What does the Bible say?
Since the day I received the Lord Jesus Christ into my life
in a Methodist Church I learnt to ask a simple question; “What does the Bible
say?”[i] The intention
of asking the question was to set a momentum for an in depth discussion and
hoping that people’s attention would be drawn to the Bible, and eventually
everybody would be asking the same question. This habit has been reinforced by
my days spent in both the Pusat Latihan Kristian Malaysia (i.e. Malaysian
Christian Training centre and it was later known as Malaysian Bible Seminary)
and Seminary Theology Malaysia. I asked the same question when I prepared my messages,
Bible studies, and whenever I was confronted by tough and tricky questions. I
did it so often and so much so some church members told me off with the remark,
“Don’t you have a mind of your own and why do you have to ask ‘What does the
Bible say?’ ”
Unfortunately, wishes and reality do not really match that
well, I hardly meet people who would respond according to my wishes. I admit
that this question tends to offend people because it challenges their precious
conviction. I cannot remember when was the first time I offended people by raising
such question, but I remember some occasions when I offended people.
I was in Parit Buntar
and Nibong Tebal, two small towns located at the border of Perak and Penang,
for a period of three years. It was the first opportunity for me to try out
what I learnt from the seminary and I did it with much enthusiasm. Immediately,
I applied all that I know about exegesis, interpretation and preaching, into
preparing messages and Bible study. I asked the question “What does the Bible
say” frequently to fish discussion. During one of the Bible studies on the book
of Revelation, a young lady teacher suddenly burst into tears and accused me of
being so “liberal” and not biblical. After some double check, I then discovered
that the teacher was from the Gospel Chapel background and believed in the
Dispensational view of interpreting the book of Revelation. My approach to the
book of Revelation was plain exegetical observation plus lots of questions, and
I was busy helping the group to look for facts and evidences from the book. All
that I have done had actually put a big question mark on her conviction,
without me realizing it.
At another time, I was in the Penang Island preaching on
Ephesians 1.19-21, and as usual I made my exegetical observation and remarks,
plus some questions addressing the dominant understanding pertaining to the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. I was trying to show that the “sign seeking” point of view
has got no good support from the Bible. I concluded that the New Testament
understanding on the subject was not only accurate but also more superior. Can
you guess what happened after the worship? My God, I was surrounded by a small
group of young adult worshippers who were so angry and challenged me for a
debate.
When I was in Melaka, preaching on 1 Corinthians 13, in the
same manner, I raised questions on the common belief on the gifts of Holy
Spirit and presented facts and evidences from the Bible, and then I put forward
my exegetical observation and concluding remarks. The result was similarly hot.
When I was in Segamat, a small town in the state of Johor, I
had the opportunity to cover a series of teaching on the person and the work of
the Holy Spirit based on the epistles of 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. I asked
the same question “What does the Bible say?” and provided facts and evidences
from the Bible. I reminded church members not to entertain “hear say”. The
belief and teaching of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship was dominant in
the lives of the church members and you can imagine what kind of result I would
get before I finished my teaching. I have almost preached myself out of job.
Later I was invited to join the Reformed Baptist group and I
went in with the impression that this group of believers would welcome my
question. It started well and warm, but as time went by, I realized that after
all Reformed Baptist believers do have problem with my question. During one
minister conference, the founding elder was teaching on the subject of
Christian Worship and insisted that only Hymns should be used in the public
worship[ii].
When it was time for discussion, I asked my standard question and pressed for
facts and evidences. I did not know I have offended the elder until sometime
later. It was during a fraternal meeting the elder who was beside me cautioned
me not ask too many questions, and then he told me that he actually wanted to
give me a punch on my face[iii] when
I raised questions at the Conference to challenge his conviction that only
hymns should be sued.
The last straw was when I asked my children what they have
learnt from the Sunday school and what must they do to please God. To my
Surprise, they told me that we must keep the Law of Moses (The 10 Commandments)
to please God. I was shocked because it was not my belief and I have never
taught my children such belief. I reacted and I made a big blunder by confronting
the issue strongly. At hind sight I should have dealt with the issue in a
different manner and the end result might not be so drastic. Basically, I
raised many questions and asked for facts and evidences, and instead getting
the discussion that I wanted, the local church met and found me guilty of going
against the Bible. This time, I have no choice but to leave. I have really
preached myself out of job.
Later, I discovered that other elders were facing the same
problem, but they prefer not to stir the hornet by asking too many questions. What
else can I say? The question I was taught to raise is the culprit and the cause
of my entire problem. I have to conclude that Christians, in general, do not
like to be challenged by such question. If you do not believe in what I found and
you can try by asking the question yourself.
