majestic glory and power in our midst. In this domain, success come from the skillfulness of individual to spot new patterns and intervening to structure those patterns in their favor. Those who fail tend to adopt a dogmatic approach and simply refuse to allow any agent of change to alter their way. On the mission ground, we should always allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, even though we had spent lots of time in our preparation. Instead of dictating what we can do all the time, we should also yield ourselves to listen to the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit, and be willing to respond in total surrender towards God's will. New wine should be poured onto new wineskin[3]. God may inspire us with the gift of pattern recognition but are we willing to change (perhaps all) our existing plans to tackle the new found pattern(s)? Extraordinary events require extraordinary power to handle, of which only God is capable of providing. When we know that the things are beyond our means, we should let go and let God takes the lead. After all, Jesus Christ is both our Shepherd and our King! He will lead us into victorious triumphant in the spiritual battles at the mission fields.

What happened if things are totally out of control? What if there is no pattern to be observed and a decision has to be made immediately? This is characterized in the "chaos" domain. According to the Cynefin Framework theory, the recommended approach is to act first so as to quickly contain the chaos, then observe the resultant stability achieved and finally responding to the outcomes in the most appropriate manner, when possible. Often, during the actual mission work itself, there are many ambiguous issues that require our immediate attention. What should we do in response? Sound the panic alarm? I think otherwise. The bible says that God gives us a bold and courageous spirit when we accomplishing His work[4]. And He promises to be with us wherever we go. Therefore, we should all the more be bold and courageous, exercising the wisdom (sometimes our common sense) and skillsets that God has given to us when dealing with chaotic situations. We must firmly believe that all things work for the good of those who love God[5]; by faith, our actions will be justified[6]; and He who is in us is above all[7].

On a lesser note, I think we ought to be thankful that such unordered domains exist, because only through self-awareness of our own lacking and uncertainities do we truly rely on God's power and strength. It is timely to remind ourselves, over and again, that the Great Commission is solely for God's purpose, enabled only through Jesus Christ and empowered entirely by the work of the Holy Spirit; which excludes any of our self-ambitions, whatever these words may mean to us.

In conclusion, it is important to note that none of the domain described is more desirable than any other. Rather, the Cynefin framework is used primairily to consider the dynamics of situations, decisions, perspectives, conflicts, and changes in order to come to a common concensus for decision-making under both certainity and uncertainity. If we could somehow identify the challenges of the Great Commission using this framework as an enabler tool, perhaps our current and future mission works may be even more insightful, not to mention fruitful too. Finally, we should not be cynical in the adoptation of new tools (even worldly ones) for overcoming the potential obstacles in missions. Ultimately, the Great Commission must be fulfilled, just as what our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to obey.

May His kingdom come quickly! Amen!

References
1. C.F. Kurtz and D.J. Snowden, "The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world", IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3 (2003).
2. Matt 28:18-20
3. Mark 2:22
4. Jos 1:6,7,9
4. Rom 8:28
5. Rom 14:2
6. Eph 1:18-23

(End)

Sense-Making in the Great Commission - Part 1 of 2

2006-04-30T23:37:00.000+08:00

Shalom! Peace be with you! It has been a busy April for me. I feel as if i have "over-prayed" for the lack of work in my office, so much so that work just keep coming at me. I have to attend tons of meetings, correspond dozens of emails, assist tens of people on top of my current chores. Finally, i have to decide to divide this article into two parts, one in April and another in May. I could, if i want to, rush to complete this article by April, but then it would be a piece of sub-quality work. That is definitely not what i want to offer to my faithful readers out there. Therefore, enjoy this first part of the article and then stay tune for the second part which will continue in May.

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Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." [Matt 28:18-20]

This is the famous Great Commission which most of us, christians, are familiar with. Often, it is chosen as the theme biblical passage for many of our mission initiatives. Strictly speaking, we can consider it as one of the two strong pillars of Lord Jesus's teachings whom He had left for His disciples; the other being the Great Commandmant[1]. It was meant not solely for the disciples then, but also for the later disciples, both you and me, in ages to come.

Coherently, pastors, preachers, missionaries and church leaders like to quote this passage so that we may be spurred towards willing submission to our Lord's final instructions. In ready response, many christians offer up their lives, time and money to the "so-called" mission ministry. This is a very wonderful thing to do but when we fail to examine the actual dynamics involved, we could unintentionly be misled and swayed. Of course, some may argued that in any ways, the gospel is eventually preached to the rest of the world. However, i think if we just adopt a simple cause-and-effect model without realising the complexity and chaotic nature of the Great Commission to the gentiles, then this great oversight may endanger the furtherance of the gospel to what the Lord has intended, that is, to the ends of the world.

At this juncture, allow me to borrow some of the interesting sense-making concepts from the Cynefin Framework[2]. This framework is used primarily to consider the dynamics that occur in different situations, decisions, perspectives, conflicts and changes with the aim to arrive at a more meaningful understanding for a better decision-making process under uncertainties. Broadly, it contains four named domains called "known", "knowable", "complex" and "chaos" respectively. There is also a fifth obscured domain termed "disorder" which is actually the overlapping area among the four named domains. In the ordered domains (known and knowable), the cause and effect relationship are generally linear, correlated and most of the time known, whereas the two un-ordered domains (complex and chaos) present little or no cause and effect connections at all. At the fundamental level, the Cynefin framework attempts to question the universality of three basic assumptions - the assumption of order, the assumption of rational choice and the assumption of intentional capability, which are very much entrenched in the policies, processes/procedures and strategies of many organisations.

With these as our basic building blocks, we shall try to explore at how the Cynefin Framework can be applied to the Great Commission in the Christian arena. It may sound too academic to some but i do believe strongly that all wisdom and understandings come from God above and can be used in conjunction with His Word, especially when dealing with carnal issues. And for the benefit of those readers who are interested to learn more about the detailed explanations of the Cynefin Framework[2], i have included the references right at the end of the article.

Practically, this article will not attempt to cover a comprehensive discussion of the Cynefin Framework to the various aspects of the Great Commission. First, the lengthy content would probably turn many of the "leisure" readers of this article off. Second, it would probably take many empirical results, and thus time, to ascertain some of the proposed hypotheses. Third, the primary goal of this article is to highlight new and interesting discussion elements for the Christian community, and not to provide a complete solution to all the monthly theme.

Therefore, the scope of this later article will be mainly focusing on the final instructions of the Great Commission. The actual implementation issues are then entrusted to the readers as assignments in their own fellowship or ministry time.

If we examine closely, there are three main instructions in the Great Commission. First, we (i.e. all christians) are to go and make disciples of all nations. Second, we are to baptize the disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Third, we are to teach the disciples to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us. Notwithstanding these, the Great Commission also comes with the power and promises of the Lord for those who obey. The Lord proclaims that "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him" and He promises that "He will with us always, to the very end of the age". These are congruent to God's everlasting mercy for us and will carry us through as we fulfil the Great Commission.

We shall now see how we can apply the Cynefin Framework to the Great Commission.

References
1. Luke 10:27
2. C.F. Kurtz and D.J. Snowden, "The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world", IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3 (2003).

The New Genre of Worship

2006-03-30T23:35:00.000+08:00

I have came to realise that my general knowledge is very limited, with deficiency spanning across vast arrays of topics. In actual fact, my pen is not so much constrained by the rhetorical ink (aka words) but rather by the mediocre facts within my capacity. Nonetheless, i will continue to write. Who knows, perhaps one day, when i got hold of more or all of the relevant facts, i could revert back to my past works, feed those bare skeletons with new flesh and spirit, then reincarnate them to influence the world in the form of books or periodicals.

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A simple prelude to the topic of music, something which has fascinated me for an extended period of time.

Most of us can agree that music is an universal language, powerful enough to transcend all races, languages, cultures and nations. Music has the innate ability to absorb, guide, control and tame our emotions. She is unparallel when it comes to healing of our emotional wounds and sorrows. Yet, we also find joy and excitement when a certain set of tempo is played. To the extremists, anger and frustration are often exhibited (thankfully) through this peaceful alternate outlet. Music is definitely multi-facets; magical in every sense.

Now, a friend of mine used to describe briefly to me on how some of the different genre of music[1] came about. By this i mean the proper official classification, as i know there are unofficial ones too. Allow me to summarise what i had heard in the most simplest form here.

Let me start off with "Jazz". It all started from the influx of immigrants from the European and African countries to the United States from the 16th Centuries[2] onwards. This diverse combination gave birth to what is called "Jazz" in our modern context, carrying traits from the West African black folk music developed in the Americas, joined with European popular and light classical music of the late 18th and 19th centuries [3].

The following period was characterised by a series of wars and revolutions. Hence, a new post-war genre, named "Rock", emerged to portray such extreme hurts, sorrows, angers and frustration. It is no wonder why "Rock" music are by far the loudest and most aggressive among their peers.

Then slowly enters the "Pop" genre which is very radio-friendly, henceforth enjoyed a much wider audience base. By then, the post-war syndrome has subsided substantially. Emerging music belong to a more sentimental setting, with plenty of romantic love stories.

Of course, there are still many other genre in the music industry nowadays. And it seems almost impossible to describe all of them here because that would incur lengthy description of detailed researched findings and we would probably lose our main focus of an authentic christian article.

Perhaps, we can shift our attention to the music found in the bible.

With reference to the Old Testament, we understand that the Israelities worshipped their God using a rich variety of creative styles, often musically inspired. They sang songs [even new songs], shouted [aloud and with great rejoicing], danced, played the instuments (i.e. harps, trumpets, ten-stringed lyres, ram's horns, tambourines, flutes, cymbals) [skillfully] and clapped their hands to the LORD [4].

King David even danced before the LORD when the ark of the LORD was brought into the city of David. It was recorded that he used all his might to dance unto the LORD, while the rest of the Israelities shouted and sounded the trumpets throughout the entire procession [5].

When despised by one of his wives, Michal, he responded, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor." [2Samuel 6:21-22]

Such freedom of worship is definitely envied by many of the modern christians like us. Therefore, it seems only right for us to ask ourselves how our forefathers of this very same faith have evolved the worship styles till the present day forms. Have we forego the richness of the worship styles of the ancient days? Have we limit ourselves to certain rituals such that whoever defies are despised just like King David by his wife? Do we use all our might to worship God or do we rest our body, less our mind and heart, as though to observe the Sabbath law? What happened to the shout, dance and resounding instruments? Were they all buried together with Jesus on the cross?

Mind you, Jesus Christ has resurrected! This is something we can rejoice and celebrate over and over again. Granted that there is a time for everything [6]. But whenever there is a time to weep, there is always a time to laugh, and when there is a time to mourn, there will be another time to dance. We ought not to weep and mourn on every sunday service or christian gatherings, nor should we be laughing and dancing at every christian fellowship. There is always a proper time for everything.

With weeping and mourning, there are less to prepare. We need only to bring our broken hearts to God and allow Him to mend our hurts and sorrows. But with laughing and dancing, the things required are definitely much more than mere us. We need appropriate instruments, preferably resounding ones. We also need a window to shout, a space to dance and a dimension to celebrate; all these harmonised along with our fellow brethren-in-Christ.

Like the development of the different genre in music, christian worship (liturgies in particular) have underwent a series of major surgeries. Unfortunately, one obvious side-effect of these massive operations is the reduction in worship styles and tools, not to mention creativity. It seems that the past "Dark Ages" of Christianity [6] had taken too much toils on the forefathers of our faith that they had lost the spirit of rejoicing and celebration. The repercussion effect, as felt today, was overwhelming in some of the conservative church denomination. They permit only the singing of ancient hymns, with little or no room for new praise songs and tempos. They permit only the solemn styleas, giving little or confining space for the congregation to worship with all their might.

Yet, we also need to applause them for their efforts in perserving the christian faith, truth and traditions which would have gone astray if left unguarded to the mercy of the bombardment of pagan beliefs and philosophies during the Dark Ages. Surely, the main bulk of the Word of God has been perserved and left for future generations to come. Still, there are more to be done with the perserved artifacts. Bible scholars would have agree that there are even more exploration to be conducted, especially in this post-modernisation era. There are many outstanding questions left unanswered, many disputed issues left unsettled and many truths left undiscovered in the Word of God.

Therefore, let us rekindle the sealed artifacts left by the forefathers of our same faith. As a start, I propose that we can rediscover the richness of the worship styles and instruments as described in the Old Testament. Such was the freedom of worship that we have missed. Such was the tangible intimate interaction between God and His created beings. Such is a delight to the LORD by His people [7].

Now, if we are able to reconcile the past relevation to our present day context, the by-product is a new synergy or "genre" for worshipping our God. After all, our faith is not simply an ancient faith passed down from our forefathers. It is as relevant to any one of us now as it was used to be then. It is called a living faith because the manificant power and dynamics of God are still at work in our daily lives through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. As such, we must understand and accept that the Word of God transcends all ages, even the future.

Worship cannot be held back at a certain era, it must continue to evolve back its original authentic forms. At the same time, it must also move forward to stay relevant with the current era and beyond. New song composition, dance choreography and instrument invention will pave the way for a richer worship to our God who alone deserve all our praises and gratitudes. At all ages, people who revered the Lord will readily bow down in worship to God through a magnitude of creative styles and instruments. Indeed, true worship ought to be done in spirit and in truth [8]. If we open our hearts to God, the Holy Spirit will fill us with the understanding of the truth, in which we can worship God. By asking the Holy Spirit to work in us, worship should then be free because the Holy Spirit is not bounded by Man's rules and regulation. If a person is convicted by the Holy Spirit of impenitent sins, he may choose to kneel down and repent to God. Alternatively, he may choose to beat his chest and cry out that he is a sinner and ask God for forgiveness. Such is the privilege of coming before our heavenly Father during worship which is often being deprived by the church in the name of orderliness.

Church, the body of Christ, must continue to discuss openly the important topic on worship. The argument on the perservation of traditions is diminishing. If there is no prompt resolution, then the first sign would be the mass migration of their existing youth to other greener pastures. This becomes a vicious cycle because the next committee of policymakers would still be comprising mainly of older folks, hence the status quo again. With aging congregation, they would then have to spend more time to educate and retain their offsprings than to be able to expand their ministries. I suppose the kingdom of God waits for no one, it is still expanding rapidly because the end times are coming soon. And God does not take delight in a tree that cannot bear fruit [10]. Granted, church dynamic is far more complicated than mere worship alone. But worship is very central to a person's walk with God, it must, therefore, be considered with great details and thoughts.

In conclusion, let us consider King David whom God described as a man after His own heart [11]. He worshipped in a manner that was pleasing to God. He wrote many psalms to God. He did not restrict himself to a pathetic number of worship styles and instruments. He did not fear despises from other people when he worshipped. He was a true worshipper of God at his times. Let us then strive to be a true worshipper [9] in our present times too. Let our focus of worship be geared towards bringing delight to the LORD [7].

May all honors, glories, powers, praises be unto the LORD. Amen!

References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_genre
2. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/173.html
3. http://www.apassion4jazz.net
4. Psalm 33:1-3, 81:1-3, 98, 149, 150
5. 2 Samuel 6:14-15
6. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages
8. Psalm 149:4
9. John 4:24
10. Luke 13:7
11. 1 Samuel 13:14

(End)

The Need For a Creed

2006-02-28T23:35:00.001+08:00

This month we will be touching on a historical topic. Historical not because the topic is outdated, but rather the origins are far before our times. Yet, this topic is important, coherent and central to our christian faith and development.

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What is the first thing that came to your mind when you hear the word 'Creed'? Yes, i do mean creed, and not crepe or creep.

A quick check at the Dictionary.com website defines a creed as [a formal statement of religious belief or simply a confession of faith]. That should be put us into the right perspective for now. Henceforth, creed in this article will be defined as the a set of christian beliefs, often stated in a formal and authoritative written form, used primarily to guide one's faith in God.

Why do we, christians, need to have a creed(s)?

David Bennett[1] provided us with the following insights. He said that everyone who has the capacity to believe in something has a creed. Creeds, in general, are meant to define the boundaries within which a group of people operate. We do not want to let our personal beliefs reshape a whole Church, whose character embraces millions of people, and almost 2000 years of existence. Therefore, creeds are important to state explicitly what a Church believes in and hold firmly to in the very heart of her building constitutions.

In this same light, Tony Windross[2] commented that creeds are commonly regarded as anthem of catholic Churches, of which when read, the congregation actually participate in the proclaimation and confirmation of their faith to God. Notwithstanding the resultant unity bonding, one side effect of having creeds is that they confined our present faith with those literature and experiences from the past faith. They may hinder the progressive development of the modern theology and even our knowledge of the infinite trinity God whom we worship.

However, H. Frank Rall[3] argued that a creed seemed to be a necessary ecclesiastical equipment. It was a fence to keep the wolves out, or to keep the sheep in. As a test of orthodoxy, to be applied on proper occasion, it was necessary. Thus, it is inevitable to include traditional creeds in the building blocks of all the sound doctrinal establishments.

Having heard several different opinions on the needs for a creed, allow me to provide some of my humble insights to the practical sustenance of traditional creeds. These, but not limiting to, include the Apostles' Creed (origins debatable but earliest written form appeared in A.D. 215[4]), Nicene Creed (A.D. 325) and the Athanasian Creed (origins debatable too but highly probable composed in the 4th century[5]).

Creeds, i think, are important to our understanding of the ways earlier Church's leaders viewed and defended the christians faith. Attacked from all sides, these shepherds of God's flock need to take a definite and assertive stand on what the Church believes in and hold firmly to with their lives. It seemed, then, that simple interpretation of the bible could not addressed the cultic thoughts, teachings and influences in the pagan lands. The people, christians and non-christians, were divided, often confused from the many false teachings they received from the teachers and practitioners of various foreign religions; particularly emerging or reigning philosophies. They needed something more concrete and concise; written or spoken with such great authority, as if endorsed by God Almighty Himself. Hence, creeds were created to bridge the greyish doctrinal areas. We know, at least from history standpoints that these creeds had served well the intended purposes, during those chaotic era and beyond.

Mentioned earlier, creeds do serve an important unifying purpose in the Church. The bible says, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body." [1Cor 12:12]. Therefore, although christians tend to have different belief systems and experiential encounters, but we all belong to the body of Christ whom partakes a common vision, faith, baptism, communion, fellowship and anointing from the Holy Spirit. As the creed(s) is read, the members of the body participate in the proclaimation of their faith in unison. Suddenly, we are brought into a different dimension. We put aside our many differences and opinions temporary and are made to reflect upon the fundamental faith that first drew us to Christ. To those who partake in the creed(s), we are then recognised as one body of Christ.

Do we, modern christians, have creeds too? Yes, we sure do. Whatever we believe in and hold firmly to are our personalised mental creeds. Quite often or not, our creeds are closely aligned to what our church has. The reason is simple, there exists a hidden dual-feedback loop between a church and her congregation which resulted in numerous permutation of active and passive influences to one another. A church offers foundation classes, sermons, bible classes and discipleship to her congregation. These shape what her members think, meditate and act. Over a period of time, they became part of the congregation's belief systems. Members, in turns, read christian literature, attend biblical seminars, courses and events, expose themselves to mass media, interact with christians in other churches. Indirectly, they were enriched, positively or negatively, with much more beliefs that are not found in their own church. Some of them are pastors, some are deacons, some are elders, some are teachers, some are layperson leaders and some are active members in their own rights within the church. They are pretty much involved, contributing extensively to shape the future of their church's belief systems. And the endless cyclic feedback loop tends to repeat autonomously by itself.

Pardon me, but my intended meaning is not to say that a church's doctrinal stand can be easily swayed by mere opinions of leadership person(s) in the church. What i am implying here is that a church without a solid creed(s) as part of their foundation can be eroded, doctrinally, by modern trends and philosophies of the present and future. Repeatedly, history has reminded us that if a church does not remained as a true light to the world, pretty soon, we will be tinted by the world. And how can we say we are Christ's witnesses when we cannot shine like Jesus, effecting God's radiance to the world?

Take, for example, the issue on the acceptance of gays within a christian community. Yes, because of God's great love, we do want to accept them, as a created being, into the Church. In fact, God's love encompasses all Man on earth. However, it is definitely against God's truth if we choose to concur with and overlook their persistent gay behaviours. In my opinion (and possibly the majority of the reformed orthodox Churches), it is absolutely absurd to conduct gay marriages, even more so, (as they claimed) in the presense of the Almighty God, whom in fact, has condemned the act as sinful!

It is written, "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." [Rom 1:26-27]

The ways some churches chose to deal with the above issue often reflect the lack of a sound doctrinal belief systems within their congregation. In the junction of a crossroad, they opted to follow the former wicked path of the (if i may use) 'Sodomites' [Gen 19:5], rather than that of the Lot [Gen 19:6]. By the mere words of their leaders, the church has failed miserably in her duty to represent Christ, the Word made flesh, in the world. Where is that life-changing voice saying, "Go now and leave your life of sin." [John 8:11]?

Such will be the eventual deformed state of many other catholic Churches if we continue to relent on establishing a firm doctrinal stand or beliefs.

Most traditional creeds are ambigious in nature which led to the congregation having to make a lot of so-called "common sense" presumption when faced with doubts. We also see many churches using other synonym terms like faith confessions, statement of faiths, church's beliefs and so on to differentiate their doctrinal stand from the traditional creeds as they were used. Nonethelesss, all these set of christian beliefs, stated in a formal and authoritative written form, proved to be useful in helping the churches to propagate the fundamental christian doctrinal belief systems to the mass congregation.

Now, it is up to the respective God's appointed and anointed leaders of the catholic Churches to re-visit and review these set of christian beliefs (or creeds) so that they can contain a larger base of other relevant areas such as social, political, ethical and moral issues. Without these, typical christians would surely encounter difficulties when deciding on the best course of actions to take when they enter into the greyish zones the world has conveniently and ingeniously presented to us.

On the other hand, we should also avoid the Pharisees' mistakes of over-emphasing the laws over God's grace and mercy. The effects of stating formal and authoritative christian beliefs may be too overwhelming for many to handle. If unwisely governed, they can, in turn, became stumbling blocks for the people both within and outside the churches, waiting for the grace of God to be upon them.

Therefore, the body of Christ should provide guidelines to govern members' thinking process so as not to create any confusion for them. Catholic Churches, on the whole, should also come together and openly discuss such issues so as to come to a common consensus. After all, the catholic Churches of Christ, though having different sacrement and worship practises, should be unified in one common faith, in one common baptism and in one common Holy Spirit.

* The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

References
1. http://www.ancient-future.net/creeds.html
2. http://www.tcpc.org/resources/articles/why_bother_creed.htm
3. http://www.quarterlyreview.org/classics/creed1907.html
4. http://www.creeds.net/ancient/apostles.htm
5. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02033b.htm

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The Rod of Mercy

2006-01-30T23:33:00.000+08:00

"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." ~Proverbs 13:24

Let us examine this question - "Does God love us"?

Seemingly a simple question with quite an obvious answer, yet subtly it can render some forms of serious discussions. How do we approach this question then? One thing for sure, it is definitely not exclusive to Christians circle. As a matter of fact, non-believers will sometimes ponder upon themselves whether the great Creator of the universe is a loving Being towards His creation.

Surely, this world that we are living on has too many sufferings and hardships. Flip open any of the newspapers and you will find plenty of articles relating to innocent victims, total strangers to many of us, being terrorized or killed; often by inhumane manners. In our recent memories, there were the infamous major catastrophe like the "911" and the "Indian Ocean Tsunami". The former was an erroneous result caused by Man whereas the latter was largely due to the uncontrollable forces of nature. It seems, therefore, that we are being surrounded and hammered on all sides.

In distress, we asked, "Why did God allow such disastrous things to happen to Man?"

The bible says that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness [Romans 1:18]. Yet we argued that the victims are mainly innocent souls. What grievance wrongs have they committed to deserve such terrible misfortune?

Points taken. As much as our judgemental values attempt to dictate us, we should hold on to such micro views and realign ourselves to a bigger macro view of the entire situation. The world we know and are living on is definitely not limited to these group of unfortunate victims. There are also many other fortunate ones who are living at peace and even some in immersing comfort. Should we then re-conclude that God is loving based on such visible evidences? But who are we to judge the loving nature of our Creator? Our love cannot even compel us to reconcile with our enemies, to feed the poor and needy, to care for the sick and homeless or even to help the widows and orphans out there in the streets. What do we know about love to make any sound verdict out of it? Clearly, we are inadequate in many areas on the topic of love.

So what can we say about ourselves then? The fact remains, we are densely populated all over the world, organised by either geographical locations, languages, races and cultures. It is the rapid communication and technological advancement in the 21st Century that allows us to be fully networked to one another.

Internationally, current news are being broadcasted, often instantaneously, so that no one will be omitted in this mega series of human events. Through the mass media, we can know the next elected President of a particular democratic country immediately after the poll. We will also be exposed to world events like free trade agreements, strikes, syndicate crimes, natural disasters, holiday celebration and so on so forth.

With the widespread of the mass media, pretty soon, most of us will start to share common visions and goals for the entire human race. In fact, the most frequently quoted phase for Miss Universe pageant is "World Peace"! Certainly, this resembles closely to the unity of the people who were building the Tower of Babel in the book of Genesis.

The bible mentions that "we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" [Isaiah 53:6]. Indeed, each and every one of us are doing things as we deem fit. When we start scribbling words on a piece of paper, did we ever spare a second of your thought for the trees that were chopped because of Man's purposes. When we are eating extra snacks for supper, did we ever spare a minute of our thought remembering the poor and needy in the Third World countries? Needless to say, the answers are regretfully understood.

Throughout history, Man has been very proactive in the search for newer innovation to improve our quality of life. Yet, we have been acutely passive in our resource allocation to the poor and needy. What an irony! The quest for better life has stretched the social status even wider, leaving the rich richer and the poor poorer. The truth is, we only desire local optimisation but not global ones. Such on-going pursues leave us with one alarming observation, that is, the depth of a Man's heart is unmeasurable.

Man is never contented, no matter how much he has actually gained or achieved. [1]

The Word of God says that Man is sinful and guilty of evil doings; the ultimate being failing to acknowledge our one true Creator. In fact, all has turned away from God. And the bible clearly states that the wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23] - eternal separation from God, our Creator.

Consequently, is this the end of the road for Man? Fortunately, the answer is "NO". The great mercy of God has preserved the remnant offsprings of Man. As it is written, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." [Lamentations 3:22]

Nonetheless, whom had initiated to mend his evil ways and return back to God? Whom had successfully restored the initial covenant with God? No one, not even one! In response to God's mercy, Man committed more sins and stirred up more wrath against ourselves. [2]

What then, should a loving Father do to bring back His beloved children? Without any divine intervention, how can Man discern the right from wrongs. Do we follow the standards set by the majority? Even those are not sure proof that we are heading towards the right direction. We need some forms of guidance, we need a shepherd's rod - the kind that they used to tend flock of sheeps.

Shepherds will understand that sheeps are very timid by nature. They get frightened very easily. In times of crisis, they will be totally defenceless against the incoming threats. Therefore, whenever a sheep is disobedience and tries to wander away from the flock, the shepherd will use his rod and strike it hard on one of the sheep's leg so as to injure it. The main focus here is not on the injured leg, but rather on the purpose of this harsh reaction by the shepherd. To many, it may seems cruel to break the sheep's leg just because it is disobedience. However, the good shepherd here is trying to save the sheep from foreseeable dangers when left to wander off by itself. Supposedly, if a sheep is left wandering alone in the wilderness, it may end up being attacked and eaten by another animal. Worst, it may even die of dehydration because its timid nature will prevent it from going near any running streams of water. Indeed, not many people can understand the good shepherd's heart simply by observing the outward circumstances. After all, we are not a shepherd by trade. And a true good shepherd will actually carry the injured sheep in his arms whenever he goes till its wound is healed and it is able to roam about freely on its own.

Here is where the rod of mercy comes into play. Mercy because the rod of God does not lead us to death. Instead, it leads us into eternal life. Truly, God delights in seeing His people living in the true light. He wants Man to find the true purposes of our existence. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us so that we can be reconciled back to Him forever. [John 3:16]

In contrary to popular belief, true freedom is not defined as simply lawlessness; rather it is defined as the mental strength or consistency to do the right things, given all our free will, without being influenced from the written laws. Imagine a father deciding to let his son go on a late night party with his friends in a disco pub. If the father knows that his son will always make the right decisions even in tempting environment, he will gladly grant his son not only the permission but the freedom to go. He does not need to lay down any ground rules because he knows his son well. True freedom occurs when we are free to do any task without any explicit rules because the one responsible for us knows that we will always make the right decisions that will result in positive outcomes.

The bible says, "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." [Hebrews 10:16]

In Christ, we will have true freedom because God's laws are now ingrained in our hearts and minds through the help of the Holy Spirit. This means that we will know and do the will of God even without the explicit laws to govern our thoughts and behaviours. And we will gladly submit to God's will because we know that His will brings salvation and hope to everyone who believe.

Truly, the rod of mercy has struck and is now striking on those whom God wants to have mercy to [3]. Instead of focusing on the outward impact, let us realign ourselves to ask what are God's intended purposes in each of these valuable lessons. Perhaps, by doing so, we can then see clearly the mighty arms of the Lord at work - changing the old self in us to a new one; moulding us to be the man after God's own heart.

References
1. Romans 1:21; Romans 3:10-12
2. Hosea 4:2; 2Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 1:29-32
3. Psalm 23:4; Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 29:15; Ezekiel 20:37; Hebrews 12:4-13

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