A Glorious July

This has been a glorious July. I have turned 50, my first milestone of 2014. Nothing dramatic except that I have begun my Jubileeth year on sabbatical and expecting great things from God. I am staying in a new place and I am going to a new church. Everything is new as prophet Isaiah declares, remember not the former things behold I will do a new thing, before it comes to pass will you not know it? I have spent almost a month reading the Septuagint and everyday I am discovering new truths. This morning I read Zeph 3,4 (LXX) and it is said that the prophets are spirit bearers, not found in the Hebrew MT. The other mention of this word is found in Hosea 9,7 where the prophet is called a man of the Spirit or spiritual man. Could it be that Paul's teaching on prophets and spiritual men is influenced by Zeph 3,4 and Hosea 9,7? More on this in a later post. This has been a glorious July. My second sabbatical goal is to meet to fellow Christian brothers and have quality time with them.

Competition & Preaching Well

The book of Proverbs says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. I was beginning to feel sorry for Joseph Schooling as he lost several races until yesterday when he made a statement by clinching Silver in the 100m Butterfly. At one stage I thought he was going to get gold as Schooling went head to head with de Clos. And then I was treated with another great show, really icing on the cake when Jasmine Ser won 50m rifles at 1am, with the last shot, after 50 shots in all. I went to sleep happy. Why is competition important for excellence? Apostle Paul made this statement that "not everyone who runs wins the race, therefore run in a way that you may win". Is Paul condemning losers as second class Christians? I doubt it since Paul in another passage would extol weakness so that the power of Christ is made manifest. Yet Paul realizes that our spiritual walk is like a competition.

Mentoring Young Leaders

It is not often that I received two messages from Sabah at the same time. Both are from young pastors. One is preaching tonight in the biggest event of my homechurch, 5000 youths gathered for the Annual SIB Youth Conference. It must be the 34th or 35th edition. I must congratulate my denominational leaders for giving local talent a chance, a young man in his early 40s but with about 20 years of pastoral experience. I got to know this pastor in 1996 when I was the Executive pastor of SIB and when we visited our partner churches in West Malaysia he was one of the 2 pastors we took with the team. I am proud of him, obviously being given this huge honour to speak in this major event where normally big-time Indonesian preachers are invited. But we broke the tradition of relying on foreign talent in 1998 where the government refused to issue visa for foreign preachers during the Anwar Ibrahim saga.

Developing Local Talent

Last night I watched the finals between the Malaysian and Singaporean table-table teams for the Commonwealth Games gold. Which team did I support? Malaysia of course. If only Singapore had more local or Singapore-raised players, I would be torn between the two teams. I am not anti-foreigner. My point is that we must develop local talent. I am not into politics and I am writing about the church, Christian leaders and theologians. We need to develop our local talent. So much effort is wasted to get someone trained as a PhD and then you don't appreciate them. How many local scholars have published with prestigious international publishers and then they are loaded with teaching and preaching assignments that they have no time to develop their research and writing skills further? I really don't see much vision across the land. I got a friend, a brilliant NUS graduate, worked for a few years, pastored a church and then obtained a PhD from one of the top UK universities and then he got paid less than a new graduate working in a bank, let alone a new law graduate who can command $5,000 p.m starting salary in a multinational law firm. We need to develop our local talent in church.

The End Bits are Important (1 Cor 16)

Often when we read the New Testament's letters, we think that the end bits are not important. I wonder how many readers dwell on Romans 16 if they ever get beyond Romans 8 or 11. Today I read the end of 1 Corinthians. I have been reading this amazing Pauline epistle since I took upon myself to comment on 1 Cor 14.

The first part of 1 Cor 16 again informs us that Paul is consistent in his teaching and practice among the churches he founded. As much as the women's role in church is the same everywhere as in all the churches of the saints, likewise the practice of giving, especially to the poor is equally applicable in Corinth as it is in the Galatian churches.

Second, Paul seems to expect some financial support for himself from the Corinthian church when he said, "you can send me on my journey wherever I go." (V. 6). It is not entirely clear whether Paul's refusal of financial support is a blanket rule as far as the Corinthians are concerned or perhaps Paul did not want strings attached or regular support that might be seen as patronage but that occasional gifts for his mission could well be appreciated.

2.3 Billion Poor - Why I am not Poor

Almost 30% of the world's population is poor. That's a lot of people. I came across those stats when I was enjoying a muffin and cappucinno. That cost 4.50 Singapore dollars, almost double of all these 2.3 billion people have to live on for a whole day. I don't feel guilty but I ponder on what "fate" has dealt me and why I am not poor. I can think of five reasons. First, I was born into a good family with hard working parents. My mother worked 12 hours a day, giving tuition sometimes twice a day beside her job as a school teacher. They took care of their four sons. They never nagged us to study but gave us all the encouragement to excel. And excelled we did. Second, we live in a peaceful country where economic activity is possible and it is possible for those who work hard to prosper and get ahead. Third, I was naturally gifted as a student. Nothing to do with me (parents' genes) for it was a natural talent. But I also worked hard. I got up at 4,30a,m in the morning when I was Primary 4 to study for my exams. My dad had to ask me to get back to sleep once. Working hard is way to get ahead and good results matter. I got my first job as a lawyer in New Zealand after the first job interview. My grades were not that good but in the last 2 years of law study my grades improved and strangely taxation law was my best paper. Yes, I used to take up tax cases and won against the IRD.

False Witnesses of God (1 Cor 15,15)

I continued where I left off and read on to 1 Cor 15. In 15,15 Paul expresses his fear that he and his associates are found to be "false witnesses of God". This is certainly an interesting phrase and self-description where in the Greek the word is "pseudomartures" which is made up of 2 words, pseudo (false or inauthentic) and the word, martures for witnesses. The verb martureo is a key word in the New Testament and Paul later uses it to make the point that they have witnessed that God has raised Jesus from the dead. Interestingly, Paul could act as witness and he included others beside as witnesses to the fact that Jesus was alive or had been raised. Paul had earlier noted that that the risen Jesus had appeared to 500 brothers and to James and lastly to him as one born out of time. Paul could be a true witness to Christ and to God who had raised Jesus from the dead because he had encountered and seen the risen Lord.

"If You are a Prophet or Spiritual Man..." (1 Cor 14,37) Finale

I want to end the series on women's ministry by looking at the climax of Paul's teaching in 1Cor 14, 37. After listing several proofs and arguments why a woman is not allowed to speak in church (the Law says so, tradition in all the churches, Corinthian church has no claim to uniqueness and therefore should not innovate or deviate from received teaching), Paul concludes this section on spiritual gifts by issuing a challenge to his readers and hearers, if anyone thinks himself to be prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge what I am writing is the Lord's commandment. Paul is not giving his opinion as he did in 1 Cor 7 about the virgins and whether to stay single or married. Paul is stating the Lord's command, like in ch 11 where he said that his understanding and practice of the Lord's communion was by revelation of the Lord. Paul is putting his apostolic authority on the line here with regard to women's role and ministry in church. And Paul claims an authority higher than prophets and prophecy (1 Cor 12, 28 where apostles are first, then second prophets in the pecking order of leadership). In fact, any prophecy is subject to the test whether it conforms to apostolic teaching. If he is a genuine prophet, he will know (by the Spirit) what Paul is saying about women not speaking in church is the Lord's commandment. There is no two-way about this. If that person does not know or acknowledge apostolic teaching, that person is ignorant and therefore cannot be a true prophet. Paul's advice is not only given to the prophets or prophetesses, but directed to all men and women who claim to be spiritual.

"You are My Witnesses and I am also a Witness" (Isa 43,10 LXX)

In my last sermon at my former place of ministry, I expressed one regret in my 6 years as lecturer, that is never given the chance to teach Septuagint Greek, the Christian Bible for the first 350 years in the East and West until Jerome's translation of the Hebrew to Latin (the Vulgate) began to influence the Western church from mid 5th century onwards. But the LXX remains the Christian Old Testament until reformation when more of the OT began to be translated from Hebrew into the vernaculars like German and English, the later King James version (1611) is a famous example.

No matter how you see it, whether you are an OT or NT scholar, the Septuagint should be the mainstay of every biblical scholar. For the OT scholar, he or she must know Greek because the Bible (our OT now) of the early Church was in Greek. I am astonished to find that some OT scholars have little idea of the LXX, that only shows the shallowness of their scholarship. For the NT scholar, the LXX is equally important because the Bible of most of the NT authors including Matthew and Paul was the LXX as they invariably quoted from the LXX rather than the Hebrew MT when they cited Scripture though I have no doubt both Matthew and Paul were proficient in Hebrew.

Women Speaking & Evaluating Prophecies (1 Cor 14:32-40) Part 2

“And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches:for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home:for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:32-40 KJV)

“and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:32-40 ESV)

Returning to this passage in 1 Cor 14 that concludes Paul’s teaching not just in ch. 14 but also for the whole section on spiritual gifts commenced in 1 Cor 11:1. First, we should note that in the Greek, the word, “subject” (verb) in relation to the spirit of the prophet to the prophet in v. 32 is the same word translated “submission” (noun) in relation to the women in v. 33. Just as the spirit of the prophet is subject/submit to the prophet, likewise a woman is subject or in submission to the man. 

Second, we do well to note that the order or peace that God desires in the church frames the passage from v.32 to v. 40. As God is not the author of confusion or disorder (v. 33), everything ought to be done decently and in order (v. 40). Paul has already mentioned about the order on how prophets go about prophesying and their ability to restrain themselves when called for. Now Paul addresses the question of women’s role or place in church.

"It is Shameful for a Woman to Speak in Church" (1Cor 14,35b) Part 1

I promised several blogposts ago to comment on 1 Cor 14,32ff in some detail. When I read the passage in Greek and English again, it is still as forceful as I first understood the true intent of Paul's words in April 1983, almost a year after my conversion. I have not changed my mind since, and I am more convinced than ever the truth of Paul's injunction that a woman should not speak in church. First, I will quickly deal with the argument that Paul could not be forbidding women speaking since in 1 Cor 11 he had earlier allowed women to pray and prophesy, both activities having to do with speech. Paul is not incoherent or self contradictory as some have claimed. Women praying and prophesying are regulated in that they must be covered (whether it is the veil or long hair as covering is another issue). The exception does not prove the rule. Praying or prophesying is permitted of women as these activities do not intrude into the authority of men. Women inspired to pray and prophesying are to be encouraged but it does not over-ride the limits of the women's authority as Paul sets out in 1 Cor 11 and 14.