Joie de Vivre A Wretched Man’s Quest To Follow Jesus Christ

A local blogger recently posted an article calling Christians hypocrites because while many of us here in Asia choose not to consume food offered to idols, we have no qualms about consuming halal food, i.e. food that is slaughtered according to Islamic rites.

Now, for those who are unfamiliar with the Asian context, especially in Singapore and Malaysia, let me first lay out the premise for you.

In Singapore, most food sold in supermarkets are labeled halal (except for pork and some other food items for obvious reasons) to cater to a bigger number of consumers inclusive of Muslims. Barring any comment on whether it is right or wrong, or whether I agree or disagree with the practice, one must acknowledge that it makes economic sense for businesses to do so.

Back to the blog post in question: in response, I asked if he has any understanding of what Christianity is, my premise being that I think he has misunderstood the faith and, hopefully, present the Gospel if he should question what Christianity is.

The episode also gave rise to my thoughts on why non-believers in general have either little or no understanding of our faith, or if they know a little about Christianity, generally have some misconceptions.

I put it down to a trio of factors:

1. Lack of Evangelism and Wrong Approaches
2. Worldly (Carnal) Christianity
3. Christians unwilling or unable to contend for the faith

Lack of Evangelism And The Wrong Approaches

From what I’ve observed, there’s a dearth of evangelism in Singapore. I used to see and meet Christian youth groups doing street evangelism almost every weekend, but this activity seems to be the exception rather than the norm nowadays. I used to take part actively in such activities, sharing the Gospel with as many as would take the time to listen.

That is not to say that even if there were such activities, that I necessarily agree with what was practiced. Let me give you a few examples:

• Badgering
  Non-Christian friends have told me time and again how agitated they were being badgered by some of these evangelism teams. Even my wife has told me that she absolutely detests this approach when she was a Roman Catholic on the fringe. They’d even call several times a week after obtaining her phone number asking her to attend their church.

  We need to realize that people can get totally turned off by constant badgering. Imagine, if you would, some AT&T telemarketer constantly calling you up to subscribe to their international calls service, and you get what I mean.

  By being more of a nuisance than anything, this approach of evangelism turns more people off hearing the Gospel than anything else, in my opinion.

• Attend My Church?
  Many times some well-meaning Christians invite friends and relatives to attend their church service to learn more about Christianity. Now, I don’t totally agree with this approach because (1) church is more of a gathering of believers who come together to worship and the Gospel isn’t necessarily presented at all times, and (2) altar calls in churches nowadays aren’t exactly how I think people should come to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

  Not to mention that there have been cases where non-Christians have complained that they were tricked into attending church by their Christian friends.

  Now, you tell me, if someone felt that they were conned, would they be open to hearing the Gospel in church even if it were properly presented?

So what do I think is the ‘correct’ form of evangelism?

I subscribe to the method taught by the good folks at Way of the Master where people are first made aware of their sins and why they aren’t the good people that they think they are, then present the Gospel letting them know what Jesus Christ did for them so that they do not have to face the wrath of the Living God.

True conversion only happens when a person understands that he’s a sinner and where he stands on the Day of Judgment, therefore he needs forgiveness and God’s grace, and there’s no salvation other than in Christ Jesus. Not by simply repeating some “magic prayer”. Trust me on that — I was one such “fine” example of the “magic prayer” approach.

It might be difficult to do street preaching to a crowd in Singapore (I am even guessing that you might need a police permit for that!), so evangelism is best done one-on-one. That being the case, don’t pester if the person does not want to listen, nor pester right after if the person is kind enough to leave their contact details. When you have the chance, present the Gospel and let God do the rest.

Worldly Christianity and Christians

Unfortunately, many churches in Singapore are adopting the same worldly approach that the American church practices — using gimmicks, skits, songs and even pop stars to draw in the crowd so that they can present the Gospel.

Hold on a minute, you say, what’s wrong with that if the ends justifies the means? People are hearing the Gospel preached, aren’t they?

Well, then, we need to answer the question if we are to conform to the world in order to preach the Gospel?

I’d say ‘no’! If you apply that standard, then you might as well castrate yourself to minister to eunuchs, or get tattooed and shave your head to minister to some of the youths out there.

My issue with this approach is that people are not seeing how being a Christian is truly life-changing. Would you trust someone extolling the virtues of some nicotine patch that helped him quit smoking while he’s puffing away on a cigarette?

So while some do their best to evangelize personally and through their church, non-believers are not seeing that there’s truly anything different between someone who is a Christian and one who is not.

This is especially so when you see so many people who claim to be Christians dancing and partying away in pubs and discotheques on the weekend, watching and even trading pornographic materials, dressing as provocatively as Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, etc.

And when these Christians gather together to worship, they allow the same form of entertainment one sees on TV to be performed — street-dancing, heavy rock (albeit with a Bible verse or two thrown in to make it “Christian”), etc.

Worse yet, some of these churches don’t teach what it is to live a Christian life, but one that pursues the same goals as what they the non-believers do — health, wealth and prosperity! Really, if I wanted those, I can easily be a polytheist and pray to, say, Tua Pek Gong (a popular Chinese deity), to bless me.

Now before anyone calls me a legalist, let me state that I truly believe that we are to be separate from the world and not love anything in it. We must not envelop worldly values with some Christian theme and then call it Christian!

As long as Christianity is alike what people experience in the world, and holds on to some similar values as what the world believes, the salt has lost its flavor and the light very much dimmed.

Not Contending For The Faith

Now this irks me more than anything else — Christians who keep quiet when the faith is maligned or even when the Lord Jesus Christ is blasphemed against!

Some give the excuse that we are to be meek. Right, that does not mean that you become weak and not defend the faith and worse, not defend the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ! You have a duty to defend the faith! You have a duty to stand up for your Lord!

And, oh, don’t tell me about turning the other cheek. That does not apply to the defense of the faith!

Then there are those who don’t put in a word because they claim that they don’t know their Bibles well. New Christians are excused, but if you call yourself a Christian and have been one for some time now, you need to know your Bible well!

So while you say you have no time to read the Bible but can give me a glowing review of the latest book from Dan Brown or Tom Clancy, are you trying to say that God’s Word takes second place to some fiction another fallen man has written, or a movie or even a TV series?!

I’m not saying we follow the example of some who put up placards in protest, threaten to lob off heads, or issue death threats as that is certainly not what is called for in the Bible, but we do find that we are to contend for the faith! And to do so well, we need to know God’s Word well!

Conclusion

Does it then not surprise you that there are so many non-believers out there who either do not know what Christianity is about, or what being a Christian entails, or have misconceptions about the faith?

I have only touched on just what I think are the reasons why there are so many misconceptions of Christianity and why there is no saltiness and light in the world today. I’m quite sure some of you might have other reasons why the situation is such, or totally disagree with me, and I’d love to hear from you.

By the way, the straight answer to the accusation of being hypocrites consuming halal food can be found in 1 Corinthians 8.

Shalom Aleichem.

Photograph “Panama Supermarkets 2” by Thinkpanama.