READ 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Verse 20 - To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under
the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
Paul’s philosophy is simple: “I have made myself a
servant to all.” What do we understand by this in today’s context and in
Malaysia?
We live amongst people with different
religious persuasions, different ethnicity, different language and tongues and
with different religious and spiritual celebrations and festivals thrown in
through the year. Where do our Christian faith and testimony stand in such a
diverse cultural differences and religious beliefs. We have such a potpourri of
religious mixture, it’s hard not to offend if we take a hard stand and hard
not to fall into religious syncretism and compromises if take the soft approach. How
far do we go in tolerance or intolerance? How do the Christian church response
responsibly and exercise Christian love without compromising our Gospel and our
beliefs?
Malaysia is a pluralistic society - a classic example of not only multi-racial
and multi-religious but also pluralistic. Pluralistic is the idea that people
can and should live together without fighting, despite differences in race,
religion, culture, politics, etc., and a situation in which people of different
races, religions, cultures, politics, etc. should live together peacefully with
respect, reverence, and tolerance in a society. Locally, we called this concept
MUHIBAH.
Paul said that “to the Jew I became as a
Jew - to those outside the law I became as one outside the law - to the weak I
became weak”, his whole aim or goal is to win them for Christ. What do we
understand by these words of Paul in relation to our situation? How far do we go to contextualize
our Gospel message in order to stay relevant? These are difficult questions
with no easy answers.
THEOLOGY
& PRAXIS
(Spiritual
responsibility and practice)
Malaysia registers one of the highest in public
holidays attributed to religious festivals in Asia due to the large following
of the Major Religions of the world. Penang is well-known as an island with a
thousand temples. The annual Taipusiam
is not only many decades long religious tradition but a growing phenomenon with
each passing year. Idol worshipping, the occults, and animistic practices
blended in with the interest of the paranormal and supernatural, all have large
following in Penang. This is a religious, pluralistic potpourri Penang-style!
What is our perception of the
“revival” of religious festivals and the ever present interest in the occult in
our country? What is our respond?
How do we
deal with superstitious beliefs, fortune-telling, and consulting with the
spirit world? Are Christians also caught in this web of deceptions? What are
the dangers that lie ahead?
Galatians 3:1 - O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you
that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed among you as crucified?
I believe that the church should begin to
dialogue and engage in discussion on ways we can be relevant as a Christian in
such a society. It would be good to articulate the negative attitudes as well
as positive attitudes that a Christian may have or have living among people of
such diverse background, culture, pagan beliefs and practices we consider as
“demonic”, idolatrous and an abomination (hatred and dislike) to the Lord.
Some of the questions worth
asking are: How do we conduct
ourselves? How do we bear Christ Image? Is there a limit or a line drawn to our
association?
So in the final analysis, can we change the community around us?
Can we be truly Christ image-bearer? Can we carry Christ through our action, our
attitude, and our speech? Can we be relevant in a pluralistic, multi-cultural
Malaysia? Can we see revival through our action plan? Maybe, FOR A START we can take a positive
action by showing one deliberate act of kindness at a time, one kind word to someone at a time, or one attitude of thoughtfulness at a
time. I heard one Malaysian Cabinet minister who is a Christian at a leadership
conference that I attended recently said this: Before we can be the change we
need to act the change! It takes action. We, as Christians, need to take the
first step in taking up spiritual responsibility and practice godliness.
