bobjots : redux

If you missed the video, have a look below :

On a related note, I had an opportunity to have a quick read at the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship's latest newsletter; Berita NECF (latest issue not published on the site yet as of posting time). I found some stuff which troubled me a bit.

The first was in their prayer insert. One of the prayer items was a solicitation for prayer on the Lingamgate scandal. For starters, there was hardly any background information provided for the affair. If one was unaware of the big picture, one wouldn't know what to pray for.

There was also some implication that this was a issue that primarily affected the legal profession. I thought it was the credibility of the Judiciary, one of the main pillars of our democracy, that's at stake here.

I can't help but wonder why I get the impression that there is a general reluctance to call a spade a spade by the Church.

The next thing was what I have been sharing in private with some friends - that I don't believe the NECF would mention the crisis in Burma and the worldwide call to intercession and intervention for the people of Burma by all sectors of the Church. I am afraid that my speculation turned out to be true.

I don't think it would be fair to say that mainstream Evangelicals are not concerned by this. I have seen public prayer appeals and statements expressing concern coming from groups like the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia, the World Evangelical Alliance (whose General Assembly we proudly hosted in 2001), and UK's Evangelical Alliance.

But it is very obvious that there is a tendency to adopt a "don't ask, don't tell" policy especially when it comes to moral and ethical outrages that involve our own nation, and those neighbouring nations in which we have substantial investments in. What a shameful witness!

Instead, energy is expanded towards attacking the recent attempt by a minister of the Metropolitan Community Church, Oyoung Wen Feng, to set up an LGBT friendly church. It's pretty well known that the LGBT orientations are legally proscribed in Malaysia and societal attitudes towards people of these orientations tend to be predominantly negative.

Why pick on this straw man? Why such a reactionary approach? Wouldn't a pastoral approach be so much more consistent to the injunction to love the sinner, even if we find the sin abhorrent?

The Church is called to be prophetic witness for Christ and the Kingdom of God - not the jury, judge and executioner. Speak out against sins; public and private; by all means but embrace the sinner; which we all are.

And when it comes to sin, I'd think public sin; such as corruption, abuse of power, prejudice et al; that has the potential of harming all and sundry, ought to get more airtime in our public proclamations. Let's not be "spiritually clad" voyeurs.

Perhaps Isaiah 5:20 applies to these situations too eh?

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
    who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
    who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.