The bounty of New Creation

It is common to praise the Christian god for blessing you and your kin, and especially for healing you when conventional medical techniques have failed. However, reading the testimonies page of the New Creation church is enlightening. Here, the Christian god is portrayed as one who will grant you various favors if you worship him, much like the pagan gods of Greece and Rome.

Among other things, the Christian god is credited with:

- finding a buyer for a piece of property, and offering a good price too
- increasing sales
- healing someone of food poisoning ("I knew that this was not really food poisoning but more of the devil’s sabotage as I was supposed to have my final-year project implementation/presentation at 2.30pm.")
- getting people jobs
- a fellow church member giving someone a red packet
- upgrading someone from a C to B2 ward at no charge
- giving someone a pay raise of 5%
- taking business away from one company and giving it to another ("Talk about the supernatural favour of my Daddy God!")

My favourite, though, was the following:

I won the first prize!

Dear Pastor,

The year started with a big bang for me. My husband and I were among the selected guests invited to a Volkswagon count-down party at the roof-top of The Esplanade.

When I received the invitation card and noticed that there was going to be a lucky draw conducted that night, I was leaping with joy as if I had won the first prize.

I had no idea what the first prize was but simply went ahead to thank the Lord in advance. However, I did remember telling my husband over dinner the day before that I would like to visit Europe with him and that God would make it happen because He heard our conversation!

Just before midnight, when the emcee was about to announce the first prize, I sensed deep down in my spirit that God had thrown this party just for me to receive my prize. My heart was pounding fast and I could not believe it when my name was announced!

I went on stage to collect my return air-tickets for two to Germany with a 3D2N stay at The Ritz Carlton Hotel! The trip includes a visit to the Volkswagon factory.

Praise Jesus for the child-like faith He encourages us to have. We are receiving blessings and joy in abundance as we enter the year 2005!

In times past I was told that going to mediums at Chinese temples, one could be granted whatever one wished, but would have to pay a price to the spirits granting said favors.

Marriage Maths

So in the past two weeks, I've chatted with two people, and read about one person online, who have/are going through the issues relating to Christians dating/marrying non-Christians. I think there're lots more people who are in a similar dilemma due to the theological impasse presented by the following black and white picture.

From AnswersInGenesis

So we go to the relevant verse. It is a short verse from Paul, but one that strikes fear and uncertainty in many people.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
2 Corinthians 6:14-16

I think it's useful to first consider the practical advantages of taking this verse at face value. Obviously, if two people share similar ideas and beliefs, all other things being equal, life should be easier etc. There would be less quarelling and so on.

But then again, Paul is saying that unbelievers are 'lawlessness' and 'darkness'. I find that really sweeping statement-ish and just a little bit arrogant. In my MSN chat when my friend asked me for my opinion because she once dated a 'non-believer', I thought for a while and typed "Screw it. Love. Love. Love. Love is the answer." or something to the effect. Which, admittedly, was rather idealistic and probably won't be all that simplistic in reality.

Is there any Biblical basis for this? Is there any room for negotiation for verse 14? I think there is. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a lawyer asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what the Law says and how he interprets it. The legal eagle correctly answers "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind", and "Love your neighbor as yourself." But the lawyer wants to test Jesus some more, and so he asks, "And who is my neighbor?" So...

Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Luke 10:30-37

The first two guys who don't help the wounded person are both of the same faith/background as the Jews. The last guy is the Samaritan who helps the wounded guy. Based on this, I reckon that an analogy of the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans is probably a little similar between Christians and Muslims in today's context. They don't really like each other (or at least some groups!) and they have different beliefs, even if they worship the same God, and one is an outcast in the other's society.

I think the interesting thing about this parable is that essentially, Jesus is asking us to be like the Muslim (as per contextual paraphasing above)! Why? I think Jesus is saying that labels don't really matter as much as the authenticity of the person him or herself. To assign 'righteousness/lawlessness/light/dark' to people based on their social standing or beliefs is just too simplistic. The proof is in the pudding.

So going back to the marriage issue, I think maybe the first verse taken at face value might not be too helpful. Have you ever seen a Christian with a black user icon? I sure have! :) So, my feeling is that yes, Paul's right about choosing wisely as it's not very nice to marry someone who's lawless and basically a really bad person. But anyone can fit this criterion, not just unbelievers. I think faith differences can potentially make or break a relationship. But what about a couple who knows, understands, respects, and accepts another's differing faith? Is that not enough? Is that not one of the grand manifestations of unconditional love?

Update (!): Trackback, must-read counter arguments from Adina.

Slaves And Other Matters

I like attending the 5pm service at Wesley because it's less crowded. This photo was taken 10 minutes before the start of the service.


Anyway, something interesting from today's sermon...

You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope——the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
~Titus 2

So the funny thing about today's sermon was that there are a few politically incorrect things that's present in the passage. I thought the pastor would interpret this in the context of our modern times. Yeah, he did that but he also brought in some bizarre comparisons. For example, in the 'teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything', he agreed that this should be the case, and that they should not 'talk back' because slaves in the old days had no rights! Then he says in the context of our times, this can also refer to subordinates in the office talking back to their superiors, or maids talking back to their 'masters'. So, yeah, very strange.

Also, it's too bad that the NIV translation urges woman to be 'busy at home'. I thought that is pretty funny, does anyone know how the next phrase 'so that no one will malign the word of God' originates from?

I don't really know what to make of Paul. Sometimes he talks about slaves and that women should be submissive to men and not hold important posts in church, and at other times like in 1 Corinthians 13, he writes absolutely wonderful things about love. So I guess not everything is bad; there's still good stuff from the above passage apart from the stuff I mentioned...

Preamble

This is a blog for me and hopefully others too who are recovering Christians. Recovering as in we once called themselves Christians, but are in some respects disillusioned by the way Scriptures are interpreted, and how Christians treat other people sometimes. Some have abandoned their faith for good reason, others have not (like me). Some have their own conceptions of what the Scriptures are really saying that are very different from what is usually taught.

So naturally, there are things that I will write that are disturbing, so why risk making others angry or disturbed? I guess there are precedents for this sort of thing. If you're a Protestant, you'll know that this means you're from the POV of a protesting Christian in the 16th century, protesting against the Catholic Christians. So, I guess it's not unusual for differences in opinion to appear. It's all part of the continual reformation of the Church. I could keep quiet, of course, but I don't think that would be right. What I wish is that everyone can treat each other with respect, even when there're drastic differences in opinions.

I first got the idea of setting up this blog from Adina's discussion about faith. The Bush win made me abandon my faith for a day because I was just so bloody angry. But I vowed to come back the next day and continue fighting. I realised that this feeling is not that uncommon among people of faith, and subsequently I hope this blog can become a place for discussion and reflection among folks who have similar ideas.

Keep in mind that the stuff that you hear might be considered heretic and not necessarily taught in Sunday School :). If I were living in less modern times, I'd be surely burnt at the stake. I've thought long and hard how to approach this. It's a fine line between doing the work of the Lord and doing the work of the Devil. I hope I can approach this in humility and with grace. It's not easy to go against conventional teachings, and arrogance is always a real danger. But we'll see where this goes. If you wish to be a contributor of this blog (i.e., you can also post new entries), feel free to leave a comment. Contributors might include both believers and non-believers, for I think there are times when we are not sure what believers believe, and what non-believers actually don't believe...