Faith In the Lion City

The State-controlled local broadsheet — The Straits Times — published a special report¹ on religion on 9 August, which was also our National (or Independence) day.

The report noted a major shift in the professed religion/faith of many who were born Taoists to Christianity. For those who are not familiar with the religious landscape in Singapore, Taoism is the traditional religion of choice, so to speak, of many Chinese here. In fact, I was born into a Taoist family myself and had even considered myself a Buddhist/Taoist when asked to declare my religion/faith in primary school.

While seven out of 10 people would consider themselves to be Taoists 90 years ago, that percentage has taken a big hit through the years with recent census figures taken in the year 2000 putting this figure at just 8.5 per cent of the population surveyed. Conversely, Christianity has seen an impressive growth — from just 12.7 per cent of the population in the census taken in the year 1990 to 14.6 per cent in 2000. Given that numbers in the other major religions recognized in Singapore (Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam) held steady, the conclusion was that most Christian converts hail from a Taoist background.

Naturally, I was intrigued. What piqued my interest was not so much the numbers but the reasons behind the conversions. It was a good thing they did a story on some of these conversions, and it is this report that I’ll quote below and voice my concerns on.

Christian fellowship a big attraction for youth²

by Grace Chua

Young Christian converts here are finding an extended family at church - where they also find hip music, fellowship with other youth, opportunities to socialise and, perhaps, even find a life partner.

Financial consultant Jace Lee, 29, was drawn to Christianity upon going to City Harvest Church, where he found the expressiveness and emotion that were lacking in his Buddhist-Taoist upbringing.

Now, while I don’t know Jace’s heart, I am concerned about his salvation. If you have seen the altar calls at City Harvest Church, you’ll immediately notice that there is no preaching of the Gospel! Sin? Salvation? Appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross? No, none of that. What you get instead is a high-energy concert followed by slow songs, a performance or two, a sermon that cherry-picks some passages from the Bible and a motivational talk along the same lines as Joel Osteen’s “sermons”. Invitees to the church are then given an invitation to step forward to become Christians right after… can anyone say “false convert”?

Referring to the saying that parents show love and affection by beating and scolding, he said: ‘In Chinese families, da shi ai, ma shi teng （打是疼，骂是爱）. In church, I felt peace and love.’

He is typical of today’s young Christian convert, a profile thrown up by The Straits Times’ poll of 993 respondents.

If Jace is typical of today’s young Christian convert, we should be very, very concerned!

Of the 112 Christians in The Straits Times’ survey, more than half had converted from their birth religion; for nearly half of these, the conversion came in their teens and 20s.

Converts hail from different backgrounds. While some had never set foot in a church, others had gone to mission schools and been exposed to the rituals and vocabulary of the faith.

When a child wants to convert, it may spark tension with his parents. Mr Lee’s parents, for example, asked him why he was following ‘a white man’s religion’ and stopped him from going to church.

All the 10 converts that The Straits Times spoke to said church cell groups offer community, confidantes and even a shot at romance. All said their closest friends are fellow Christians.

But beyond the social benefits, Christian converts such as student Michael Wan, 23, cited ‘being touched by God’s love’ as the reason for their conversion.

Messages from church aside, something has to be said about the medium: Young Christians are being drawn to contemporary, charismatic churches like City Harvest Church, which run exuberant services backed by gospel pop-rock and which practise faith healing and speaking in tongues.

Again, we read the same reasons given by these young Christians here, as with most who call themselves Christian in the United States — that they are drawn to the contemporary and upbeat worship services.

The more I read this, the more it seemed to me that Christianity is now a social good-to-have, Christ an accessory to a successful life and God the Father one who promises health, wealth and prosperity. After all, one cannot deny that when you listen in on some of the testimonies given by those who attend City Harvest Church that most just harp on how much God has blessed them financially.

Gee, I’d sign up in a heartbeat if a religion promises me all that!

Mr Lim K. Tham of the National Council of Churches of Singapore estimates that 40 per cent of the more than 200 churches here are charismatic.

But some Christians still go for the more traditional form of worship of mainstream churches.

Reverend Terry Kee, the pastor at the Queenstown Lutheran Church, for example, said: ‘The central focus of our worship is the proclamation of the Gospel. We do not need to dilute it or downplay certain things in order to attract people.’

Amen, Reverend Kee, Amen!

Responding to this, a spokesman for the contemporarily styled mega-church City Harvest said: ‘Our belief and faith as a church is grounded in biblical principles. We do not dilute these teachings. Rather, we make them relevant and practical for 21st-century living.’

Uh huh… that’s right. Make them relevant and practical for 21st-century living. Why does that sound oddly familiar to me? That’s “modern church-speak” for little or no Gospel, no preaching of sin, no true repentance, only health, wealth and prosperity in addition to motivational speeches on how to be the “head and not the tail” to “influence the marketplace”.

With all that said, it does seem to me that there’s a dearth of evangelism efforts from the Biblical churches who ought to be out there week after week preaching the Gospel. In this aspect, churches like City Harvest Church do a whole lot better, but are unfortunately (and worryingly) churning out many false converts.

In fact, though I am quite sure that the reporters themselves won’t know so, I think this particular report very much highlighted the fact that even we here in Singapore are in the age of the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:14-19).

Sources:
¹ Mulchand, Arti. “Religion: The big switch.” The Straits Times. 9 Aug. 2008. [http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_265929.html].

² Chua, Grace. “Christian fellowship a big attraction for youth.” The Straits Times. 9 Aug. 2008. [http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_265930.html].

Tagged as: City Harvest Church, Gospel, Religion, Singapore, The Straits Times