"What's Wrong With the World?"

We should not ask, ‘What is wrong with the world?’ for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather we should ask, "What has happened to salt and light?" (John Stott) 

It takes a right question to unlock the appropriate responses for our Christian behaviour. Once, G.K. Chesterton was asked by a newspaper about the question: "What is wrong with the world?" Chesterton replied with his usual wit: "I am." To this day, that answer remains extremely memorable and also convicting. Instead of pointing out at the world outside, we need to observe the world going on inside us.

When I was a kid, my teacher would remind me about pointing fingers at others. She said: "If you use a finger to point at another person, remember too that the other four fingers are pointing back at yourself." It was a moment of learning humbly not to be too quick to blame other people. After all, what if we are wrong? We would be called hypocrites ourselves, blaming other people when our own house is not taken care of.

Why not ask about the world? The trouble is, the world will take care of itself. In a culture of everyone for themselves, volunteers are hard to find. The story of 4 men illustrates the world brilliantly. These four persons are called, Everyone, Someone, Anyone, and No-One. One day, a certain task had to be done, and Everyone was certain that Someone would do it. Anyone could have done it, but No-One decided to do it. That made Someone angry, because it was really Everyone's job. However, Everyone thought that Anyone could have done it, but No-One knew that Anyone would never do it. In the end, No-One did what Anyone could have done.

Likewise, when we start to ask what is wrong with the world, and expect others to do something about it, nothing will happen. Things will start rolling when we who ask the questions take the initiative to do something about it. Like GK Chesterton, and John Stott, the biggest challenge for us is not about what is wrong with the world, but what are we going to do about it.

conrade
p/s: Chesterton has gone on to write a book on the very question he had asked. It is available for free download here.

Like Leaves in Spring

Springtime continues to blossom throughout the Western hemisphere. I look at the lush greens and the posh colours of the blooming flowers and I marvel. I marvel at the creativity behind the creation. I marvel at the beauty. I marvel at the simplest things of nature that evokes a sense of awe and profound gratitude. Such a feeling is far better than watching a movie on Youtube or to finger my ways through a computing device linked to a social media platform. It is often nature that accelerates the creation, not the device that stimulates the creative juices. Looking at the flowers with the sky as a backdrop, it helps me to meditate. It is a time of joyful celebration of God's creation. Hear what Solomon has to say.

"Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land." (SS 2:12)"

I look at this budding flower. Geez, I am no florist or horticulturist. If you know what flowers they are, send me a note, or use the comment section below this article. [update: These are lilacs! Thanks Debbie.]

Beautiful lilacs with the blue sky background

Life is more than simply solving problems or making money. The trouble with many people is that they have missed out the beauty of the earth in their rush to gather up material wealth. Time admiring God's creation is certainly not wasted but time well spent. We are not created to be machines that work all the time. We are created to be loved by God, and our being loved motivates us to work well.

conrade

Theology of Work (A Neighbourly Perspective)

One of the most apt titles of books talking about the theology of work is "Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian values with Business Life," written by Laura Nash, Ken Blanchard, and Scott McLennan.  In a world that trumpets secular values over religious, one may be wondering if any attempt by religious people to bring their faith into the workplace, represents an unwitting mixing of business and religion. No, says the authors. The key point is not in terms of proselytizing one's religion to colleagues in the office, but to enable one to live authentically according to one's profession of personal faith. It is not about converting other people, but in living a life that is converted. It is a private life lived out in public spheres, and not meant to be imposed on other people. This is the essence of faith in the workplace.

Another recent book on the workplace is "Work Matters" authored by Tom Nelson, in which Nelson asks the question of how Christians can do good outside Sunday. Is one's work making a difference in the ministry of good works? This tells us of the two extremes people can tend to become locked into. On the one hand, there is the workaholic situation, where the work itself is seen to be most important in itself. For Christians, work can become an idol, and our working behaviour idolatrous. On the other hand, there is the isolationist. Christians unconsciously buy into the secular-sacred divide, seeing Sunday as the only holy day of the week, and the rest of the week as a license to do anything they want.

Perhaps, one of the strongest reasons for fusing our faith with work is to remember Jesus' command to his disciples, in which we can call it the second greatest commandment.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

Any theology of work needs to stem from these commandments. Firstly, it needs to be a good neighbour by first loving God. Secondly, it needs to be the good neighbour by loving them. Only after loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, can we be equipped to love others as ourselves. The second commandment cannot operate independently of the first. Without being loved by God first, how can we love others? It is because God has loved us, we are to love one another, to do good to our neighbours. This is theology of work at our workplace. How then do we love our neighbours in the workplace?

A) Be Punctual for Work and Meetings

I believe that punctuality is an important aspect of loving our neighbour in the workplace. If we have arranged a meeting with a client at 9am, make sure we meet that time. Being late, or missing the meeting is a bad testimony. I know of some bosses who tend to assert their positional power by insisting his subordinates be punctual, while he takes his own time to make the meeting. That is not just rude to those who prioritize the meetings. It is also an abuse of power. Likewise, the same applies to how we treat our contractors, our customers, and our suppliers.

B) Be Respectful

Sometimes we let our own sense of importance affect the way we treat others. A brother in Christ whose mum had recently been admitted to the hospital speaks of the doctors being the kings in hospital. It is not the doctors who have to wait, but the family of the patient who has to bow to the scheduling of the highly esteemed and sometimes feared doctors. When asked about why the doctor was late, it is not uncommon to see the doctor roll his eyes to give a look that says, "Now look here. Who's the doctor?"

A Christian doctor needs to learn to be respectful, not simply by throwing his weight around as a doctor. Granted, he may have his own scheduling difficulties, or meeting up with different patients. What about a simple apology? That is not too much to ask. Respect needs to flow both ways. As families and patients give medical personnel the respect, such respect has to be reciprocated.

C) Be Mindful of the presence of the Holy Spirit

This reminds me of the need to recognize the presence of a third person: Holy Spirit. Our lifestyles at the workplace are windows people look through to size up Christian behaviour. Rather than simply living a good testimony, why not live it in such a way that it is not for the public eye to see, but the Holy Spirit to look at. For office staff tempted to look at pornography during his private time with the computer, remember that God can see where no one sees. For people trying to cut corners in their work, though the outside looks reasonable, the compromised quality is visible to God.

D) Be Considerate

Another way we can love our neighbour is to be considerate. Think about how our actions can affect fellow colleagues, even our bosses. Consideration is an important aspect of teamwork, and working together. The psychotherapist, Dr Nathaniel Branden has this to say about self-esteem.

"There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity."

It comes back to the love of God. If our self-esteem has been built with the love of God, it makes treating others with respect much easier. Otherwise, we are on our own. Any theology of work cannot be practised on our own. It needs at least two other parties. Firstly, it begins with our relationship with loving God. The second party is how we work with others, with the foundation built with the love of God. Let me close with the following wisdom from Tom Nelson.

"Work is an integral aspect of being human, an essential aspect of loving God and his created world, and a vital part of loving our neighbor as ourselves." (Tom Nelson, Work Matters, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011, 24)

A theology of work needs not be too complicated. We do not need to attend seminars or conferences in order to know what it actually means. For the most part, for most of us, we may even forget all the things that have been said by the professionals and experts. For now, this idea is easy to remember. Love our neighbour as ourselves in the workplace. Be punctual. Be Respectful to people you meet. Be mindful of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Be considerate in every way. All these are examples of loving our neighbour. If you do not remember anything about a theology of work, perhaps, this article can begin your personal quest.

conrade

Contentment

In the May 26th, 1994 issue of the popular Our Daily Bread daily devotional, Vernon Grounds tells of a story of a fifth century desert father called Arenius who happens to be visiting the great city of Alexandria back then. As he wanders through the many bazaars and markets, he cannot help but rejoice to realize there are so many things that he does not need. After all, being content with the very little that he has, he feels that he is actually very rich!

Abba Arsenius

Grounds then goes to compare the amount of goods in a typical supermarket in America. In 1976, the typical supermarket stocks about 9000 items. In 1994, it has become 30,000. That is a whopping over 330% increase! What are the necessary things and what are the superfluous articles? I suppose the big struggle is to separate the needs and the wants. Worse, in a world where people seem to want everything, they are are lacking the crucial skill even to know what they need.

Paul's exhortation to Timothy appears as follows: "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim 6:6). How we need to learn to be content with what we have, and with what we do NOT have. How then do we cultivate a heart of contentment? It begins with trust. Who do we trust? What do we depend on?  The retreat master, Philip St Romain speaks of the problem with the contemporary person.

"Being preoccupied and living in a fog of desires, unresolved emotional pain, intellectual confusion, a state of being asleep to ourselves and life: This is how most people live! How sad! How to wake them up?" (Philip St. Romain, Caring for the Self Caring for the Soul, Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 2000, 5)

He then talks of the role of Christian Spirituality that works to accomplish 5 purposes.

1. Learning to let go of our disordered desires and worldly attachments
2. Centering our lives on God through Christ
3. Healing and Reconciliation
4. Changing old attitudes
5. Living daily, one day at a time, learning from the past, and hoping for the future.

This is the way forward for those of us seeking a more contented heart and a peaceful soul. Indeed, these are the ways of godliness, and the path to becoming better people who are contented and happy with whatever we have.

conrade

Camera and Mirror

Last week, a brother in Christ preached for us at Church. He helped us work through Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, entitled "Folly of Pleasure." His key point was that it will be futile to seek pleasure if we are not focused on God through the Cross of Christ. In it, he presented two wonderful images of how we can do just that.

Wisdom to Zoom In / Zoom Out

In the Camera Image, like a camera that can zoom in and zoom out, we learn to examine ourselves and our circumstances through distinguishing the trees from the forest, and not miss out any of them. Like Solomon who finds pleasure but loses himself in his pleasure, we need to learn to know when to zoom in and when to zoom out.

In the Mirror Image, we ask ourselves what kind of a person are we reflecting? Are we reflecting our human sinful selves, or are we reflecting Christ in us? In our seeking for pleasure, far too often we are reflecting our sinfulness through greed, like frivolous accumulation of material goods for ourselves. All of these is folly in the eyes of God. He asks us about our pursuit of reputation, money, career, and the worldliness we want. What is driving us? Self or God?

My Thoughts

I look at the way the passage has been worded and I marvel at the intensity of the search by Qoheleth, the writer of the book. Also translated as the Teacher, or the Preacher, Qoheleth leaves no stones unturned as he seek pleasure through amusement (Eccl 2:2). He seeks pleasure through humour, wine, and folly (Eccl 2:3). One particular phrase that we can easily miss out is in verse 3.

"I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly - my mind still guiding me with wisdom. (italics mine)" (Eccl 2:3)

(Credit: Tony Cossey's Blog)

This passage is not simply about a drunkard reflecting on life, nor a foolish man just enjoying pleasure. It is about a man, widely awake and reasonably conscious about seeking meaning through pleasure. He his very intentional and purposeful about it all, like how ants busy themselves with collecting food in preparation for Winter. Taking the camera image, we can prevent ourselves from going to any of the two extremes. One end being too "big picture" that we lose sight of the specifics. The other end is to be too "micro-managing" that we lose sight of the big picture. Qoheleth struggles with both as he goes wide in the many different forms of pleasure, and in each attempt, he goes deep in, lock, stock, and barrel. The other image of a mirror, reminds us of why we are doing what we are doing. Are we reflecting the inner selfishness in us, or are we reflecting the selfless nature of Christ?

The take home I have is that in our outer lives, we need to live like the camera, learning to discern when is best to zoom in, and when to zoom out. In our inner lives, we begin with being transformed inside us, that we can reflect Christ more and more in our outer lives.

“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.” (Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ)

conrade

The Ten Paradoxical Commandments for Servanthood

This list has often been credited to Mother Teresa. The true source is from Kent Keith's "Jesus Did It Anyway." You can read my full book review here.

THE TEN PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS 

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. 
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. 
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. 
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. 
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shut down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. 
7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. 
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. 
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. 
10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

It's a pleasure to serve.

In a world of Why-Should-I's, may Christians learn to adopt a Let-Me-Serve attitude. Just like Christ. May 'anyway' be your mode of conduct as far as good works and the will of God is concerned.

conrade

Three Marriage Books to Recommend

Recently, I have read some really good books on marriage. This post brings together three of them which I believe can be helpful resources for married couples as well as those seeking marriage, or wanting to learn more about biblical perspectives from marriage.


1) THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE (Tim and Kathy KELLER)
Publisher: Dutton Books, 2011.
Read my Full Review here:

This book is packed with biblical wisdom and practical helps on one of the most important issues of our age: Marriage. The author draws upon three deep roots to write the book; his own marriage, his concern for the large unmarried part of his congregation, and from the Bible. The central thesis of the book is that we need to understand the meaning of marriage that is both realistic and glorious. He makes it clear that marriage is not same-sex, not polygamous, and certainly not romanticism, or defined through cultural lens. Instead, marriage is love unlimited.

This book is solidly biblical and highly practical.



2) RENOVATING YOUR MARRIAGE ROOM BY ROOM (Johnny C. Parker)
Publisher: Moody Press, 2012.
My Full Review here:

This book is a delight to read. Using the metaphor of a house renovation, the author is meticulous about helping readers renovate their marriages from the foundation up, and the inside-out. Beginning with firm and correct foundations, Parker reminds us that marriage is not a "happily ever after" kind of a fairy tale ending. It is much more difficult to stay in marriage. One way to help one stay faithful in love is to renovate our marriage room by room.

Each room forms an aspect of marriage that can be renovated and renewed. Creatively, the author hones into the marriage experience, its ups and downs, and provides very encouraging tips on how marriage can become a joyous and rewarding experience. But first the hard work has to be done.

I like this book particularly because of the powerful image of a house of rooms.


3) REAL MARRIAGE (Mark & Grace Driscoll)
Publisher: Thomas-Nelson, 2012.
My Full review here.

Like Tim and Kathy Keller, the Driscolls are pastors too. What makes this book particularly intriguing is the explicit ways in which they tackle sexual techniques and tools.

The core conviction is to use this book as a way for married couples to become 'best friends and lovers' like how God has intended. In order to present this 'Real Marriage' picture, the Driscolls lead by example by sharing openly and honestly about themselves. They admit their sleeping around with others prior to marriage. They confess their lack of openness to each other in their early years of marriage. They share their continuing struggles candidly. At the same time, both affirm that their marriage has been transformed under the love and grace of God.


conrade