Throwing my two cents into the whole Islamic-cartoons-in-Danish-newspaper fiasco...
Has anyone ever mentioned the thought that the actions of the Muslims certainly speak for themselves?
Over a few cartoons, these people (admittedly a fanatical segment of them) have burnt flags and buildings, damaged public property, beat up and even KILLED innocent people who look white or remotely Danish.
Do they deserve the perceptions suggested in the cartoons?
It's said that in every rumour there's a grain of truth. How apt. Those cartoons would not have come about if there weren't any truth or basis in them at all.
Can they not see that they're reaffirming the world's perception of them by their own behaviour and reaction now?
There are always diplomatic, constructive channels to address the offence. There's much that can be resolved through talks, peaceful demonstrations, writing official complaints and economic action. What exactly do throwing rocks and burning flags achieve but the scorn and satisfaction of their supposed enemies who now feel justified in their low opinion of Muslims?
Peace-loving? Or violent?
Accepting? Or intolerant?
Civilised? Or barbarians?
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Selflessness versus Practicality
For lack of a better title... but I was actually thinking about the Christian life. To build up to the point I want to make, let's first set the base for the argument.
No. 1
Every good Christian knows that missions/evangelism/sharing the gospel/whatever term your church uses is the be all and end all of Christian living. It's the Great Commission. Every professing Christian should be involved or at least show some concern about missions, to a greater or lesser extent.
No. 2
Christians are called to a self sacrificial life. The pursuit of wealth or pleasure for pleasure's sake is regarded as vulgar. We are to give to the poor, take care or the orphans and widows. The needs of others should be placed above the needs of oneself. In other words, to live a selfless life.
The Issue
Coming to the crunch - how practical is this kind of life? I'm not even talking about the comfort and convenience, but the basic practicality of it.
I just witnessed a real-life scenario which brought this issue starkly to life.
There's an earnest, devoted Christian family, and I mean the entire clan - aunts, uncles, cousins. All are somehow or other deeply involved in Christian work - pastor, elder, youth worker. You name it, someone in the family's doing it. They encourage their children to serve the Lord in whatever way possible. Those who have 'secular' jobs are in the 'noble' professions such as teaching.
They're kind folks who do the best they can and serve the Lord whole-heartedly.
We're in Malaysia, and it goes without saying that no one in this family is rich by any standards.
One day, the elderly man in the family falls ill - the kind of illness that causes immobility, helplessness and a drastic change in his life. Being the loving, caring family they are, everyone rallies together. Many changes and adjustments will have to be made. This is the kind of illness whose effects are felt beyond the primary sufferer. At the very least, the sufferer needs constant, round-the-clock care and a special diet. To improve his chances even more, he needs regular medical attention and physiotherapy, equipment such as a wheelchair, special bed, and other things that a bedridden person would require.
The entire family gathers together, and there is comfort in their love and sense of shared burden. But beyond that, they need money. Hard, cold cash. For nursing care, doctor's bills, treatment, medicine, equipment, special diet... for everything.
It's a large, three-generational clan. But nobody has the money! Not the middle-aged parents, or the working young adults. I doubt there's insurance.
What happens to the elderly man? His elderly wife is already exhausted from caring and worrying and not knowing what to do. Yet he is not receiving the standard of care he should be getting.
Contrast this with a family that is reasonably well off. (And yes, it's a Christian family as well.) It's a hardship when a beloved family member suffers a debilitating illness, but having the financial means to be able to care for the sufferer takes a huge burden off the family. And the sufferer receives the best possible chance of recovery and regaining some semblance of his former life.
So how do we square the issues?
A Christian colleague once shared with me: she thought that sometimes, Christians get carried away with their desire to serve and give their lives to the Cause. She used the word 'dreamy'. I agree whole-heartedly.
Christians with their head in the clouds fail to realise that there are practical issues to deal with when making such monumental decisions. There will always be bills to pay.
Who's going to take care of your aged parents when you run off to the far-flung corners of the earth to mingle with tribespeople? What happens if you have children? What if there are emergencies? When your elderly parents fall ill, where's the money for medical bills going to come from?
Some like to give the standard answer of having faith in God and trusting Him to provide.
Is God going to pay the hospital bills with a heavenly credit card?
What about the commandment in the Bible that a Christian should take care of his family?
All that selfless altruism is fine when it's just you. Go live in the jungle and no one will miss you. But if you have dependents, people who need you, how can you leave them to fend for themselves while you give all your time, energy and attention to people whom you don't even know from Adam? Where's the logic in that?
I wish that family had the money. Two generations of working adults and they can't support one frail old man's illness. What if (God forbid) something else happens? Someone loses their savings, a house catches fire, an accident, another illness???
I wish that family had the money. I wish God will work a miracle and send a gift to them. Better yet, I wish God would heal the old man!
But it's not likely to happen, is it?
No. 1
Every good Christian knows that missions/evangelism/sharing the gospel/whatever term your church uses is the be all and end all of Christian living. It's the Great Commission. Every professing Christian should be involved or at least show some concern about missions, to a greater or lesser extent.
No. 2
Christians are called to a self sacrificial life. The pursuit of wealth or pleasure for pleasure's sake is regarded as vulgar. We are to give to the poor, take care or the orphans and widows. The needs of others should be placed above the needs of oneself. In other words, to live a selfless life.
The Issue
Coming to the crunch - how practical is this kind of life? I'm not even talking about the comfort and convenience, but the basic practicality of it.
I just witnessed a real-life scenario which brought this issue starkly to life.
There's an earnest, devoted Christian family, and I mean the entire clan - aunts, uncles, cousins. All are somehow or other deeply involved in Christian work - pastor, elder, youth worker. You name it, someone in the family's doing it. They encourage their children to serve the Lord in whatever way possible. Those who have 'secular' jobs are in the 'noble' professions such as teaching.
They're kind folks who do the best they can and serve the Lord whole-heartedly.
We're in Malaysia, and it goes without saying that no one in this family is rich by any standards.
One day, the elderly man in the family falls ill - the kind of illness that causes immobility, helplessness and a drastic change in his life. Being the loving, caring family they are, everyone rallies together. Many changes and adjustments will have to be made. This is the kind of illness whose effects are felt beyond the primary sufferer. At the very least, the sufferer needs constant, round-the-clock care and a special diet. To improve his chances even more, he needs regular medical attention and physiotherapy, equipment such as a wheelchair, special bed, and other things that a bedridden person would require.
The entire family gathers together, and there is comfort in their love and sense of shared burden. But beyond that, they need money. Hard, cold cash. For nursing care, doctor's bills, treatment, medicine, equipment, special diet... for everything.
It's a large, three-generational clan. But nobody has the money! Not the middle-aged parents, or the working young adults. I doubt there's insurance.
What happens to the elderly man? His elderly wife is already exhausted from caring and worrying and not knowing what to do. Yet he is not receiving the standard of care he should be getting.
Contrast this with a family that is reasonably well off. (And yes, it's a Christian family as well.) It's a hardship when a beloved family member suffers a debilitating illness, but having the financial means to be able to care for the sufferer takes a huge burden off the family. And the sufferer receives the best possible chance of recovery and regaining some semblance of his former life.
So how do we square the issues?
A Christian colleague once shared with me: she thought that sometimes, Christians get carried away with their desire to serve and give their lives to the Cause. She used the word 'dreamy'. I agree whole-heartedly.
Christians with their head in the clouds fail to realise that there are practical issues to deal with when making such monumental decisions. There will always be bills to pay.
Who's going to take care of your aged parents when you run off to the far-flung corners of the earth to mingle with tribespeople? What happens if you have children? What if there are emergencies? When your elderly parents fall ill, where's the money for medical bills going to come from?
Some like to give the standard answer of having faith in God and trusting Him to provide.
Is God going to pay the hospital bills with a heavenly credit card?
What about the commandment in the Bible that a Christian should take care of his family?
All that selfless altruism is fine when it's just you. Go live in the jungle and no one will miss you. But if you have dependents, people who need you, how can you leave them to fend for themselves while you give all your time, energy and attention to people whom you don't even know from Adam? Where's the logic in that?
I wish that family had the money. Two generations of working adults and they can't support one frail old man's illness. What if (God forbid) something else happens? Someone loses their savings, a house catches fire, an accident, another illness???
I wish that family had the money. I wish God will work a miracle and send a gift to them. Better yet, I wish God would heal the old man!
But it's not likely to happen, is it?
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
What Batman Taught Me
I just realised my last entry was inspired by a movie. Guess what drives me to put my thoughts in cyberspace this time?
Batman Begins
This started out originally as an email to close friends. Was told by Joe that I should put it in my blog. (You really think it's that good, sweety? Heh heh.) Why not? Hey, if I'm going to prepare a sermon (as he put it), I might as well plonk it where the whole world can see...
Watched 'Batman Begins' for the 2nd time last night.
This time round, several themes from the movie struck me as having similarities in the Bible. For those of you who haven't watched, don't read on... it will spoil the experience.
For those of you who have watched, remember that unforgettable line
"It's not who I am underneath; it's what I do that defines me."
What does that tell us about our actions? What we do and what we say and how we represent ourselves as followers of Jesus to other people? Look at James chapter 2:
v 17: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
v 20: Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
v 22: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
So it's not just what we believe in our hearts - it's how we behave in our everyday lives that matter. The movie reinforced this for me.
Other memorable themes were that of vengeance vs compassion and forgiveness, and standing up for what's right even against overwhelming odds, and not to let cynicism and world-weariness make us jaded.
There are so many parallels between Gotham city and our world - so much that is wrong, corrupted and twisted. It's easy to give in to despair and not bother about making a difference. But that's precisely what the Bible calls us to do - to be salt and light, even when the 'meat' is completely rotten like Gotham, KL or New York.
We may not have an ultracool Batmobile, a super anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-bomb Batsuit, or nice gadgets to help us jump and fly around rooftops. But what we do have is a lot of super-duper holy armour from God:
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
And Amen to that!!!
Good movies are a treasure. For those who haven't watched, go catch it quick before the Bat flies away from cinemas!
I like this picture - the silent observer, standing in the rain.
It was a tough fight between this or the one above - the still, contemplative hero shrouding his being and his thoughts behind his dark cape.
Batman Begins
This started out originally as an email to close friends. Was told by Joe that I should put it in my blog. (You really think it's that good, sweety? Heh heh.) Why not? Hey, if I'm going to prepare a sermon (as he put it), I might as well plonk it where the whole world can see...
Watched 'Batman Begins' for the 2nd time last night.
This time round, several themes from the movie struck me as having similarities in the Bible. For those of you who haven't watched, don't read on... it will spoil the experience.
For those of you who have watched, remember that unforgettable line
"It's not who I am underneath; it's what I do that defines me."
What does that tell us about our actions? What we do and what we say and how we represent ourselves as followers of Jesus to other people? Look at James chapter 2:
v 17: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
v 20: Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
v 22: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
So it's not just what we believe in our hearts - it's how we behave in our everyday lives that matter. The movie reinforced this for me.
Other memorable themes were that of vengeance vs compassion and forgiveness, and standing up for what's right even against overwhelming odds, and not to let cynicism and world-weariness make us jaded.
There are so many parallels between Gotham city and our world - so much that is wrong, corrupted and twisted. It's easy to give in to despair and not bother about making a difference. But that's precisely what the Bible calls us to do - to be salt and light, even when the 'meat' is completely rotten like Gotham, KL or New York.
We may not have an ultracool Batmobile, a super anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-bomb Batsuit, or nice gadgets to help us jump and fly around rooftops. But what we do have is a lot of super-duper holy armour from God:
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
And Amen to that!!!
Good movies are a treasure. For those who haven't watched, go catch it quick before the Bat flies away from cinemas!
I like this picture - the silent observer, standing in the rain.
It was a tough fight between this or the one above - the still, contemplative hero shrouding his being and his thoughts behind his dark cape.
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