How can one fulfill the Great Commission without being ethnocentric? - Crystal Chia

In the context of Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. This is founded on the word as seen in Matthew 28:16-20, with emphasis on verses 19 and 20 which reads 19 “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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Of which, the command to “make disciples” has become an essential in Christian doctrine.

Baptizing and teaching all that Jesus has commanded are the means by which Christians can fulfill the command to “make disciples”. In short, this denotes our need as Christians to evangelize.

Singapore is a secular state, but is a profoundly religious society. Statistics have shown that 90% of Singaporeans profess to have a religion. The state of Singapore is founded on the need to maintain racial and religious harmony in the society. Singapore is privileged to be managed by an efficient government who is quick to learn from past lessons. Since its independence, the Ministry of Home Affairs and various government agencies have become increasingly equipped to manage and maintain religious harmony in Singapore over the past few decades. Any attempt to disrupt racial or religious harmony will be acutely dealt with. For example, a group of Christians who attempted to spread the gospel message by inserting pamphlets into the letterbox of their Muslim neighbours were prosecuted for being religiously insensitive.

It is important to realize that while religion can unite, it can also serve to dichotomize. When one judges another based on the values and standards of their own culture, this is known as ethnocentrism. Non-believers often reject the message of the gospel as they feel that the values of Christianity infringe upon their own culture. In a multi-cultural and multi-religious society such as Singapore, how can Christians spread the gospel, while maintaining cultural sensitivity? Since Great Commission commissions us to evangelize, how can we follow this command without being ethnocentric?

Firstly, Christians have to show, and tell a bigger story of our lives. Christianity is not a private faith but a public faith. Christians must show our faith in the public square, regardless of the environment we are in. Christians cannot lead dichotomous lives. We cannot behave in a particular way in a church environment, and behave in another on other days of the week. We will have to constantly ask ourselves: What signals are we sending to the non-believers around us?

The scriptures have shown that God is continually at work in the marketplace. When God launched His great work to bring salvation to humanity, He called Abraham, one of the most successful businessmen of his day (Genesis 24:35). In Genesis 26:12-14, Joseph served God not as a preacher or missionary but as a grain administrator (Blackaby, 2008). There are large harvests to be sown and collected in the marketplace, regardless of the industry one is in.

As Christians, we must first set the standard by exemplifying Jesus in our daily living. Just as Pastor Shu-Hui Shih revealed from her conversation with a street lady, “My purpose is to allow you to learn a skill. You can observe me as I follow my faith, if you are interested I can share with you who my God is.” When we first increase the magnitude in which we exemplify Jesus, this will increase the magnitude of attraction in drawing non-believers to believe in the same faith. This is evangelism in the form of leading by example. In doing so, we are not infringing on another’s culture, allowing Christians to maintain cultural sensitivity while fulfilling the Great Commission.

One method we can exemplify Jesus is in the fruit of the spirit. As recorded in the New International Version of the Holy Bible, the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Christians should be at the forefront in demonstrating what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, in the form of behaviour and decisions that we make at the marketplace. 

While we are called to be living testimony, this method is largely passive. The second, passive-aggressive method for Christians to evangelize without being ethnocentric is to find similarities in culture and connect with non-believers on their level. We must first find out why they believe what they believe in, and understand them on their own terms before sharing our faith. The act of understanding a culture on its own terms in an objective manner rather than through the lens of another culture is known as cultural relativism.

Take for example controversies pertaining to tomb sweeping. It is a festival largely practiced by those with other faiths such as Buddhism and Taoism. However, some Christians, much to the criticism of fellow believers, may profess to partake in such an activity.

In my opinion, the crux in being able to reconcile these differences is in having the ability to differentiate between negotiables and non-negotiables. We must be able to find similarities in culture and connect with them on the same level. In the context of tomb sweeping, one may come to realize the underlying values of such a practice to be filial piety and respect for one’s elders. These are values held by many conservative Chinese families, and it may not be one’s intention to discredit the existence of a God by worshipping one’s ancestors.

That being said, it will be overly simplistic if one were to use this as the panacea to all controversies. What are we to do when Christian values are antithetical to values of other cultures? To that, we should understand and apply the following framework (quoted by Desmond Goh, of which its origin may be from Marco Antonio de Dominis):

In Essentials, demonstrate Unity,
For Non-essentials, demonstrate Liberty, and
In All things, demonstrate Charity.

We must agree on essentials (such as baptism values), allow freedom for non-essentials (such as the mode of baptism), and demonstrate love to peoples of other faiths. To do this requires copious amounts of tolerance. While it may not be easy for some, we should be reminded that even Jesus did not discriminate those who did not believe in him, further emphasizing the need for tolerance.

In conclusion, in good Christian faith, to fulfill the Great Commission particularly in the area of evangelism requires patience, tolerance and for each of us to be a living testimony of Jesus in the marketplace daily. Evangelism is a long-term commitment and as Christians, we may grow weary when we do not see instant results. In such a scenario, Proverbs 3:5-6 should be kept close to our hearts. It reads “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. But in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight”. We are to always acknowledge that God’s ways are higher than man and while we put in every best effort to fulfill his command, be reminded that he is and will be in ultimate control.

Crystal Chia

STEP 2015

The Tears of A Hustler: Proposal to reach out to the street ladies - Law Mei Ting

The purpose of this proposal is to mobilize our own church’s outreach to the street ladies situated in Geylang, which is also known as the Red Light Districts.

Global Prostitution Situation

From the map above, we can see that in general, prostitution is seen illegal in most part of the world, especially in parts of Asia and Africa region. Whereas, prostitution activities in the North and South America region is legal as observed with the green shadings. In fact, the number of countries that are legalized for prostitution is 77.

Current Situation

According to the findings that are done by three academics from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Boston University and Fudan University, “The typical freelance streetwalker in Geylang is 26 years old, services four clients a day for $70 each on average, and earns about $3,200 a month after deducting rent and other expenses.” They are mostly come from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, where they are not based in brothels as they either possess tourist visa or moonlighting as prostitutes while being employed in other legal jobs. However, there are also another group of street ladies who work in brothels, which comprises of local women, who are usually uneducated and belong to the lower income strata of the society. In the recent 5 years, there are more cases of underage prostitution in Singapore. Such problems can be challenging and difficult to be dealt with. But God will definitely give us strengths and resources needed to help the street ladies in Geylang.

Where is God?

A walk down the Geylang streets that night, starting from the run-down houses where the residents are living in to the street ladies that I saw, it has somehow changed my impression towards Singapore. Living in an urbanized and developed city like Singapore, which is a first-world-country, it is really hard to imagine that Singapore still has this “derelict and neglected” side of it. Just as we were walking, there was this group of street ladies, who proudly said out loud, “Welcome to the streets of Prostitution”. Many of us were speechless at their words. That got us wondering whether do they really enjoy what they are doing right now? I don’t think so. Looking at them reminds me to the poem The love of a Hustler (Prostitute’s Cry):

Forgive me God,

My lord and savior.

For I have done things,

opposed to your favor.

But this you know,

and this you have seen.

So it is no secret-

My soul is unclean.

My heart is heavy and burdens run deep.

It's the struggle that’s torn me and made me so weak.

I thought the world had harmed me,

so I looked elsewhere.

Went searching for love-

but nothing was there.

So, I called on your name.

I did it in vain.

I strayed far from you

to escape worldly pain.

I turned to that man

thinking I had better.

I became a store

and he was my seller.

It started with kindness and a heart so pure.

He told me I had beauty when I was unsure.

He made me feel loved when i felt so hated.

Then, he said he would help me

and promised I'd make it.

I then turned from your grace toward something untrue.

And now, here I am, returning to you.

So, take me, my God!

This is my plead.

Wipe away unclean spirits and you take the lead.

Become my guide and I will look towards no other.

For I'd rather have you than the love of a hustler.

God has heard their cries, and is willing to heal them, give them a new lease of life. God has given everyone a purpose in life, even the street ladies too. If they are willing to turn to God and change their lifestyle, I believe they can be testimonial to many who are still struggling, and be an encouragement to them to walk out from the profession. Their power and influence will definitely be much greater than ours as we are not street ladies.

At the same time, our exploration of Geylang streets though brief yet it has really struck me and allowed me to reflect upon my life; how I should lead my next 20 to 30 years of life, my goals in life and what is God’s plan for me? I am really thankful for this opportunity to come before God and seek after his plans for me in the near future.

Proposal 1: Involving Church Youth Choir

After hearing Shu Hui’s story (the founder of Tamar Village), I realize there is opportunity for our church's youth choir to work together with them in terms of doing evangelistic project for the street ladies. One event that we can work on is to organize a Christmas Caroling event at Geylang. This can be an hour event where we will choose approximately 10 songs to sing. The target audience will be the street ladies, the “pimps” or even the residents/”tourists” who are loitering around at that district. I believe this will be a good chance to spread the gospel to them through the songs that we sang.

However, the challenge that we may face will be the unwillingness of the youths to go to the streets and do caroling as it has all along inside people’s impression that Geylang is a “danger and also filthy” place. The youths' parents may not allow their children to join this particular caroling program, so this project is a bit challenging to be carried out.

What I can do is to work with the preacher, the youth choir committee and also to invite Shu Hui and her team to come and share their past experience of doing Christmas Caroling at Geylang. Hopefully, this will change the perception of the youths towards Geylang and the street ladies. Most important of all, we have to pray and seek God's wisdom to carry out this event.

Proposal 2 : Involving New Heart Music Ministries/Other Music Ministries 

This is one of the long-term goals that I have in mind, which involves New Heart Music Ministries or other music ministries to do an annual Christmas Caroling at Geylang. As our effort in spreading the gospel in Geylang, this project will allow more street ladies and the people to know more about Christ the Lord, their savior is their hope, and they should come before God for help. And it is through the street ladies, that the gospel will be spread to other street ladies, their family members, and loved ones. There bound to be challenges and obstacles for this project, however if this is truly what God desires to happen, he will definitely allow this project to be a success. Amen! 

Law Mei Ting

STEP 2015

What Does God’s “Calling” Mean Anymore? - Ruth Lee

Over the past two weeks, various Christian speakers have exhorted us Synod interns to explore God’s calling for our lives. There is a shared hope that some of us may obey the call to become theologically-trained lay ministers, preachers, Presbyterian pastors, chaplains, Christian counselors, and other roles in full-time ministry. Some speakers would then attempt to balance their viewpoint, saying God may have also called us to workplace ministry. I argue that today’s definition of God’s “calling” has emphasized vocation to the point of detracting from what the Bible tells us holistically about God’s “calling”. 

Karen Yates, a writer on Relevant magazine, puts it well: “The problem I see with that over-used, over-emphasized, over-preached word “calling” is that many of us have limited the definition of “calling” to a profession, a career or a role. In this view, calling is about what we do, not about who we are.” To me, this sounds like a case of ontological inversion. God first created man as spiritual beings having eternal life, manifested as physical beings in a material world. This was the intended order. He first created us to be in a relationship with Him, only then to do His good works. When our contemporary discussion of “calling” becomes centred on what we should do, rather than on who God is, what He has done for us and therefore our response to Him, the ontological order has been reversed. 

 Karen Yate continues to explain that because we have attached certain expectations to the word “calling”, we adopt an increasingly man-centric view in exploring God’s “calling” for our lives. We expect our “calling” to be discoverable, in that if we try hard enough, one day we will stumble upon clarity and vision of what to do. We expect our “calling” to be profound, necessitating our loud declaration of living our lives for God and not found in simple and mundane tasks or jobs. We expect our “calling” to feel deliciously good, that our happiness becomes the benchmark of us fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives. What then is the difference between God’s “calling” and secular job satisfaction, when the focus is still on us and what we do or feel? 

Before I continue, I would like to ascertain that some Christians really feel they have a divine assignment from God to work in certain ministry or field, and this is not illegitimate. The Bible has well-known examples of people experiencing God’s direct “calling” in their lives – Abraham called to be the father of a great nation in Genesis 12, Moses called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt in Exodus 3, Samuel called to be the Lord’s prophet in 1 Samuel 3, David called to be the king of Israel in 1 Samuel 16, the twelve apostles called to follow Christ in the Gospels, Paul called to be the Lord’s missionary in Acts 9, among others. However, besides these examples, many other people in the Bible did not receive such a direct “calling” from God. Similarly today, if we feel we have not yet received a “calling” from God, how then should we approach God’s will with regards to our lives? 

Let us go back to who God is and what He has done in order to redefine or balance out the definition of “calling”. 

Who is God? One aspect of understanding God is to know He is the one who initiates the call. The first half of 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, who has called you”. Who then, is God calling? Who is the “you” in this verse? Romans 8:30 provides an answer, saying, “And those he predestined, he also called”. God calls those he predestines, or those he has chosen to save. 

What is God calling those predestined to? The latter half of 1 Corinthians 1:9 adds on, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Remember the ontological inversion. Man was created to be in relationship with God, but after sinning in Genesis 3, that relationship was broken. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Sinful man was to have no relationship with a Holy God, yet God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and pay the “wages of sin”, giving us “eternal life”, which is a restored relationship with God. This is what God has done for us – justification. Hence in Romans 8:30 it says, “those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” 

God also calls us to a process of sanctification, which is to live out the new life we have in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 says God predestined us “to be conformed to the image of his Son”. The Holy Spirit is to be our “helper” in this, as in John 14:26. The Holy Spirit will help produce fruit in our lives, namely “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”, as in Galatians 5:22-23. In Ephesians 4, Paul gently exhorts believers to speak truthfully, get rid of bitterness and anger, speak only edifying words, be kind and compassionate, because we have “put off (our) old self” and are “made new”, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”. This new way of living is our response to who God is and what he has done for us. 

Hence we see that it is God who calls, and he calls the predestined to be justified and sanctified, eventually to be glorified when his kingdom comes. We see that “calling” is about who we are or are becoming, as well as how we live our lives, as a response to who God is and what he has done for us. The focus of “calling” is on God primarily, not on what man ought to do. Even for those privileged few who have ascertained and obeyed God’s direction for them in terms of career, I would argue that God is equally concerned about how we work as he is about our specific roles on Earth. Even the process of sanctification was not complete in David, who was called to be King of Israel and ancestor of the Messiah, yet who still succumbed to sin nonetheless. 

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

Ruth Lee
STEP 2015