The worrying trend of declining Bible literacy

A research report published by the Evangelical Alliance in the UK (EAUK) just came out. (Click here for the report.) It mentions two interesting trends about Christians in the 16-24 age group.

First, they are “less likely to strongly agree that the Bible has supreme authority in guiding their beliefs, views and behaviour.” Second, they are “less likely to pray or read (or listen to) the Bible every day.”

Similarly, Cheryl Catford, the former principal of Tabor College in Melbourne, also observed the declining Biblical literacy in Australia in recent years. In an article in 2009 she talked about her experience of seeing a decline in Biblical knowledge among first-year theological students over her more than 15 years of teaching. The challenge of this phenomenon for the church today is well summarised in the following comment in the EAUK report.

"For many in this (younger) age group, beliefs have been shaped by good youth work and summer festivals, rather than personal devotions. We have shared bite-sized theology but one of the greatest challenges is to enable this age group to take responsibility for their own discipleship amidst busy, media saturated lives."

I have written an article to list three reasons for the decline in Bible literacy and two responses to it. Click here for my article.

(Or see my previous post for the excerpts.)

A young woman's story that will make you cry

Here is a young woman's story that will make you cry. It is about her father's dedication to the cause of Christ and her own experience in knowing Jesus. Her father's life and her own experience call us to worship and challenge our own lives.

Click here to view the video.

A life of sacrifice and witness to Christ

I read an article about the life and witness of a Christian in Asia. It's the type of authentic Christianity that should challenge all of us.

Here is an excerpt.

"After his [her husband's] arrest, Alice moved out... with their six children and her mother-in-law. As they had lived by faith and the church was now closed, she went through the most difficult six months of her life. All they could afford was porridge. They slept on planks laid over bricks as a make-shift bed. Fellow Christians were too frightened to help them. She found work on a construction site paying 80 fen a day (less than US$0.20). Her children were cruelly treated at school... the whole family suffered further humiliation. For six months she... was put under intense pressure to renounce her faith and divorce her husband. At night she sought the Lord with tears. Finally, she was found innocent of all charges. Providentially, God supplied the family’s needs through the sacrificial giving of a few devoted believers. Even in her darkest hour she never stopped giving one tenth of her income to the Lord."

Click here for the whole article.

Looking beyond the labels

My friend Nils Von Kalm has written a new article. I highly recommend it. Here is a quote in his article.

"In our noble attempts to be Christ-like, we have tried to civilise the poor. Gardiner believes that the Spirit would say to the church today, ‘stop civilising and start discipling’. Or, as a pastor at a church I was at many years ago said, we are just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food."

Click here for the article.

Reflection: An inclusive multicultural church experience

Church this morning was great.

(1) My primary-school-age child celebrated his birthday this week. When we walked in church, someone said to him, "Happy birthday!" Then we saw in the church bulletin a special note for the birthday boy this week! As my child always says, "Our church is a good church because the children are important and the adults talk to them!"

(2) We welcomed a lady and a family to be members today. They are amazing people. The lady understands mental health issues and will be running a seminar for us. The husband of the family is an indigenous Australian. (He played the didgeridoo for us this morning!) The wife is a Samoan, and a talented lady. Their kids sang a song for the congregation. There was such a community feel!

(3) A man will be baptised this Easter. He is from another faith, and he came to Australia recently. What a testimony of God's goodness and love!

(4) When I looked around there were people from many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia. This is precisely the type of community we will find when Christ returns! Also, there are people living with disability, people struggling with mental health issues, migrants, overseas students, and asylum seekers. We welcome people of all walks of life. This is such a wonderful place!

Rethinking resurrection - An article

I have recently written an article entitled Rethinking Resurrection. A quick summary here:

• To prepare for Easter some have decided to fast from iPods and social networking.
• Future bodily resurrection (not disemboided bliss in heaven) is the true Christian hope.
• The proclamation of Christ's resurrection is counter-cultural, both in Paul's days and in our world today.
• The hope of future resurrection has everything to do with how we live here and now.
• Standing in solidarity with the poor is an outworking of our Christian hope.

Click here for the article.

Reflection: Trusting God for his provision and fulfilling God's call

When I was 29 I had a good career. I had a BSc (Hons), an MSc, and years of experience in my profession. But then God called me to ministry. After heaps of prayer I left my career at the age of 30 to go to Bible college. The following years were very difficult financially and emotionally, and eventually I stopped working as a pastor, largely because of health reasons and because I wanted to finish my Masters in theology. But I remember that at the end of those years I could say that God never disappointed us financially. Yes, it was very difficult to "walk by faith", so to speak, and trust God for his provision - without any fund raising and without asking people for money. But it's worth it.

We experienced miracle after miracle of financial provision, even though we needed to live on a very tight budget (and continue to do so for many years afterwards). It's an amazing experience.
What I have learned from the experience is that if God has asked us to do something he will provide all our needs. I have to admit that I am a man of little faith - yes, I still am, and very much so. But once you have experienced God's miraculous supplies you have learned something about God's faithfulness.

Will I do it again? Only to the degree that God enables me, and only if I am very sure that God has asked me to do so. Now I am older - I know what my limitations are and how much I can endure. I'll be very careful in making any decision of that kind. But at the same time God's calling is still fresh and real. I consider that I am still in the process of fulfilling that call.

To everyone who wants to do God's will, I encourage you to trust in God's faithfulness. He who has called you to follow him is faithful.

Christmas reflection: What is it like to be 'truly human'?

Sight Magazine has published an article I wrote recently. It can be found here.

Gorman: Faith, church...

More from Michael Gorman's Reading Paul.

"Faith is a complex human experience, and [the apostle] Paul preserves this complexity while giving it a unique twist. While affirming its character as trust and conviction, Paul connects faith to the experience of Jesus as God's faithful Son. Faith is more than trust; it is also fidelity, or loyalty."

"The church, therefore, is a visible, even a 'political' reality, rather than just a group with invisible 'spiritual' bonds, whose mission it is to be a living commentary on the gospel it professes, the story of the Lord (Jesus) in whom the church exists..."

Hope: The trust-filled conviction...

"Hope, as the future tense of faith, is the trust-filled conviction that God will soon fulfill all promises and vindicate the faithful; this conviction enables a life of dedication to God (faith) and to others (love) in spite of having to share in the cross of Christ now." (From Michael Gorman's Reading Paul, page 166)

Doctrinal superiority?

Recently I visited a church of a particular denomination. It's a lovely church, with very sound teaching in the sermon. After the service one of the ministers chatted with me. In our conversation we discovered that we both liked the teaching of certain well-known Bible teachers. It was a good conversation... so far...

As the conversation continued, this minister started to tell me the differences between the belief of his denomination and that of others. In one case he said that one particular pastor of a church in another denomination was "liberal" (meaning "dangerous", I assume). In another case he said that his doctrine was very similar to a particular group of people in another denomination (which is known to be very conservative, and hence "safe" for this minister, I assume).

But this minister was eager to point out that there were still differences between the doctrine of this group and his denomination. And then he went on to say that people in this group would prefer to go to a church in his denomination when they were away on holidays.

At the end of the conversation I felt that what he was really saying was that the doctrine of his church/denomination was superior to that of everyone else.

I hope I am not misrepresenting his view here. (To be fair to him I won't name his church or his denomination, just in case I misrepresent him somehow.)

After the conversation I was glad that I had not told him which church I normally attended. And now, when I think about it, I am not sure whether I want to see him again, in case he asks me what church I belong to and despise me - and my church - as a result. Of course I am not ashamed of my belief, but I am not sure whether we can have a pleasant conversation if there is a sense of perceived superiority in the mind of one party.

As I read the New Testament I find that church division is something that God doesn't desire at all. It is true that Bible-based "healthy teaching" is absolutely important (as it is emphasised in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus). But equally Paul teaches us to receive one another with love, allowing diversity in the church. We are to be united as one people in the body of Christ. One has to accept that, as church history tells us, respected Christians do hold somewhat different doctrines. I respect both Calvin and Wesley, for instance, although there are differences between their doctrines. I believe that we need to study the Scriptures carefully and diligently. But at the same time I believe that we need to remain humble and learn to hear each other's voice and opinions. We need to be more gracious.

Multi-faith world: East and West

One challenge for Christians today is that we live in a multi-faith world. But I see differences between the East and the West. I have lived in the West (English-speaking) for over 20 years, and I grew up in an Asian city. In the following I want to share some of my observations. I admit that my observations are somewhat subjective, but I hope it can be helpful to those interested in this topic.

In Australia I see roughly two responses to our increasingly multi-faith society. (Of course these two do not represent everyone's response, but I hope these rough categorisation can help to facilitate the discussion.)

(1) On the one hand, there are Christians who don't feel comfortable with it. They are concerned that it will dilute our "Christian heritage". (Whether we can still speak of a "Christian heritage" today is, of course, debatable, because our society is very secular nowadays.) Some of them (hopefully the minority) are not keen for Australia to accept too many migrants and/or asylum seekers because most likely they come from non-Christian faith backgrounds. (From the perspective of the gospel, I think that it is in fact a good thing to have people of other faiths come to Australia, for this creates the opportunities for us to share the love of Christ with them.)

(2) On the other hand, increasingly I meet Christians who think that other religions can lead people to God (ie. the Creator God in the Bible). These Christians are sick and tired of the aggressive type of evangelism done by certain churches. They are aware that ours is a multi-faith society, and people of other faiths are good people. They think that Christians should not judge these non-Christians and there is a good chance that they are saved (ie. will have eternal life) anyway - because other religions can lead people to the Creator God.

As someone who used to have a non-Christian faith background (a mix of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and ancestral worship), I wonder whether the above are "Western" responses. I wonder whether the above two responses are very much conditioned by our historical background of a society shaped by a Christian culture - ie. whether people go to church or not, most believe that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible.

Many feel that Christianity in Australia has been historically a majority religion. As our society gradually changes to a multi-faith one, we either resist the change (as in (1) above), or we change our previous concept of Christianity to find a new meaning to our way of life (as in (2) above).

In the East, however, historically and in reality today, Christians are often the minority. I suggest that this is very similar to the situation of the earliest church in the Bible. In Acts and in Paul's letters, we find Christians living in a multi-faith society, where the majority of people in the society worshipped other gods.

When I became a Christian, most of the people around me worshipped other gods and/or belonged to a particular Asian tradition. Many of my Christian friends experienced some form of rejection - sometimes persecution - because they had chosen to follow Jesus.

In my case I do not reject people of other faiths - because I was one of them before, and my heart is to let them know the love of Christ rather than reject them.

At the same time, personally, I find it hard to think that other religions can lead people to Christ. I was there before. My former religious background was a mix of polytheism, pantheism and a cultural tradition that went back thousands of years. If there is anything from other religions that can lead me to the amazing grace and love of God as revealed in Christ, it would have been something my previous faith background. (I admit that this is quite subjective.) True, there are many elements of that faith that are noble and indeed similar to Christianity. But there are unique aspects of Christ's life, death and resurrection that I cannot find in my previous religion. I tend to think that it might be possible that very good people from non-Christian backgrounds may be saved by God's grace. But the reality is that all of us are sinners and it is hard to break free from our sins. I did try to be a good person for many years in my previous religion and tradition, yet I found myself a sinner and yearned for a freedom that I could not find anywhere except in Christ. I would think that many of us from a similar religious background and tradition would share a similar experience.

So, I hope this post will be helpful to my friends in Australia who are trying to understand our worldview (ie. one that is shaped by a historically dominant Christian presence), how that worldview influences the way we think (as in (1) or (2) above, or in other ways), and how that understanding can help us find our place in a multi-faith world.

The challenge of biblical literacy

I think the greatest challenge for the church today is that too often Christians (individually and corporately) allow others to read the Bible for us (rather than reading it ourselves).

Today I read an article entitled "The Challenge of Biblical Literacy" (written by Cheryl Catford in Faith and Life Issue 3 October 2009). Here is a quote from the introduction.

"Bible illiteracy among the general Christian population has reached alarming levels and evangelicals are not far behind. George Barna's research amongst American churches in 2000 revealed that among adult and teen believers the most widely known Bible verse was "God helps those who help themselves" (yes, you're right, it's not in there). For some Australian Christians the only encounter they have with the Bible is when a small portion appears on the screen during the weekly service - there is no need to actually touch a Bible at all."

Catford then suggests five reasons (the following sections of the article are not cited in full):

1. The demise of Sunday School

"Today, children's programs are much more entertaining but, unfortunately, the Bible does not always feature prominently."

2. The atomisation of the Bible

"But so few have been taught or grasped the whole story so the Bible becomes a confusing jumble of unrelated stories or bits of information."

3. The desire for instant individual gratification

"Often the Bible is treated as the source of instant answers to whatever problem or question the reader has. "

4. The fear of not being relevant

"However, this concern has resulted in the proliferation of sermons that have little Bible content and seem more like motivational messages."

5. The emphasis on experience

"The old fallacious dichotomy between 'Word' and 'Spirit' seemed to force a choice rather than a marriage of the two in the lives of mature believers."

I suspect that there are more reasons (not unrelated to the above). For example,

a. An over-reliance on the teaching of our 'faith-heroes' (or 'superstars in our tradition/movement/counter-movement') - we have to remember that they are not always right! We need to read the Bible ourselves!

b. A culture that embraces pragmatism (the simplistic notion of 'if it works then it must be from God') almost unconditionally

c. An increasingly popular underlying theology that downplays the importance and value of Scripture

In the conclusion, Catford says,

"And the solutions? That is for another article but suffice to say all Christian leaders need to take the situation seriously."

Something for us all to ponder.

Respect the Scripture and those who have suffered for it

Tonight I read a book with my son. It's about how the Bible was handed down to us. One person it mentions is John Wycliffe, who translated the Bible into English and was condemned by the religious and political institutions at the time as a heretic. I told my son that people like him suffered and/or died for the Bible, because they considered it as God's Word, and that it was to be respected and was important for our faith. Then my son said that those who persecuted people like Wycliffe were very mean.

It's true, isn't it? It comes from the mouth of an innocent child.

In my circle of friends I have increasingly come across sincere and lovely Christians who believe that certain Scriptures should be "deleted" because they cannot be from God. For example, they think that certain passages in Isaiah cannot be from God because those passages say that God is a God of vengeance. For them, these passages are incompatible with the message of love that Jesus teaches. They cannot come to terms with the tension between God's judgment and the grace of God found in Christ.

I do very much respect these Christian friends, for I know them personally and they are among the best Christians I have come across in my life. But I wonder whether their thinking stems from a Western modern worldview in which a belief system (as it is often assumed) should have as few internal tensions as possible, and that we (human beings) can get to choose which parts of the Scripture can be "deleted" when we want to resolve certain tensions. I think the earliest Christians did not have this problem. People like Luke and Paul did not seek to resolve those tensions. The biblical writers (e.g. the author of Job and Habakkuk) saw those tensions. They struggled with them. They even lamented and protested. But they learned to live with them and put themselves in the hands of a faithful and loving God.

Sometimes I think my friends are trying to deal with certain Christians/churches/doctrines that have turned the Bible into an idol and used the "authority of the Bible" as an instrument to abuse people. My friends are right in realising that there is a real problem there. The gospel message, as revealed in the Scripture, is about setting people free, not putting them in bondage. We submit to the Bible - not a particular interpretation of the Bible, a particular statement of faith or confession - as the rule of faith.

But one must respect people like Wycliffe, and many Christians in the world who have suffered and/or died for the Bible (for translating it into the common language or for keeping in their possession). They do so because they have experienced the transforming power of the Scripture as it is the revelation of the Creator God and the teaching of Christ through the Spirit.

Book review: Another Way to Love

Here is another book review for Another Way to Love. I have written a chapter in the book, but unfortunately the review doesn't mention it. Having said that, the review is very positive and says that it's a great book to read!

Click here for the review.

Reflection: A number of reflections I have recently

Enter the stories in the Bible and allow them to enter our lives, so that our lives can be deeply enriched and profoundly transformed, and that others can see those stories in our lives.

Is Christianity simply a religion that helps us to avoid God's punishment? Or is it about a deep sense of love for the true King and Creator God - and hence allegiance to him - because of our gratefulness to the risen Christ who died for us for our sins?

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:9-10)

Caring for the poor and engaging in social justice is not so much an outcome of an intellectual-theological analysis of the Bible. Instead, it is the outworking of a profound knowledge of our God, who loves us enough to come to our world, to identify... with the suffering of humankind, to die for our sins, and to rise from the dead, so that we may have new life and shalom by faith in Christ Jesus.

I am not a Baptist, although I go to a Baptist church. I was not a Pentecostal, although I was a pastor in a Pentecostal church. I am not an evangelical, although my whole life depends on the Bible and I submit to God's word as revealed in the Scripture. I am a follower of Christ, and with the help of the Spirit I seek to live for Christ and live out the values of his kingdom. (By the way, I don't mind being called an Evangelical, Baptist, or Pentecostal, for in many ways I am. I just think that these terms are understood in so many different ways these day, and they can be misleading. At any rate, I think the Scripture says most clearly that we are followers of Jesus, rather than members of a particular denomination.)

Reflection: An asylum seeker's story

Some time ago I got to know a lovely Christian man who came to Australia for asylum because of political persecution in his home country. He told me how reading the Bible sustained him, and how he was separated from his young family as he fled his country - and that he hadn't seen them since. His story breaks my heart. More recently we heard that his application for refugee status was rejected. He was devastated and had problems sleeping. His faith was tested. Many Christian friends gathered to pray for him. We waited patiently for the hearing of his appeal to take place. But the hearing was indeed 'short' because they decided to delay the hearing just before the schedule date. But last week I heard that the hearing eventually took place and straight after that he was granted permanent residence status to live in Australia. We are thankful to God for his mercy, but continue to feel his pain of being separated from his family. We struggle to understand why such a lovely Christian man has to go through all that hardship, but rejoice with him for the grace God has shown him.

Reflection: The lament of a so-called academic

Since I like studying the Scripture and I am working on a major research degree on the Bible, I am often labelled as an academic. Unfortunately this labelling comes with all sorts of negative connotations, and it causes me grief at times. Here are my protests and lament.

(1) I have done most of my academic studies part-time. For all these years I either worked in a church, or as an IT professional, or in a relief development agency. I am not an academic who doesn't know what the real world is like. Again and again pastors say to me that what they have learned from theological colleges doesn't work in practice. That is often true (unfortunately), but I hate to be classified as an armchair-theologian as such. I hope my working experience can help me read the Scripture through the lens of the joys and pains of human experience.

(2) Some people have suggested that a higher degree in theology is a sign of prestige and privileges. My experience is quite the contrary. If anything else, as I said above, I feel somewhat marginalised.

(3) Academic studies is not only hard work in itself, it is also costly. Not only that there is a financial cost, it also involves a lot of sacrifice in terms of time, security and stability. In Australia there are too few positions in theological colleges for the many trained academics. Often those who do hold a position have to work very long hours at a low wage.

(4) Lastly, my lament is that (at least in the Western world) there is a diminishing interest in the Bible. For a range of reasons, there is a tendency to rely on the teaching of well-known speakers and their books, rather than the Scripture itself. I think it is fair to say that Bible literacy is on the decline, generally speaking. The end result is that most people are not interested in studying the Bible with someone trained academically.

With these I am often discouraged. But at the same time I also feel the encouragement from the Holy Spirit to persevere. I hope in doing so many other fellow students of God's Word may be encouraged too.

My pilgrimage (1) - Faith hero - Hudson Taylor

I read a book about Hudson Taylor soon after I came to faith in 1981. Here is a famous saying of Hudson Taylor that touched my life as a young (Chinese) Christian.

If I had a thousand pounds, China should have it. If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him?

He made immense sacrifice for us. Not only that he gave up his career for the gospel. He also lost his wife and some of his children in China. He trusted in God totally for his provision, and never asked people for financial support for his mission.

Instead of working at the coastal areas in China (where other missionaries were, and where lands were taken by European countries by force), Hudson Taylor went inland. He adopted Chinese customs, put on Chinese clothes, learned the language, and used his medical skills to serve the poor. He identified with the sufferings of the Chinese people, and loved them dearly. To me, that spoke volume about the sacrificial love of Christ himself, and the gospel that I have come to embrace.

Challenging the culture of our time

I just borrowed Michael J Gorman's Inhabiting the Cruciform God from the library. I haven't starting reading it, but as I flipped through the pages I found a passage that is very interesting. It raises some pointed questions about the popular notion of "national interest" in the Australian political rhetoric. Here is the quote - and over to you to comment!

This brings us inevitably back... to poli­tics, to the "normal" god of civil religion that combines patriotism and power. Nationalistic, military power is not the power of the cross, and such misconstrued notions of divine power have nothing to do with the majesty or holiness of the triune God known in the weakness of the cross. In our time, any "holiness" that fails to see the radical, counter-imperial claims of the gospel is inadequate at best. Adherence to a God of holiness certainly re­quires the kind of personal holiness that many associate with sexual purity. That is one dimension of theosis. But participation in a cruciform God of holiness also requires a corollary vision of life in the world that rejects domi­nation in personal, public, or political life — a mode of being that is often considered realistic or "normal."

Source: Micahel J Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 128.