Occasional Green Pastures and Quiet Waters

This is an open letter to the self-styled 'Church of God', a gathering of people from the World Mission Society Church of God, and the students of Elohim Academy.

Malaysia is a country where there are as many world views as there are people groups. As it is no two world views are consistent with each other, but somehow Malaysians have managed to reach a point where, perhaps after being so tired of being fed segregationist propaganda from government machinery, they have created their own brand of unity. One where all Malaysians are the same, and their opinions and world views equally valid (unless you're a politician from an opposing side, then your views are irrelevant).

This is nothing new or uncommon. When conversations veer towards topics like race and religion, Malaysians like to throw catchphrases like "Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity... All same.  Religion is good. They all teach you to be good", or "Malay, Indian, Chinese... All same... Satu Malaysia!" Malaysians in general are nice. We like people to think we are nice, unlike how some politicians behave. These politicians like to raise divisive topics and make people unhappy. These politicians are not nice. We don't want to be like them. So instead of raising divisive topics, we say everything is the same, because we want to be nice.

Once, there was this pastor visiting this church I used to attend in the early days of my university life. During his sermon, he made this statement: 'Children are sinful too!' At that point, I assumed that everybody there understood and agreed with the pastor. After all, everyone was guilty of rejecting the kingship of a God who had created this world, whether adult or child, and are under judgement for said rebellion; and this rebellion shows itself in many ways, but most of the time, it is about wanting ourselves to be the centre of the universe, whether it is in relationships with God, with other people, or even with the natural world around us. It was later that week, while I was talking to a girl from the same congregation about the sermon, where she told me in a very hurt tone, that she "couldn't believe that children were sinful". At that time I didn't say anything. I had no idea what children were like.

Today, almost four years down the road, with roughly the same amount of working experience with children, I think if I ever get the chance to relive that conversation, I would tell the girl that she obviously had never had to look after children for more than a quarter of an hour. In my three years with children even as young as six months, I have witnessed jealousy, rage, selfishness, self-righteousness, and manipulation. Although undeniably, they do have a great capacity for kind deeds, and the gift of a short memory for grievances, one can hardly say that they are the innocent, chubby angels from above. After all, like they say, we just only get better at hiding it when we grow up.

As I recount my experiences with children over the past three years, I am reminded of this article I read somewhere. Probably on the Gospel Coalition. Regardless, it was about Gospel centred parenting, where children need the Gospel as much as the adults. After all, do we not have a high priest who once was the infant in a manger, and the child at the temple? As much as he identifies with adult struggles with sin, he also identifies with the struggles of children with sin. In realising this, my heart is once again burdened with how I can share the good news of Jesus with these children, and I despair at the shortness of my arm. For how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? Though the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few and overworked.

So, if you are thinking about areas of ministry you would like to help out with, let me encourage you to have children's ministry be one of them. No, it is and has never been limited to women only. In fact, the young boys would benefit lots from having a male figure setting an example. 

Before you read this article, watch the video. Go ahead, watch it. The article won't make much sense if you don't. In fact nothing will, if you hippopotamus cheese 笛西瓜דךםחयह घड़ी!

Watched it? Good. Now we may begin.

What is the whole point of the Bible? Is there a point of the Old Testament being there? Is the Bible just a series of guidelines which people pick and choose from so that they can feel good about themselves? What about the great Sunday School heroes like David, and Moses, and Abraham? How are they relevant to people like us on this side of history?

Consisting of 66 books, two main languages (Hebrew and Greek), several different kinds of literary genres+styles, and written by about 40 authors over an approximated 2000 year period, the Bible has a unique and strange unity when it comes to the unity of message. Yet, backstage, behind all the different intricacies of human authorship, there is but one author, with one main message revolving around one person.

One author: Paul writes to the young pastor, Timothy in one of his last epistles, reminding him to hold on to the stuff he had learnt in regards to the sacred writings, because they were '...breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.' (2tim3:16-17) The Greek word behind 'breathed out by God' is θεοπνευστος (theopneustos), literally God breathed, gives you a picture of the scriptures being exhaled from the very mouth of God!

One message: It is after Jesus' death, and his disciples are still reeling from having their hopes and dreams of a messiah crushed, where two of them are on the road to Emmaus. Jesus joins them, 'and beginning from Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself'. Much later, speaking to his bewildered, unbelieving disciples, he said, 'these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' The entire Bible works together for the purpose of portraying one sole message: Jesus.

So how does knowing this help us to understand the Old Testament correctly?

Well, let me introduce you to the terms type and anti-type. A type is a conceptual model which is a reflection of the anti-type, which is foreshadowed by past types. To put this into example, Moses, being a redeeming figure for Israel, as well as their intercessor before God, is a type of Christ, who is the fulfilment of Moses and therefore the anti-type (Deut 18:15-22). All the strings of the Old Testament, as Jesus told his disciples on the way Emmaus, are pulled together in the person of Jesus.There are plenty of these types throughout the Old Testament, and all these point towards a future where they will all be fulfilled in Christ. Can you think of a few?

There is also what we call the meta-narrative (bigger story) running through the Bible, and it concerns the Kingdom of God. Stretching from Genesis to Revelation, you see the recurring theme of God's people, in God's place, under God's blessing and authority*.

These two ideas help us look at the Old Testament through the lens of the Cross, and how Jesus fulfils the Old Covenant into the New through His death and resurrection. Having said that, it is also important that we first seek to understand the Old Testament in its original context, written to a people in a different culture and age from us, before looking at it through Christ, before finally applying it to our lives. Ultimately, having a better understanding of the Old Testament types give us a better appreciation of the anti-type, Jesus.

In this short discourse, I have to admit that I am not able to cover as extensively as I would like on how we should be approaching the Old Testament, due to my lack of in-depth comprehension of the subject. However, I am more than happy to point you towards several brilliant minds who have thought long and hard on how modern Christians should approach the Old Testament. The first of the two is Graeme Goldsworthy, who has written extensively on this topic, which we call Biblical Theology. I highly recommend his book, Gospel and Kingdom, which takes you through the Bible's meta-narrative. The other is Vaughn Roberts, who wrote God's Big Picture, which is pretty much Gospel and Kingdom at a much less intense level. Much recommended for those who are not a fan of many pages of tiny words and few pictures.

Two incidents have recently caught my eye. The first is the acquittal of a Malaysian national bowler from statutory rape charges on the account of him having a bright future. The second incident, which happened not too long after, is the similar acquittal of a 22 year old school dropout from statutory rape charges, also on the account of his future. Notably, there are differences in the two cases which have to be noted: in the latter case, the sexual act was consensual between both parties, while in the former, the man pleaded guilty.

However, what I found to be most interesting was not the cases themselves, but rather, the reaction towards these cases where offenders walk free from incarceration; and of all the reactions, the ones which strike me most are responses from Christians.

Many Christians were outraged at the fact that these offenders were allowed to walk off with less than a jail sentence, I myself included. What perversion of justice! How unfair to the victim! What was the judge thinking?! And then I realised something - I, of all people, as a Christian, should refrain from such outrage at the walking of such people. For was I not as they were, guilty? My charge was greater than what they were charged with. I was charged with rebellion against the King of Kings, for insubordination, for mutiny - of which I am deserving of death. I had no 'future' to appeal to, and even if I did, it was far from 'bright', but yet the Judge showed me grace in His mercy, and declared me righteous on the basis of his Son's substitutionary atoning death.

My thought is but this: If as Christians, we were shown such clemency, should we not expect such extra-judicial grace in our shadow of a judiciary system? Should we cry in outrage when one we deem to be guilty is pronounced by the judge to be otherwise? Then should we not cry in outrage at our own salvation? Should we not cry because we were not charged with what we deserved?

However, it is important to note that this picture is but an imperfect allegory of salvation. This is but a pale shadow of what true forgiveness is. True justice still demands for a price to be paid - somebody has to be punished for the crime. The Godhead did what no Earthly judge could do for any prosecuted - tear himself, a being who has been in perfect relationship with each other since eternity, apart to pay himself what the prosecuted could not pay. True justice is not lost in mercy, but instead is met together at the cross where Jesus dangled dying.

I have to admit: all this excitement about Bersih, about making a change, about politics, about the future... It makes me forgetful and confused as a Christian.


Social Activism and the Gospel
As Christians, should we be concerned about clean and fair elections, about who runs our country? Yes, we should. Our God is a God of justice (which we oft forget/ignore in favour of His softer side), and it should be at the core of our being too. Recently, I have been reading Isaiah, and God's justice is a big theme of that book. Take for example Isaiah 9:8-10:4, which was where I last stopped. Isaiah is seen here prophesying against the nation of Israel for turning away from God and revelled in injustice. For such insurgence, God uses Assyria to pull down Israel, punishing them for not loving him they way they should have as God's people, and for consequently not loving each other as God's people. So should we be concerned about social justice or the gross lack of it? Most definitely.


Here's the part which I always mix up. As much as social justice should be at the core of our being, as a Christian who gets angry when politicians are bullying the people who voted them into place, I forget that social justice is not the core of my being. Using the Isaiah passage to illuminate my point - God was first and foremost angry at Israel, not for mistreating their fellow Israelites, but for turning away from him, the God who had called them his own. Fast forwarding to the New Testament, Jesus answers Pilate, 'my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.' (John 18:36).


Following the Bible's bigger picture, you can easily see the pattern of a Kingdom of sorts, eventually culminating in the Kingdom of the New Creation. From the garden of Eden, to Abraham, to David and Solomon, and finally to Jesus, we see the idea of God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing. The antithesis to that would be the Fall, and the Exile (for further reading, read Gospel and Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy). My point is that as Christians, our ultimate concern should be the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15), and not so much social activism, because though concerns for social justice flows out of the implications of the Gospel, it is not the Gospel. The line is narrow here, and it is all too easy to preach social activism instead of the Gospel. I have to admit, I often find myself doing exactly just that. Time and again, I have to remind myself that it was Jesus who died and rose again for my sins, and it is He who will speak for me at the Day of Judgement, not clean elections or upright politicians.


Politicians and the Gospel
I was there in the midst of the Bersih crowd. I was there when the plumes of tear gas crept amongst us. I am sure many of you were. I am also sure, just like I am, you are angry at the politicians from the ruling party who are somehow responsible in part for our suffering. We are mad, and rightly so, at their blatant acts of corruption, abuse of authority, and subversive tactics. Yet, as angry as we are, we need to stop and remember this:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."-Luke 13:1-5

The word evangelism comes from the Koine Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (transliterated as "evangelion"). The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον originally meant a reward for good news given to the messenger (εὔ = "good", ἀγγέλλω = "I bring a message"; the word angel is of the same root) and later "good news". The term evangelical, which is widely used today also stems from this word. On the other hand, our modern word "Gospel" comes from the Old English word "Godspell". In Old English, "god" with a long "o" meant "good", and "spell" meant "word" (we carry this meaning also in our word "spelling"). So in other words, "Godspell" meant "good word", specifically the good tidings concerning Jesus Christ.

Understanding the etymology of the word Gospel and Evangelism shapes the way I understand how evangelism ought to be done. Evangelism involves proclaiming the good news concerning the atonement of sins made by Jesus Christ on the cross. The power of that Gospel message we believe in should be so compelling that we would want to share it with everyone and anyone - from your family members to the stranger on the street, since it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Rom 1:16). True, one's lifestyle does have to support the good news you carry, but living a righteous life while waiting for people to ask why you live as such does not constitute as evangelism.

So one may share the Gospel with a stranger on a bus and never see that person again, or one may share the Gospel with a close friend and continue to follow up on them so that they can witness the reality of the Gospel; Either way, it makes no difference - the seed of the Gospel has been  planted, being used by the Holy Spirit to convict them; so long the Gospel is proclaimed.

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