Graduation & Service

Twice I missed my graduation, my BTheol and PhD. The former I was serving in the interior of Sabah, right at the foot of Mount Kinabalu among the indigenous peoples. The latter I was busy pastoring a city church also of 98% indigenous people with a few Chinese and two Indian families. I did not give a thought about going for graduation. It was the least of my concerns. Here it is the main event. Students practised for weeks for the songs and performances during graduation dinner and graduation day. Right into exams week and you will know where priorities lie. No wonder only one or two essays stood out. Most are simply mediocre. Exams results are nothing to be happy about either. If I mark them hard, a few will fail. But alas! There is more focus on form rather than substance. My pursuit of knowledge and theological education was for service, not grandeur or graduation in a worldly manner with pomp and glory. I do not need pats on my back. Souls I seek and sheep I shepherd. I do the Lord's work in his harvest fields. I do not wish to waste one day or even one hour. Just imagine sitting there for three hours and 8 minutes on Saturday dressed in some academic regalia which is as far to Christ's service as people who major on these niceties are near to God's kingdom. I wrote my doctoral dissertation because I really wanted to unlock the mysteries of Revelation. Day and night I studied the Greek text of the book of Revelation. Many more Hebrew passages and LXX texts of the OT as John referred to them often. 

In fact, only the book of Revelation can be said to be a book written with the tapestry of the OT large writ. Without knowing the prophetic materials of several prophets, no one could even begin to understand Revelation in any depth. Now it is hard to get people to read spiritual books. Out of one hundred, you will be happy to find one. Yes, only one percent wants to know more about the Bible. The rest are content with weak Sunday sermons and some tiktoks or Youtube sermons. I read commentaries on almost every book of the Bible before I entered my BTheol programme in 1993. I still read commentaries and biblical texts daily. It is my daily food.