Category: English

In Anglican churches, many members think that they have fulfilled their obligations by giving money. They think that by giving money, the church can afford to hire full-time workers to serve in the church. By doing so, members do not have to be involved in the church’s services.

In fact, God’s requirement is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. But when God asks us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him, some Christians think that coming to church on Sunday or giving money is more than enough. How ironic. What is most unfortunate is that some pastors also encourage their members in this way, believing that as long as the church has money, they can hire workers to carry out the ministry, as if lay people responsibility is to contribute money only. All this is very clearly opposed to the first part of the Constitution of the Diocese of West Malaysia, that is, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s “Historical Statements and Declarations”. Speaking of lay people, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “Lay people are called by God to commit themselves to giving themselves to God as King over the world, and to make all of life for God, and all of life’s dealings with their neighbours a service to them. Laymen should not regard the pastoral call as a substitute for doing what they can and can do better. This would greatly enhance the life of lay people in the Church and enable pastors, like the Apostles, to “devote themselves to prayer and evangelisation”.

In the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury, lay people are charged with the task of witnessing to God and serving their neighbours in every aspect of their lives. Lay people must not only serve God in their lives, they must also actively participate in the service of the church, sharing the ministry with the pastor and doing their own work, so that the church can flourish.

However, it is a pity that our churches do not strongly advocate these teachings, but instead flood the churches with specious teachings, making the church a mess. Discipleship Training is all about disciplining lay people and restoring them to the original mission entrusted to them by God. They should not make the church like a social entertaining center.

A common phenomenon in Anglican churches is that many believers lack systematic, continuous and comprehensive teaching and training, and therefore do not understand their mission. A proportion of believers will divide Christ’s saving grace from sanctification, and will also dichotomise church life as well as social life, believing that the church is the church and society is another matter. Believers spend more than 95% of their time in society, and they are the light and salt of society. If they do not understand the teachings of the Bible and their mission in society, they will not be able to fulfil the mission entrusted to them by God and become His witnesses.

The mission of the believer is to preach the message of salvation by living in the likeness of Christ, so that people may believe in the true God who created the world. Therefore, the life of believers in the church must be a preparation for their life in society, so that they are equipped to face the challenges of social life. The mission of the believer is primarily to be a witness for God in society, and the church must be a constant source of supply and help to equip them.

The church needs to help the believers to understand that they have become part of the church through baptism and have received a mission: to be God’s witnesses in the world. Being God’s witnesses requires holy living. The Scriptures clearly tell us that it is because the saving grace of Christ is exceedingly great that those who receive it must live holy lives. Paul says in Eph. 4:1, “As you were called, so conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called.”

While grace is certainly the foundation of the Christian faith and what we receive is solely by God’s grace, sanctification is a process that cannot be compromised after grace. Many times the process of sanctification is disliked by lay people and avoided by churches because of the cost involved, lest members left the church. Pastors are also under pressure in this area. When there is a decrease in membership, that means the pastors are not capable, hence, they may try to “fit in” with the demands of the congregation. Pastors often seem to become salesmen who only want to perform well, and the “customer” is always right.

An article in The Malaysian Insider is thought-provoking. In his article “What is Driving (Increase of) Faith in this Country”, Dina Zaman has an interview asking about the reasons for the increase of Christians in our country. She interviewed a man called Desmond Ong, who argued that the increase in Christian numbers had nothing to do with faith. The increase is due to the fact that churches focus on human relationship, offering good promises, good social support, and feels as good as shopping in a shopping mall. This is the impression that Christianity gives. While Desmond is not the representative of the majority, he is somehow a representative.

Christianity is slowly descending to a point where “it doesn’t matter who Jesus Christ is”. In the church, as long as the relationship is good and everyone is happy, it does not matter what the truth is. My own experience is that on two occasions, because I preached in the Sunday sermon that Christians should not get divorced, I was confronted with the dissatisfaction of members. Some members eventually chose to leave the church.

Is the church really a place that “focuses on human connection, offers good promises, good social support organization, and feels as good as shopping in a shopping mall”, but doesn’t have to follow Jesus? Isn’t the discipleship is the most important thing in the church?

在圣公会的教会里，一个普遍的现象就是许多信徒缺乏系统化、延续性和全面性的教导和训练，因此不明白自己的使命。一部分的信徒会将基督救赎恩典与成圣分割，同时也会将教会生活以及社会生活二分化，认为教会是教会，社会又是另一回事。信徒们超过95%以上的时间都是在社会上生活，他们也是社会上的光以及社会上的盐，如果他们不明白圣经的教导以及自己在社会上的使命，那他们就不能完成神所托付的使命，成为神的见证。

信徒的使命就是透过活出基督的样式，传扬救恩的信息，使人能相信这创造万物的真神。因此信徒在教会的生活必须成为他们在社会生活的预备，使他们装备好面对社会生活的挑战。信徒的使命主要是在社会里成为神的见证，而教会必须成为后方源源不断的补给与帮助，使他们的装备充足。

教会需要协助信徒了解自己已经藉着洗礼成为教会的一分子，也领受了一个使命：就是进入世界成为神的见证。既然是神的见证，就必须有圣洁的生活。圣经清楚告诉我们，就是因为基督的救赎恩典是超乎想象的大，所以领受恩典的人就必须过圣洁的生活。保罗在弗4：1说到 “既然蒙召，行事为人就当与蒙召的恩相称” 。

恩典固然是基督信仰的根基，我们所领受的完全是因着神的恩典，但是成圣却是在恩典后不能妥协的进程。许多时候，在成圣的过程因为要付出代价，平信徒不喜欢，教会也避免教导，免得会友流失了。教牧在这方面也面对压力，教会人数少了，就表示自己能力有问题，因此有可能尽量“配合”会友的要求。牧师许多时候似乎变成了销售员，只求业绩好，“顾客”永远是对的。

The Malaysian Insider 的一篇文章发人省思。作者Dina Zaman 在他的文章“是什么驱使这个国家的信仰兴旺？（What is Driving (Increase of) faith in this Country）”有一段访问问到基督徒在我国增多的原因。他访问了一个叫Desmond Ong的人。Desmond 认为基督教人数的增加与信仰没有关系。人数增多是因为教会注重人际联系、提供美好的承诺、良好社会扶持组织、感觉良好就好像在商业广场购物一样。这就是基督教给人的印象。虽然Desmond 不能代表多数，但也具有某种代表性。

基督教正逐渐沦落到一个“耶稣基督是谁已经不重要”的地步。在教会里只要关系良好，大家快乐就好了，真理是什么不太重要。笔者本身的经历乃是两次因为在主日证道时说到基督徒不可以离婚，就面对会友的不满。有些会友最后选择到其他的教会去。

教会真的是“注重人际联系、提供美好的承诺、良好社会扶持组织、感觉良好就好像在商业广场购物一样”，但却不必跟随耶稣的地方吗？

The reality of laity in the Diocese of West Malaysia.

Each province of the Anglican Communion is an independent entity, under the influence of different situations and cultural backgrounds, and each province has different opinions on various issues. The Anglican Communion does not have a unified or official theology, and each province has a different theological position on various issues. Even the decisions of the authoritative Lambeth Conference are not legally binding in each province. As a result, Anglican Communion has mostly taken a middle-path approach, and any position claiming to be ecumenical in Anglicanism is questioned.

From the point of view of the Diocese of West Malaysia, we do not have a definition of a lay person, which can be reflected in the Canon Law of the Church of England. The Canon Law of the Diocese of West Malaysia is subordinate to the Canon Law of the Anglican Province of South East Asia, which is basically an extension of the Canon Law of the Church of England. In the Canons of the Church of England, the office of the layman in the Church is discussed in section E, but there is no definition of a layman. Layman is clearly a title that does not require a legal definition. It seems that everyone takes for granted that the definition of laity is clear. From the point of view of Church of England statute, lay people are seen as those who are not ordained under the episcopal system of ordained ministry.

Thus, for the Diocese of West Malaysia, anyone who is not ordained to the priesthood is a lay person. The Diocese of West Malaysia does not have any clear definition of the nature, status, or role of a lay person. This affects how the Church in the Diocese of West Malaysia views lay people. Lay people themselves are not clear about their identity and mission, believing that they are only affiliated to the priesthood, that they are helpers of the priesthood, and that since they are not ordained or professionally trained, they have a status below the priest.

What can be done to change this mindset which has become deeply rooted in the Diocese of West Malaysia?

Such thinking needs to be corrected, because whether we are clergy or laymen, as long as we are Christians, we are a group of people sent into the world to fulfil God’s mission. This is what makes Sarang Church Discipleship Training model unique. Discipleship Training is not just about helping you grow in spirituality, but also about changing many of your wrong thinkings. Developing a lay theology is therefore a goal of Sarang Church Discipleship Training model, something that no other Discipleship Training model has.

Human beings are creatures that live in groups, so co-operation is an unavoidable human affair. Without co-operation, it is impossible for humans to complete their tasks in a mutually beneficial way, nor can they survive on earth. Humans must help each other and co-operate to achieve a win-win situation so that society can prosper and progress. In the old days of hunting and gathering, human beings had to rely on group co-operation in order to get more foods and avoid the danger of enemies. In modern times, it is even more important for people to work together as a group, otherwise it is impossible for them to survive.

Although co-operation can bring maximum benefits, however, due to the selfish nature of human beings, when co-operating, some people may use their personal interests to the detriment of other people’s interests or the interests of the group. Therefore, when co-operating, there must be a mechanism to punish those participants who do not uphold the interests of the group under co-operation. In this way, those participants who do not uphold the interests of the group will know the importance of cooperation and correct their selfish behaviour to uphold the interests of the group. In such a case, cooperation can continue and maximization of benefits can be achieved. Otherwise, if everyone looks at things from a selfish point of view, then co-operation will be impossible.

The prerequisite for co-operation is sincerity. Without sincerity, if one party is deceived, then the ensuing co-operation cannot continue. Cooperation between the members in the church is often a challenge. If one of them is selfish, he/she will neglect the interests of the group, and instead of providing resources for the church, he/she will consume the resources of the church, which is not conducive to the development of the church.

The Christian life is about going beyond the self and being a blessing to others. We cannot just live in our ego, but we have to constantly transcend our ego and move towards egolessness. As our egolessness grows stronger within us, we are able to let go of our selfishness and work better with others to create greater effectiveness and church growth.

Discipleship is about helping you to become awakened to the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives is not just self-fulfilment, or family fulfillment, or career fulfillment, but must be expanded to include the Kingdom of God in our lives.

In the previous sharing, I mentioned that creation and inheritance are the reasons why mankind continues to progress. However, it is a pity that many creations have not been passed on. One of the reasons for this is “personal selfishness”. Today I would like to share with you another reason: prejudice or ignorance.

In the old manly society, many creations or unique skills were passed on to sons and not to daughters. This was mainly because the perception at that time was that daughters would be married off later on, and that they would be like “spilled water” or “high-priced goods”, so there was no need to pass on the best skills to them. Even if it was to be passed on to daughters, it was to be passed on to son-in-laws, and they had to be son-in-laws who had becoming a member of wife’s family. If the person concerned does not have a son or a son-in-law, and is not willing to pass on all his skills to his disciples, then many unique creations or knowledge will be lost.

Humanity has also missed many opportunities to create and benefit the society because of much ignorance and prejudice. For example, the patriarchy of mankind over the past thousands of years has suppressed the creativity of women due to prejudice and ignorance, preventing women from utilising their talents for the benefit of society. Look at how much women have contributed to society by utilising their talents and creativity in modern times. We have wasted these resources and contributions over the past thousands of years. What kind of world would we have had if the world had started out with equality between men and women? Is it possible that we have wasted twice as much creativity as humans? Is it possible that human civilisation could have doubled if women had contributed their talents from the beginning?

An idea that is not openly discussed and critiqued cannot be revised for the better. Only an idea that can be challenged is able break through prejudice or ignorance and become an idea for the benefit of all.

Any creation, idea, knowledge, technology should be shared selflessly and progressed through critique and improvement. Since 2009, the Anglican Church of West Malaysia, through Bishop Ng Moon Hing, has been promoting discipleship training, especially the Sarang discipleship training model, which has led to the development of the concept of discipleship training in the diocese. Over the past 14 years, the diocese has been paying more and more attention to discipleship training training. However, the awakening is merely on the surface. Even though majority in the Diocese agree that discipleship training is good for the Church, but the understanding of discipleship training is still shallow. Many people, including pastors, have only a basic understanding of the idea of discipleship training, or worse, a complete misunderstanding. I think we need more discussion so that the idea of discipleship training can be better understood. Otherwise we will remain in the prejudice and ignorance that “discipleship training is a Bible study”. This is the same as the ridiculous idea that “women must stay at home” or that “blacks are an inferior race”.

Creation and inheritance are the reasons why mankind continues to progress.

Humans know how to create and turn something that does not exist into a fact. Humans have created crafts and made many things that make life easier for people. Humans have created musical instruments and music, which have brought much joy and peace to mankind. Humans created language and writing, accumulated and improved knowledge, and pushed human civilization upwards.

Humans not only know how to create, but also know the importance of inheritance. If a creation is not passed on, it will be lost for nothing and won’t benefit the people. Therefore, human beings know how to pass down their creations to the next generation or record their creations so that they can be passed down and improved for the benefit of the people.

However, there are several reasons why many creations have not been passed on: Today I would like to share with you the “selfishness of the individual”.

In ancient times, many creations were only passed on to the next generation and not to outsiders, mainly because they did not want outsiders to benefit from them. This prevented many good creations from being improved. If one comes across a suitable as well as intelligent next generation, then the creation can be passed on better. If not, then the generation may not be as good as the next, and even the creation may eventually disappear from the world. Many culinary techniques, medical techniques, and handicraft techniques have been lost in this way.

In addition, there is a Chinese saying that “after teaching the disciple, the master will starve to death”. Therefore, for many ancestral recipes or skills, the master has left a handful of them, so that the disciple will not surpass the master and steal the master’s rice bowl or fame. Encouragement of “disciple surpass the master” is very rare in this society. Imagine every master keeping a handful of skills, the ones passed down will surely be eliminated very soon.

The purpose of discipleship is to pass on Christianity in a better and greater way. It must be a better quality that we pass on. The purpose of discipleship is the transformation of the lives of the members, their active participation in ministry, and their intellectual preparedness. We don’t want the church to passing on one generation weaker than another one.

Too often churches focus on worship, prayer and service, but not on teaching and training. The Pharisees focused on worship, prayer and service, yet they were scolded by Jesus. It was because they focused on external rituals and not on inner life change. They were pious on the outside, but evil on the inside. Their legacy was “the blind leading the blind” and their way was to perish.

What are we passing on in the church? What are we passing on to the next generation?

To pass it on better, we must have better discipleship mechanisms. We must not only have a philosophy of discipleship, but we must also have a method of discipleship. It is only when the philosophy is coupled with the method that we can do a better job of discipleship.

In the last post, we talked about how humans are born with many instincts, some of which are beneficial, some of which are harmful, and some of which may be beneficial or harmful. In this post, we’re going to talk about how to leave our comfort zone.

How are human comfort zones formed? In addition to being rational, humans are also emotional. More than anything else, human behaviour is controlled by emotions. One of the powerful forces in our emotions is our experiences, and our comfort zones are shaped by the experiences we are used to. For example, we enjoy good food, which gives us pleasurable experiences. These pleasurable experiences shape our comfort zone, and when we are asked to leave this comfort zone, we are very unhappy. It is these unhappiness that makes us reluctant to leave food. However, as our bodies become more and more obese, we are alerted to the need to have some control over our food, but we can’t get out of this comfort zone and we don’t really want to because we don’t want to lose the pleasure of enjoying our food.

Perhaps you may ask, is that doctor’s warning useful? According to a medical statistic, even if a doctor warns of a health crisis, only about one in seven patients will follow the doctor’s advice to control their diet. Why? This is because the experience (or benefit) of health is not timely, it is not an immediate benefit. The benefits of health are future, abstract, some events that are not actually experienced. Yet the joy of losing food is immediate, something that can be felt right away. This is why it is so hard for us to make changes, because the power of our emotions is greater than the power of reason. Our reason will tell us that we should control our diet, yet, emotionally, we can’t let go of the pleasure of food.

When reason meets emotion, emotion usually wins.

In the same way, when we are asked to join a discipleship class, our reason will tell us that discipleship is good for us. Yet this “good” is something we have yet to experience. We know it’s good, but we don’t feel the benefits. On the other hand, the cost of discipleship is something we can feel right away. We feel the pressure of discipleship, the time spent studying, the attendance at classes, the homework, and so on, and the “bad” of all this immediately overcomes the unattainable “good”. Therefore, no matter how much we rationally want to participate in discipleship, our emotional lack of experience prevents us from doing so.

Therefore, those who have gone through discipleship and experienced the benefits of discipleship need to share their experiences so that they can help those who have not yet gone through discipleship to experience the benefits.

Also we need to practice letting our reason speak to our emotion. This constant dialogue strengthens the power of our reason and prevents us from being led by our emotions.

Human beings are born with many natures, some of which are beneficial, some of which are harmful, and some of which may be beneficial and harmful depending on the situation. For example, the human nature is to eat as much as possible so that it can be turned into fat to be stored for emergencies. This can be beneficial in emergencies by providing humans with energy and extending their lifespan. But in normal times it can become obesity and cause health problems, which is harmful.

Eating is a human nature because of the need to replenish energy. To sustain our life, the brain must encourage us to eat more. For this reason, our brain secretes dopamine (the pleasure hormone) to make us feel joyful and happy when we eat. This is why we are in a very happy mood when we enjoy a delicious meal. This nature was originally beneficial, especially in the face of famine. However, in times of material abundance, it has become a major problem for human health.

Therefore, in order to deal with the human nature to eat, we have to fight against it. Only by fighting and limiting the nature to eat can mankind have a healthy body.

The same reasoning can be applied to all human natures.

Another example: To live comfortably is human nature so that we can save energy and prevent our bodies from using too much energy. This is extremely important for the ancient people because they may not have food everyday, or they can’t preserve the food for too long. This nature protects our lives and allows us to live as long as possible in the face of food shortages and poor living conditions. But in this modern and highly competitive society, being “comfortable” will make us lose the competition and be eliminated by the society. So in order to be more competitive, we must fight our nature for comfort so that we can be more progressive.

Similarly, in the church, an attitude of staying in the comfort zone prevents us from fulfilling God’s mission. Although comfort is our nature, we cannot let this nature control us. We must fight against comfort and must be willing to work hard to break out of our comfort zone.

Many members who are reluctant to participate in discipleship training have one thing in common: they are afraid that they won’t be able to complete their homework. They are also afraid to leave their comfort zone and face the demands of discipleship.

The truth is that our discipleship training is conducted in progressive manner, going from strength to strength. People don’t have to worry about not being able to do their homework or not understanding what they are reading. Devotional homework can start simple and then progress slowly. If the homework of reading is not understood, the pastor will explain it during the lesson. The purpose of doing homework is for you to concentrate in discipleship training. As long as you are serious in what you are asked to do, the pastor will be happy to accept your homework.

The human nature is trying to avoid difficult challenge. However, if we want to grow, we must fight against our natures. Discipleship Training is to help you continue to grow and fulfill your life.

One common characteristic of the poor is that they don’t pay attention to education. (Don’t take this personally, I mean “generally”, not exclusively).

Their mindset is that education takes a long time to show results, and they need to see short-term benefits. Instead of letting their children study, it would be more practical to send them to work and earn some money. Plus, education costs money, so instead of wasting it on their children, they should spend it on themselves and enjoy it.

One of the characteristics of the poor is that they focus on the present and are not willing to invest in the future or pay the price to grow. They usually spend their money on consumption, even on luxuries, but are not willing to use their money on learning to grow in value. They don’t focus on their own education, nor do they focus on their children’s education. With such a vicious circle, they can’t get out of poverty for a long time.

One of the things that the three winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics mentioned in their research is that an extra year of education will increase the income by 9%. Of course we’re not sure if the 9% figure is universal everywhere, but the conclusion that the higher the education, the higher the income is likely to be, is still a certainty.

If education can change a person’s life, how much more can the Word of God change a person’s life.

Yet churches are obsessed with other things and do not properly focus on teaching the Word of God. The members are also ignorant and do not want to root themselves in God’s Word and practice God’s teachings in their lives. The “none of my business” attitude of churches and members is similar to the poor people’s lack of attention to education.

Ignorance is really scary. Not knowing that you are ignorant is even more terrifying.

Education can destroy poverty, and the Word of God can destroy spiritual poverty.

Education can change lives, and God’s Word can bring meaning to people’s lives.

Education can make a nation strong, and God’s Word can enable the church to fulfil its mission.

Education can benefit people, and God’s Word can bring abundant life.

Discipleship is to cultivate you in the Word of God so that your life can be changed