‘Now when David
had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried
with his ancestors and his body decayed.’ Acts 13:36 (NIV)
What is the
purpose of your current generation in building of the church? Name at least one
issue.
Introduction
In Acts 13, Paul was giving a word of
exhortation to the people in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. In his
exhortation, Paul made a comparison between Jesus and David, where Jesus
received the ‘holy and sure blessings promised to David’ (v34), yet Jesus would
not be subjected to decay, unlike David whose body decayed after he fell asleep
and was buried with his ancestors (v36).
With this understanding, I will discuss
some characteristics of David, as well as the context that he was in.
Firstly, David loved and served the Lord
fervently.
·
As a
Shepherd, he stood up for God against Goliath (1 Samuel 17: 45)
·
As a
King of Israel, he brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:17) and it
is also to note that David was the second king of Israel, taking over the reign
from King Saul. During his reign, he united Israel and extended its territory.
·
As a
Psalmist (e.g. Psalms 23), he gave praises to God. He celebrated in praise of
the Lord, disregarding his identity as a King (2 Samuel 6:14,21).
Despite these works, David is still a
sinner and an imperfect human, as seen in 2 Samuel 11, where he committed
adultery with Bathsheba.
Secondly, Acts 13:36 mentioned that
David’s body decayed after his burial. This suggests that despite all that
David has accomplished in his life, he still remains a human. He did not remain
the perpetual king of Israel, and had to arrange for his succession in 1 Kings
28-30 where he appointed Solomon as his successor.
Thirdly, David had a mentor. It was
mentioned in 1 Samuel 19, when Saul wanted to kill David, he ran to Samuel. It
can be seen from here that the accomplishments that David had made was not by
his wisdom alone. David was mentored by Samuel, who walked with David and
passed on the wisdom that he had in his generation down to David.
The three lessons learnt through
understanding the life of David can be applied in the context today, by
extrapolating it to its relevance to the current generation. These will be
inserted below in my discussion about the purpose of the current generation in
building the church.
God’s
purpose of the current generation in building the church
Due to the consistently low total
fertility rate (TFR) of below 1.3 per woman since 2003, with 2.1 as the
replacement level (Yap & Gee, 2014), the current generation of Singaporeans
will face an ageing and declining population. More than a silver tsunami
approaching, another prevalent change in demographics is the increase in
immigrants to Singapore to ‘help supplement our population, and delay the
decline in our citizen population’ (Prime Minister’s Office, 2012). Many of the
new immigrants are Chinese-speaking, regardless of their country of origin,
which includes China and Malaysia (Yeoh & Lin, 2012).
With this, it is conclusive that the
context the current generation of Christians in Singapore faces is a society
with low fertility rate; resulting in an ageing population, as well as a
significant increase population of Chinese-speaking migrants. The current
generation needs to be adaptable and react to such changing demographics, so
that the church may effectively meet the changing demands of the population.
One of God’s purpose and calling of the
current generation would then be a revival of the Mandarin services in
Singapore.
In Yeoh & Lin’s article (2012), social
integration was mentioned as a challenge brought about by the increasing
immigrant population. From the perspective of the locals, who holds certain
degree of xenophobic sentiments, the Mainland Chinese are seen as “uncouth and
prone to objectionable behaviors”. On the other hand, there have been incidents
where the immigrants ridiculed Singaporeans as “ungracious”, “disgusting” and
“inferior”. There is thus a prevalence
of social discords and tension between the locals and immigrants.
Yet, the purpose and intentions of such
social discords should not be the main focus here. The current generation of Chinese
Christians in Singapore should instead be exploring the potential of spreading
the gospel to this new group of Chinese-speaking immigrants. This is due to the
fact that many of them may originate from places where Christianity is banned,
or where Christians are persecuted.
We are aware of the Great Commission that
Jesus Christ has given to all his people, including ourselves, in Matthew
28:18-20:
“18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”
This reaffirms the conviction of God’s
purpose in the current generation, to take the opportunity in the opening of
this new mission field to ‘make disciplines of all nations’ within our own
nation.
This vision has also been identified in
Bethel Presbyterian Church, which will be equipping its Mandarin Service to lead
in this church vision and serve this group of believers and pre-believers. From
the verse in Acts 13:36, we see that David remained a man despite his dedicated
service to the Lord in his lifetime, and died. Similar to David, despite
current smooth running of the various ministries through God’s grace, the
current leaders would not perpetually be the leaders of the church. One day,
the current generation of youths would have to succeed the church leadership to
carry on with the vision and continuing the Mandarin services to administer to
the Chinese-speaking immigrants.
Challenges
faced in the continuation of the Chinese churches
However, this is also the biggest
challenge faced in the current generation – the retention of current
generation of English-educated Chinese Singaporeans in Mandarin services,
as well as inviting the current generation to join Mandarin services.
With English being made the official
language of government, administration and medium of instruction in schools
(Lee, 2004), the language proficiency of the current generation in Chinese has
been steadily declining. This is a result of the impact by the change of
language of instruction in schools from Mandarin to English in the 1970s. Being
English-educated, many of them may choose to speak to their children, or vice
versa, in English language. This is evident as seen from the statistics in the
General Household Survey conducted in 2015, where 36.9% of residents aged 5 and
above used English at home, as compared to 34.9% for Mandarin. This is a
reverse from the statistics in 2010, where 35.6% of residents used Mandarin and
32.3% used English (Lee, 2016).
One may also use a ‘banana’ to describe
Singaporean Chinese today, being ‘yellow’ on the outside, as our skin color,
yet ‘white’ on the inside, due to the subscription to the appealing Western pop
culture and ideologies.
Bringing the societal context into the
context of the churches, many from the current younger generation, with
leadership potential, have begun to leave the Chinese congregations to English
services and even mega churches, similarly, as it appeals more to them. If
everyone becomes more inclined to speak in English and leave the Chinese
churches, the conversation below may be the scenario that we will see within
the next 3 decades.
STEP Programme 2046
[Facilitator]: Hello STEP-ers, as part of your assignment, you would have to
visit any Presbyterian churches apart from your own this Sunday!
[A]: Alright,
where shall we go then?
[B]: I
think all our services are in the morning right?
[C]:
Yes. But I heard that the
XXX Presbyterian Church – Chinese Congregation has services in the late
afternoon! Do you want to go for it?
[A]: Are you serious? Why would
you want to go there?
[D]: Yalor, don’t you know that the Chinese congregations are all filled
with immigrants from XXX and XXX countries?
Indeed, with younger members leaving the
Chinese churches, the work that the current leaders are doing today to
administer to both the Chinese immigrants as well as Chinese Singaporeans may
soon be taken over by the Chinese immigrants themselves. Very soon, there would
be a division of Chinese-speaking and English-speaking churches in Singapore.
With the government pushing for more social cohesion within Singapore, wouldn’t
we then be a bad testimony in our division of churches?
According to Matthew 28:18-20, the gospel
is presented to all nations, and in Revelations 7:9, “there before me was a
great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”.
This has been practiced by many missionaries from the UK, who picked up Mandarin and Chinese dialects
to bring the gospel to our predecessors to form the early churches in
Singapore. Being Chinese
ourselves, having learnt Mandarin as our mother tongue language, aren’t we the
ideal choice to spread the gospel to the new Chinese immigrants in Singapore? Shouldn’t
we too, be convicted to use
our mother tongue to continue the spread the gospel locally and abroad?
I do not have the intention to rebuke. I
am also not pushing for every Singaporean Chinese Christian to serve in the
Chinese congregation. As mentioned in 1 Corinthians, “Just as a body, though
one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with
Christ.” God has a purpose for each of us individually, and different people to
serve in different ministries, different congregations.
I hope to challenge the current generation
in reflecting on what our identity is as a Chinese Singaporean Christian. Where
is our Chinese ethnicity and culture? How are we able to connect and reach out
to our fellow ethnic Chinese? Do we have the calling to do so?
We do not need to be a ‘somebody’ in order
to be a witness for God, nor do we need to travel overseas to do missions. God
can use us in Singapore to do His work, and one of such ways is through
missions to reach out to the ‘unreached’, the marginalized in the society. One
of these groups of marginalized is the new Chinese immigrant in Singapore.
Recommendations
Due to various circumstances, we may, be
it now or in future, be involved in the Chinese congregation ministry. It may
also be a calling from God to serve in the ministry. Regardless, we need to engage
the current generation of Chinese Christians to remain rooted in the culture,
including language proficiency, and equip them with the skills to engage the
new immigrants. This may include accepting cultural differences and being
culturally sensitive. By first changing our heart and perception of how we view
these new immigrants, removing certain misconceptions or stereotypes that we
have of them, we would then be able to change our behavior and facilitate the
integration of these new citizens into the society.
Before all these can happen, there is a
need for the revival of the Mandarin congregations across churches in
Singapore.
There is a need for the current generation
to reflect on God’s purpose of the continuation Chinese congregation. Only by
doing so, and in God’s calling, some from the current generation will recognize
the Chinese ministry as one of God’s purpose and be convicted to serve the Lord
in the ministry.
Similar to King David, being a sinner,
imperfect, and requiring the mentorship of Samuel, the current generation would
also need to receive mentorship and guidance. This is especially so for those
who have decided to go ‘against the grain’ of trend in society to go towards
the West, but remain rooted in their Chinese culture. On top of relying on the
Word, the support through mentorship would be vital in their perseverance in
this ministry.
In view of the background of the current
generation, being English-educated, there would also be a need for a change in
the modality of teaching of the Word in order to suit the learning styles of
the current generation. There is a need to equip the current generation to remain
effectively bilingual, especially with skills to understand the Bible in
Chinese language, as well as in the appreciation of Chinese Christian books and
resources. Further research could be done with regards to this.
Finally, the aspect of cultural competence
of the current generation should be included in the revival of the Chinese
congregation. Seminars and talks can help the current generation understand
differences between Singaporeans and other cultures, such as the Mainland
Chinese. Topics that may be addressed can include:
·
Outlook
in life
·
Social
personalities
·
Relationships
with others
·
Organization
style
·
Communication
style
·
Confrontational
style (Fee, 2008)
Conclusion
A change in demographics is already
prevalent in the context today, and will continue to occur. With this
awareness, the church needs to adapt and respond appropriately to rising needs
in the society.
One such response would be the need for a
revival of the Mandarin congregation. The paper has discussed the challenges in
pushing for a revival of the Mandarin congregation, as well as the proposed
recommendations.
Jesus said, in Mark 16:15, “Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to all creation”. The mission field within
Singapore in the current generation has fertile soil that needs the seeds of
the gospel to be planted in it. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John
4:19). May the people from the current generation love the creation of God and
recognize His calling to us to serve Him in this arising ministry.
References
Blank, W. (n.d.). King David. Daily Bible Study. Retrieved on 30 May
2016, from: http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/david.htm
Fee, K. T. (2008). Training American-born Chinese pastors to minister in a predominantly
Chinese bicultural church. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest LLC on 31 May 2016 from:
Fletcher, E. (2006). Bathsheba. Women in the Bible. Retrieved on 30 May
2016 from: http://www.womeninthebible.net/1.11.Bathsheba.htm
Holy
Bible: New International Version. (2000). Hong Kong: International Bible Society (H.K. Ltd.).
Lee, P. (2016). English most common home
language in Singapore, bilingualism also up: Government survey. The Straits Times. Retrieved on 30 May
2016 from: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/english-most-common-home-language-in-singapore-bilingualism-also-up-government-survey
Prime Minister’s Office (2012). Issues
Paper 2012 – A strong and cohesive society. Our
Population, Our Future. Retrieved on 30 May 2016, from: http://population.sg/vision/society/#.V0wAg2PF7zI
Yap, M. T. & Gee, C. (2014).
Population Outcomes: Singapore 2050. iPS
Exchange Series, 1. Retrieved on 30 May 2016 from: http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/ips/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/09/POS2050_Web_Final_3009141.pdf
Yeoh, B. & Lin, W. Q. (2012). Rapid
growth in Singapore’s immigrant population brings policy challenges. Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved on
30 May 2016 from: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/rapid-growth-singapores-immigrant-population-brings-policy-challenges
swimming against the current requires God given toughness and determination.
ReplyDeletevery glad to read your reflection on the chinese church challenge.
May God give you encouragement and strength as you serve Him.