Harmony and Heartache
My heart nearly broke this week while a brother pastor and I were reconnoitering a huge Buddhist temple here in Singapore.
Amid the splendor of the golden idols and the fragrances of various incense varieties, I caught sight of a young family preparing their worship. There were others bowing obsequiously to the various statues and sculptures throughout the temple area. Of course, there were offerings of fruit and vegetables presented to lifeless man-made things that look like children’s toys. How can anyone believe in statues? I thought to myself, offering food that tomorrow will already begin to rot, and which will eventually have to be thrown into the trash. 
Certainly at least the garbage collectors must know that metal buddhas and stone dogs haven’t even the power to consume their offerings, much less to bless their devotees. Christians know that there is only one Name given under heaven by which we can be saved, that Jesus said clearly that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. We worship a very exclusive God who tells us that He shares His glory with no one. Yet here in this ornate Singapore temple were images of those who to us are clearly counterfeit gods, unequal to our Lord and certainly unworthy of worship. Observing this family teaching their children the rituals and religious iconography that has enslaved the spirit of Southeast Asia for thousands of years brought me to tears. Another generation without Christ! Where are the local Christians, I wondered, with a burning in their hearts to rush over to them, to intrude, to share Jesus, to offer a chance of rescue?
A missional task not so easily done in Singapore.
Caught in the pincers between two huge Muslim nations and enmeshed in a geographical area that spawned Buddhism and Hinduism as well, Singapore is keenly aware of its precarious position. Threatened more than once by invasion by its neighbors if the delicate balance between religions is upset (that is, if Christians make headway converting anyone), and having witnessed some unpleasant squabbles among religious adherents in the country, the Singapore government 1n 1992 issued the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act [MRHA] in an attempt to quell violence and enforce stability. In effect the law mandates that the nation’s various religions “play nicely” with their counterparts, setting rather Draconian limits on evangelism and missionary endeavors.
Christianity does not play nicely with others. Harmony is not in the DNA of Christianity: ”What harmony has Christ with Belial? … What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?” What got the Christians in trouble in ancient Rome two thousand years ago is exactly what should be getting us into trouble all over the world: our refusal to accept a status quo world when our Lord clearly orders us to become agents of transformation. Salt and light change things!
There is no one like Jesus, and until every knee bows to Him, we recognize that we have a missional obligation to be urgent, in season and out of season.
It’s hard being “urgent” when the force of local law is against you. Even in the best of circumstances, anywhere in the world, many Christians feel their throats tighten with stress when asked to share their faith. Even the boldest become reticent, as any evangelistic pastor has discovered when trying to motivate his flock to become “urgent”. To that natural reluctance to share our faith, add the very real threat of fines, jail time, or caning and that lump in the throat becomes huge. It’s easy for an outsider to make judgments and to criticize. The shape of the realities here force criticism to be coupled with compassion.
Wedged among those realities stand the Christians, comprising less than 4% of this nation’s population, wanting to be law-abiding and yet moved by compassion for the lost and by a wish to be obedient to Jesus who commands us to make disciples of all nations, including this one. In our rapidly globalizing cities all over the planet, Singapore’s realities will become evermore experienced by every one of us. What should we do?
Miriam Adeney, with her global focus on ministry to Muslim women, remarked at a conference I attended in New Haven several years ago that the gift of the Holy Spirit that would become most crucial for the 21st Century Church would be the gift of martyrdom. That sobering thought makes more sense each day here in Singapore, and will, I think, become clearer to each of you as we face the challenge of being Christ-sharers in a global context that appears to be closing doors on evangelism ever more steadily. Sooner or later, we are going to face the wrath of an enemy world, just for being Christians and for acting in obedient faith to our Lord. That burning in the heart will grow as the Spirit exercises more authority in our lives, and sooner or later, that will have to express itself, in compassionate acts and in words of truth. If Jeremiah could not contain that burning (20:9) neither shall we. And when we let that fire out, we will get into trouble.
I invite your prayers for Singapore. And I invite Singapore’s prayers for the rest of us. We have a common mission and we need the Spirit’s power to accomplish it.