The Church and Society

One of the saddest things in the church today is perhaps the passive and paranoid culture gripping both the leadership and members in the matter of the church’s responsibility, role and relationship in society.

By Thomas Lee Seng Hock 

Many Christians are confused, perplexed and bewildered in the face of challenges in the process of nation-building, particularly in the area of politics. They seem to live in fear of almost anything perceived by them as being anti-establishment, and cling persistently in dread and apprehension to the dictated status quo even if the state of affairs is authoritarian, harsh and oppressive, and violate their rights to freedom of worship and freedom of expression.

Take the case of an incident which involved an article I wrote on the history of a church. To put the history in its context I had to narrate certain political events that took place in the nation. The church leaders became so intimidated by the mere mention of certain opposition personalities that they insisted on removing what they considered as “sensitive” or “seditious” parts.

The joke is that what is written is common knowledge and is included as part of the nation’s history. Certainly, such paranoia is unwarranted and reflect poorly not only on the insecure mental condition of the leaders but more so on their personal faith in the higher power of Jehovah-Elyon and their poor understanding of biblical dialectics on issues concerning the church and state.

It is so unfortunate and sad that such foolishness still exists in this age of the incredible universal mass medium Internet. The Christian faith is not just a matter of the heart, it concerns the head too. It involves the totality of body, mind, soul and spirit. The whole person is involved.

To behave in fear and trembling in the face of challenges and contending situations conveys an expression of insecurity of faith. Even in the face of persecution involving suffering, imprisonment, detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) or even death, we should not waver from our faith and principles, but hold high our heads in dignity as the people of God.

The Lord Jesus has given us a mandate to be salt of the Earth and light of the World (Matthew 5:13) and it is obligated upon us as his followers to exercise these two roles of being salt and being light.

Salt is an element that can be used for preservation, and, as salt of the Earth, Christians are to play their role in preserving the truth of God on Earth. Salt is also used as a cleansing agent, and, hence, Christians must be cleansing agents in society, getting rid of the dirt in the immoral and corrupt political culture in the nation. Salt is also used for giving flavour to food. As such, Christians are to provide a distinctive taste of quality living to those who are lonely, sick, bed-ridden, old, poor, widowed, orphaned, abused and abandoned. Salt is also used for healing. It is therefore the mission of the Christians to bring about healing to those who are sick, not only physically, but spiritually.

As the light of Christ, Christians must expose the evil, immoral and corrupt culture in society, especially in the area of politics. We are not to hide our light but to be visible, vigilant, vocal and vibrant in society, expressing and demonstrating our opposition to what is unrighteousness, unjust, unfair, immoral and corrupt. We cannot close an eye to the improper hanky-panky in the political arena. Of course, as a church, we need to be non-partisan in our political stand, but that does not mean we cannot make value judgment on the agenda and practices of any political party based on our understanding of the biblical teaching on truth, justice, honesty, equality and sins. We need to exercise our citizen role by examining, evaluating and critically analyzing the platforms and manifestos of the contending parties in an election before casting our votes.

As the light of the World, we are like the beacon from a lighthouse guiding souls through the troubled waters of the sea and the storms of life. We cannot deviate on this responsibility. This is especially true of the pastors, elders and church leaders. They should lead by example, not diverge from the biblical injunctions in fear and trembing.