A SUSTAINABLE MINISTRY
OF THE WORD
Lately
there are lots of reports of increasing crimes in the nation while at the same
time we were told by some government authorities that the crime rate in the
country has dipped greatly. What was said and what is actually on the ground
are two entirely different impressions. Both Jesus and the Pharisees of his
time read the same Bible but both had different actions and reactions. How is
this possible? Is it the problem of interpretations? Is it the problem of the
readers? Is it only a mistaken interpretation of the outward expressions which
in fact are similar inwardly? The existence of so many churches and sects and
religious groups seem to auger many differences – are they really different?
Everyone claims that he is having the right interpretation so who is actually
correct and true?
When I was
in the primary school days, I was taught the basics mathematics such as ‘one
plus one is two’ and ‘one times one is one’. We all took it by faith without
query or argument. When I entered university, I was taught that what we learnt
from primary school days such as ‘no numeral can be divided by zero’ is not
true anymore. In university, we learnt that it is now possible to divide
anything by zero. Just when we were young, we are taught that we can and should
eat all the meat of the fish which is edible and to leave behind the bones
which cannot be eaten. After the invention of pressure cookers, now even the
bones of any fish can also be eaten and somewhat crispy too.
In order for
any ministry to be sustainable, proper, correct and relevant procedures and
tools must be utilized and employed. For example, it is not suitable to use new
wine for old wine-skin. It will be the same for the Ministry of the Word of
God. The Word of God did not change but the methodology employed may be questionable.
I will try to relate three essential manners where the sustainability of the
Ministry of the Word can be and must be maintained, namely the person using it,
the methodology in use, and the environment where it was used.
- A big emphasis is on the user – the
person using the Word and his lifestyle – where his credibility
and character is heavily scrutinized these days. It is almost (though
there may be a few exceptions of repented ones) like asking a thief to
teach others how to keep money safe – how prudence it is? In today’s
situation, it is not the fault of church members or members of the society
to distrust and develop a bias attitude towards someone whose background
and character is seriously in question. Taking after the Penang Government
slogan – Competency, Accountability and Transparency (C.A.T.) – I believe
it does spell out a lot of what everyone is looking for in the person of
the User of the Word of God. It is not only C.A.T. for others to see
rather for oneself to emulate and acquire. We need to be competent in the
study of the Word of God and the operation of it. Paul told Timothy to be
competent in 2 Timothy 2:15 – “correctly handles the Word of Truth”; and
in Colossians 3:23 Paul stressed on accountability – “whatever you do,
work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”; and
in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul urged all to be transparent by imitating him as
he imitates Christ.
- Another essential emphasis is on the methodology
employed. In any game, players without question normally adhere to
the guidelines and policy of the game. The integrity of the game can be
preserved when every player submits and abides by the rules and policy.
Havoc and chaos will arise when one party or anyone of the player breaks the
rule and runs foul of the policy. Similarly, for the sustainability of the
Ministry of the Word, everyone must adhere and subscribe to the right rule
of the game of interpretation and exegetical procedures. How can we accept
a portion of the Bible as true and another portion as false? One either
accepts it in total or not at all. I have received comments from people
who only believe the Gospels are true but not the other epistles. On the
contrary, I have also received comments from people who only accept the
teachings of Paul and rather like to leave out the Gospels. Greater
respect is for the person who either accepts the Bible as the true Word of
God or as a religious story book or any ordinary book. It is just against
the rule of the game of believing the Bible is partly true and partly
false. For example, you cannot call a strange creature human when 80% of
it is human (with human body, legs and hands) and 20% of it is of an eagle
(its head is of an eagle). Proper exegesis and exposition is required for
a good and proper interpretation of the Word of God relevant for today.
- The emphasis on the environment
where the Word is being used is equally important and crucial. The
environment setting is where the action takes place – the rubber hits the
road. This is usually associated with cultures and traditions. What is
done in one place does not necessarily need to be repeated exactly in
another situation. For example, we today do not need to insist in burying
our dead in caves as in the days of Jesus; or riding on donkeys as the
mode of transport for today. The Word of God must transcend culture,
tradition, environment and situation while at the same time can still be
relevant and impactful to the people both in the past and the present. Its
principle must be adopted and taken out into a ‘timeless zone’ and
re-adopt itself in modern and today’s clothing and practices. For example,
the scribes of the olden days copied the scripture by hand and with ink,
and today we can copy it with photocopier or download with cut & paste
features through computers. It will be ineffective if we still insist on
writing and copying by hand.
There is no
easy pathway to the sustainability of the Ministry of the Word. This tedious
journey is necessary through proper channel of training, adopting right
methodology of interpretation and translating appropriately to the situation of
the time and place.
Most appropriate to read
the whole Bible at least once from cover to cover, if not, many times
over.
Most appropriate to learn and use inductive Bible study method, so that, each person can feed himself with the Word of God.
Most appropriate to learn theology systematically in order to interpret and translate it contextually and indigenously.
Most appropriate to learn and use inductive Bible study method, so that, each person can feed himself with the Word of God.
Most appropriate to learn theology systematically in order to interpret and translate it contextually and indigenously.
Any
short-cut will inevitably lead to some sort of dysfunctional behavior or lack
of authenticity and power. Let’s look at Jesus and the Pharisees and we can
surely detect the great different between their behaviour and actions.
