Secret of Holiness: Prayer - Part 1 (Matt. 6:7-15)

Secret of holiness prayer - part 1 from Pastor Jp Samuel

"Prayer: Secret of Holines" new sermon series intro

Fast Facts on Fasting

Fasting from Pastor Jp Samuel

Christmas in the Digital Age

A Walk Down Hollywood Lane

http://youtu.be/eZqkiuCE_24

Star sprangled pavements, glittering pixels in megascreens, red carpet events and papparazzi and scintillating shows line up alongside each other in Hollywood.  However, on the other side one can see smoke shops selling bongs, strip clubs, homeless people explicitly asking for and smoking weed.  Both these images capture what Hollywood is all about.

On the one hand all the glamor of Hollywood only appears to be at the surface and the joy and happiness it has promised have been empty, false and not satisfying.

Movies are the Bible for many who may or may not be religious and they go to it for the same reasons people go to God - an hour (or more for Indian movies) of peace, joy, rest and happiness.  And Hollywood has been successful in creating many multiverses and colorful worlds for millions of people over the last few decades albeit only in form and not in content.  People still long for joy, happiness, redemption and forgiveness and they are looking for light and hence are drawn to the silverscreen.



Jesus said, "I am the light of the world".  He is 'the light that lights everyone born in this world' and has called us to 'be the light of the world' (Matt. 5:14).  Unless our light shines brighter than that of the silver screen people are not going to be drawn to God. 

Love in many languages

This is being touted as the 'love month' with shops, restaurants and Hotels bracing themselves up for the Valentine's day. In one of the Hotels in Singapore, couples are invited to celebrate their love by spending 10,000 S$ a night that includes a 5000 S$ 'jewelry set' for their spouse.

Does it take that much to express love to our spouses? Are there any other ways to do so? And that too not just on 'Valentine's day' but everyday of the year?

If you've asked such questions, then the following link is just for you. It helps husbands, wives, parents, singles and even children to discover what their chief 'love language' is among the five major languages namely - words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch.

http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/

As Christians, we are called to love one another. The question is : do we love others (esp. our spouse) the way they like to be loved or love them the way we expect to be loved? And how does this correlate to how Christ loved His bride - the church?

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

(Below is a review of the movie with tips on how to engage your kids on the movie with Biblical Themes).

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a visual treat to the eyes (esp. the 3D version) and touches our hearts deeply, making it perfect for a family winter break entertainment. If your kids (or you!) loved Pirates of the Carribean, Harry Potter or How to fly a dragon, they are definitely going to like Narnia (and even more if they have read the book).

Whereas the above movies excelled purely in exotic animation, Narnia has excellent animation (yes it does show the dawn treader that resembles a pirate ship, a lot of magical fantasy like that in Harry potter and of course a colorful dragon like those found in how to fly a dragon) combined with the soul searching script and theme from C.S. Lewis.

Whenever Reepicheep (the talking rat from Narnia) and Eustace meet, your humor buds are bound to be tickled. There are some powerful dialogues and scenes that could be used to discuss the movie with the kids afterwards.

Even the best among us cannot escape being tempted in our weakness. Lucy’s desire for beauty at the cost of being jealous with her own sister, Edmund’s desire for power and to be the number one, at the risk of fighting against his closest friend are all reminiscent of the sinful struggles we all face everyday because of the presence of sin within us. Succumbing to any of these would have prevented the Narnia kids from accomplishing their great purpose.

How Aslan (who is always watching) helps them from not falling unfolds elegantly in the movie. The three temptations that these characters experience remind one of the temptations of Christ and his response to them as well.

One of the main highlights of the movie is the transformation of the character of Eustace – from an average kid to a fierce and angry dragon and finally back to something wonderful after he comes face to face with Aslan. He shows us how ugly we would all look if only our external appearance begins to reflect our inward sinful self. He reminds us how we all carry a dragon within us and how Christ is the only one who could ‘undragon’ our lives. (For an excellent real life testimony by a Pastor on how this story inspired him to come to know Christ, please see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeaPB5nr8d8

Questions for parents to chat with their kids after watching the movie:

1. Why did Lucy steal the page from the book of incantations? What happened to her? Did she like it? What did Aslan tell her? Have you had any similar experiences?
2. What made Edmund and Caspian to get into a fight? How did they avoid it? Do you remember being in a situation like that before? How did you feel about it?
3. Why did Eustace become a dragon? What does he say about his experience at the end of the movie? (following this, you may want to show the video clip “how to undragon your life” mentioned above to them).
   

(* I am also writing a response guide for the above questions. Let me know if you'd like to have it and I can send it to you).

For a detailed plot of the movie :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Dawn_Treader

The Christ of Christmas

Behind the festive ambience, there was an uneasy eeriness written on the faces of the Sri Lankan people who had gathered to celebrate Christmas. And except for two of them, rest of the nearly 100 people were non-Christians.

“We have had our Good Friday, but are yet to experience our Easter” quipped a Sri Lankan friend who sat next to me and had served as the former ambassador of Sri Lanka to Pakistan. (He was referring to the recent brutal massacre of Sri Lankan Tamils by both the Army and the LTTE).

His friend from childhood days who was with him and had served as the former adviser to the President of Sri Lanka had left their home country along with him a while ago in search of peace, leaving behind ancestral homes and lovely orchards where they played since their childhood days.

I was warned beforehand not to make any attempts at talking about ‘peace’ as I attempt to bring the message of Christmas as this may evoke strong negative feelings among them.

On the same morning, I had shared the Christmas message in an ‘Angel Tree’ gathering, mostly to families who have their loved ones in prison. In most cases, the wives had moved on in their lives by marrying somebody else but it was the children who appeared to be shattered, broken and hurting trying to find their place in this world.

"..our identity is partly shaped by recognition or it's absence, often by the misrecogntion of others, and so a person or group of people can suffer real damage, real distortion, if the people or society around them mirror back to them a confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves.

wrote Charles Taylor in his article on ‘The Politics of Recognition”.

The questions that are probably ringing in the minds of these two groups of people who are struggling with their ‘identity’ are probably the likes of “Where is God when it hurts?”. …”If God is so loving, why does he allow such sadness, loss and pain in my life”…

How could the message of Christmas relate to these two groups of people?

As I was contemplating about it while I was preparing, I was particularly drawn to John 1:10,11.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

God did not provide a political solution or a philosophical response to man’s deep and troubling questions, but chose to come and take it upon himself by becoming like us.

Heb. 2:14 says, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things..”

He came to his own (the greek refers to the entire world) but his own (here it refers exclusively to mankind!) did not receive him.

What a travesty? Of all of His creation, it was only man who chose to not receive him.

If there is someone in this world who knows what the pain of rejection is, that is Jesus Christ himself.

The first Christmas was not a very Merry Christmas.

Secondly, not only did he just come and become like us, he also came to engage and provide a solution to the basic problem that is the source of all this pain, hurt and suffering in this world – which is our own sinfulness.

Matt. 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

It is sin that alienates us from God and from one another. It is because of Sin, he as not known, received or accepted when he came and lived in this world. Not only was he not accepted, but he was killed by the people for whose sake he came into this world.

During his time on earth, he revealed to us what the Love of God is all about. He taught us to love our enemies, which he modeled for us on the cross by praying for the forgiveness of those who nailed him. He showed how to live a sinless life. Yet he was given a scandalous death on the cross.

Yet, God raised him from the dead and now He abides in the hearts of those who are drawn to Him and empowers them to love Him and others including our enemies and eventually to become like Him.

Not only then, even now people do not recognize him during Christmas.. they do not want to accept him as God. Not only did the world did not know him then, it still does not know him. And the reason is still the same –our sinfulness. Our quest for autonomy. Our zest to be our own Gods.

Christmas isn't Christmas, till it happens in our hearts.

I hope my Sri Lankan friends realized that they needed Christmas to happen in their hearts before they could experience ‘Easter’.

May we experience the joy of the true Christmas this Christmas season and share it with our friends and foes!

Invictus - A review

Why do good things happen to bad people? What should you do when you are a victim of racism and hatred and relegated to a prison for a major part of your life? What should you do when you spend the best phase of your life doing ‘nothing’? What do you do when your dreams vaporize and your loved ones leave you? If there is a God where is he when it hurts?

These are questions that ought to plague anyone who has experienced all of these in his life. The typical response to these by individuals as well as nations have resulted in us fighting more wars that all that has been fought over the past two thousand years.

When confronted with these questions by his guard, Mandela responds saying, ‘“Reconciliation starts here. Forgiveness starts here, too. It liberates the soul. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.” What an astonishing and shocking response?

Invictus paints a portrait of the towering figure of Nelson Mandela, who stood the test of time, hatred and vengeance and came out giving a real life response to the questions posed above. Rather than choosing to get back, he chooses to go down in service. Rather than choosing to fight back, he chooses to serve those who hated him and caused him so much pain in prison. Here lives a man who turned the tides against him and inspired a nation to be rebuilt breaking down the racial barriers between them to forge a ‘rainbow nation’. This is a rare glimpse in modern times where war is fought in the name of religion, nationality, race, color and language.

How can anyone respond this way to the worst atrocities committed at him and has taken his life away? Where does one get inspiration for such an ‘unearthly’ act? Such acts can only be inspired rather than taught.

Forgiveness is indeed a powerful weapon. Powerful - because it can actually bring about change than destruction. It takes more courage and faith to release someone who harms you without wanting to strike back. It takes more courage to stand down and ‘show the other cheek’ than to react back. It is humanly impossible to do it. The first one to model it lived 2000 years ago. He not only showed his other cheek but gave his own life away and prayed for forgiveness for the very same people who were killing him. It was He who empowered several others to do the same including Mandela. He has done that to each one of us already – even when we were still ignoring him and hurting him by our actions, thoughts, and desires everyday He took it all upon himself and brought us forgiveness. When we taste that forgiveness personally, our hearts gets transformed – He removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. He energizes us to do the impossible – forgive those who sin against us.

Avatar – a dialogue

Avatar is a mesmerizing experience as it transports you into a different world that even the wildest imagination could not have fathomed. A flamboyant splash of colors, in a distant enticing planet-Pandora that lights up in the night with fluorescent, vibrant and colorful flora and fauna enchant you endlessly throughout the movie. Beauty, love, courage, redemption and sacrifice elegantly clothe the storyline behind the spell binding visual feast that meets the eye.

As visually stunning as it is, Avatar also invokes strong religious parallels such as transmigration of soul (except that, here it can happen several times within a lifetime albeit with the help of technology), universal energy that permeates everything on the planet, communication with ancestors (common in Eastern religions) and not to forget the very name itself which has been borrowed from Hinduism and means ‘coming down’ of the divine. It is also interesting that it has been released during Christmas eve that celebrates the ‘incarnation’ of Jesus Christ who ‘took upon’ human form to redeem the created world.

Different audiences around the world have responded differently. While the movie has definitely sparked tremendous interest and awe among it’s Western audiences(1) in the innovative new movie making technology and the zest for environmental protection among others , audiences in the East (cradle of six major non-Judeo-Christian religions) are particularly inspired by the heavy borrowing of ideals from their philosophy (as reflected in this sample review that begins with the question, “When does a film become a philosophy?)(2) . The word ‘Avatar’ easily reminds them of the nine avatars of the Lord Vishnu who ‘comes down’ in different ‘avatars’ whenever evil abounds on earth. His tenth avatar as ‘Kalki’ is eagerly awaited where he is expected to destroy all evil after it reaches it’s peak. And the main Avatar of the movie does take on the mandate of fighting and restraining the bad ‘sky people’.

Despite the differing reasons that different audiences are attracted to it, few underlying elements of the film connect universally with every viewer. As the old adage goes, ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’. The visual casting of Pandora as a ‘beautiful planet’ draws the audience to want to leap and jump along with the main characters of the movie as they run (and fly on colorful dragons).

Is there hope for the Earth to be restored to it’s original elegance? Is the earth doomed to destruction? Why? Is it man’s unquenched greed for ‘more’ at any cost without due concern for the ‘have-nots’ in the world? As one ponders through these questions, two images from the Bible come to mind. One is that of the Garden of Eden and the rest of the world after it was created and ought to have been unimaginably beautiful (if even God who reviewed it gave it an ‘A’ calling it ‘good’). The other is that of the ‘new heavens and new earth’ that is expected to happen in the future. The events that happen between these two is what the Bible talks about. It attempts to explain the root cause of all this erosion, not just in the environment but also within the nature of man that causes him to be selfish, greedy, proud and arrogant in combination with his tremendous capability to exert ‘dominion’ over the world.

As man would not be able to wriggle himself out of this mess, God chose to come down as an incarnation, not to kill but to die and come back alive overcoming death. He definitely merits a consideration.

1 http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avatar/ which has an impressive 83% score for the movie

2 http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/movies/article66463.ece?homepage=true for a review by ‘The Hindu’ – a major South Indian Newspaper.

Matrix - Review

Summary of the Plot

The first part of The Matrix series was released in the late 90s and has captured the hearts and minds of moviegoers with a penchant for explosive action mixed with futuristic science fiction. The movie itself is loaded with several New Age themes including some close resemblances to key elements from the Bible and is packed with mind blowing and innovative action sequences unparalleled in the history of Hollywood movie making.

The central character in the movie is played by Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson, who works as a programmer for a software firm. He is representative of an average silicon valley software professional. Anderson assumes the role of Neo in his after work hours and spends most of his time as a hacker involved in all possible cybercrimes. Neo appears against the backdrop of ‘The Matrix’ which is really a simulation created by artificially intelligent (AI) beings who use humans as their power source. The time this occurs is in the year 2199 AD. Man’s quest to reign supreme and his faith in technology led to the creation and dependence on machines, the culmination of which was the artificial intelligence. The revolt of the AI beings against mankind led to a war between them and mankind. The AI creatures (Sentient Agents) were originally designed to use solar power believed to be a long-lasting source of energy, but a nuclear winter changed the situation. The AI forms adapt by using humans as batteries. To this end, they create an elaborate hoax known as the matrix, where the humans are bred and raised to believe they lead existences as if nothing ever happened. Neo is being sought after by the leader of a band of rebels (Morpheus played by Lawrence Fishburne) who escaped the matrix and seeks to redeem mankind. For the same reason, Neo is also sought after by the Sentient Agents. Led by the Agent Smith (played by Hugo Weaving), the Sentient Agents are intelligent programs within the matrix that act to reinforce the AI control of earth's populace. Since everything in the matrix is an illusion, all the action is really a metaphor for a battle of wills. Neo is the one capable of inflicting damage on the AI system and free the people who have their minds enslaved.

In the second part, Neo having discovered that he is indeed ‘The One’ through his last encounter with Agent Smith, continues to help the rebels free more people from the clutches of the sentient AI while learning of a plot by the machines to invade and destroy Zion. They take the battle to the Matrix itself. In this part, Agent Smith is now able to clone himself.

In the final part, Neo takes the sacrificial path of killing himself to defeat the AI system and liberate human beings from them. Interestingly, the last scenes also depicts him as coming back to life.

Review

The movie raises several issues, chief among them being ‘What is reality?’ It plays satire on man’s quest and dependence on technology with today’s modern/postmodern world tending to place a lot of faith on technology to redeem mankind of all ills. Man has advanced in his engagement with technology trying to wrench out solutions for all of man’s problems purely using technology that he is now far removed from reality and becomes enslaved in a pseudo world created by the very machines that he originally designed himself. In addition, the movie extrapolates what the world would look like when the effects of ecological and environmental disaster that awaits us because of our poor handling of resources comes to fruition.

There are allusions to several New Age themes including that of Christianity. In this sense, the movie has truly identified the presence and rise of religiosity even in the advanced techno culture, where man might have to fall back on should technology fail to redeem him. Deeply entrenched in the story line are close resemblances to Christian icons and Hindu philosophy. Morpheus, Neo and Trinity could possibly remind a Christian audience of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in some sense (with Neo even dying and coming alive at the end). However, at a philosophical level there are explicit narrations (particularly by the character Ramakrishna – the original name of the proponent of advaitic Vedanta) of Vedantic philosophy that equates the matrix to Maya and even touches upon transmigration of souls and cyclic birth and rebirth and some esoteric themes involving the Oracle to which Hindu and New Age audiences could identify themselves with. Interestingly the last song in the movie played during credits is an original mantra from the Upanishads shown below reflecting the above.

“asato ma sadgamaya (lead me from nontruth to truth)

tamaso ma jyotirgamaya (lead me from darkness to light)

mrtyorma amrtam gamaya (lead me from death to immortality)

Om shanthi shanthi shanthi (peace peace peace)”*

In conclusion, the synthesis of the plot of The Matrix series closely captures the various ingredients of today’s modern/postmodern world with man seriously engaging technology on the one hand to make the world a better place to live and the rising suspicion and lack of trust by others in such a realization who turn back to religion.

* Quoted in ‘Diana L. Eck, Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993, p.117.

M.U.T. visit

"... sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything" (II Cor. 6:10)

I had a very humbling experience visiting a missionary couple undergoing treatment for Cancer for the missionary's wife at CMC Vellore who exemplify the above verse in their life. They have been working as tentmakers in the Chambal area (the notorious dacoit capital of India) since 2004 till now. They were staying at MUT (Missionary Upholder's Trust - catering to meet hospitality needs of missionaries staying in Vellore during their treatment) and it was a humbling and spiritually enriching experience to hear their story and to get to know them more. Amazingly, the wife of the missionary who has cancer and who herself is in pain has been going around helping other missionaries admitted in the hospital who have other needs. Right before she was wheeled in for an operation a couple of days back she shared the gospel with the patient in the next bed and led that person to Christ!

Despite the pain and suffering the couple exude with genuine joy and peace which Christ alone could provide. This trip will be etched in my memory for a very long time. If you are reading this blog, please take a minute to pray for God's complete healing touch upon her who has already lost a few organs and is seeking to get back to normal to continue their good work among the people and take care of their three little girl children.

Outside of their 6ft by 6ft room, in a small corner a lady doctor in CMC was leading a bible study to a bunch of women whom we were later on told were HIV positive. It was a painful sight to see their children playing nearby some of whom may be positive as well.

The truth about TRUTH

(Abstract of the talk given on October 20th, 2008 at Stanford Religious Center)


Introduction


Truth has been one among the perennial quests of man. Sages have sought after it. Philosophers have debated it. Scientists seek to find it. All this is because truth matters. It affects our faith and actions.

But what is the essence of truth? How can truth be described? Is it merely a construct of the mind? Is it an experience that ought to be sought after?

Science and Truth

In today's world Science has been hailed as a 'bastion of truth' and all God talk has been relegated to the sphere of myths and superstition. In trying to understand how Science has attempted to discover truth about the 'physical world' around us people have come up with three theories:

- Verificationism - only that which is verifiable is true
- Falsificationism - only that (hypothesis) which is falsifiable is true
- Kuhnianism - truth is progressively discovered through 'paradigm shifts' involving people within a group

Even today many Scientists use one or more of the above methodologies either consciously or unconsciously to discover truth in their own fields of expertise. Each of the above methodologies possess inherent limitations in the extent to which they could be applied to all fields of knowledge and reality.

Science does not deal with the whole of reality. It only deals with the tangibles. It cannot address questions that deal with non-tangible aspects of life such as the purpose of life, life after death e.tc.. This is where Religions come into play.

Religion and Truth


Religions attempt to teach the truth about these signifcant questions of life such as
- who I am?
- where do I come from?
- where do I go?

For most of the eastern religions truth is an elusive, impersonal entity (eg. 'Brahman' in Hinduism) that can only be 'experienced'. Most of the western religions attempt to reduce truth to a set of propositions.


What is truth?


There exists a relationship between truth and the source of truth. We tend to believe truth that is communicated by those we can trust based on their character and capability in our day to day lives.


An astonishing claim about truth was made by Jesus Christ who said, 'I am ...the truth'. While making such an extra-ordinary claim about himself, he lived an impeccable life that attracted both followers and opponents. He performed extra-ordinary miracles demonstrating his divine attributes. In doing so he became the embodiment of truth itself, by displaying both the character and capability substantiating His claim for truth.

As the popular adage goes, 'Truth hurts'. When someone points out our faults, it can hurt us. In the same way, Jesus pointed out to the people the truth about themselves - that they fall short of meeting God's standard of perfection and are in danger of punishment despite their religious, moral and cultural heritage. His perfect life exagerated their anger that culminated in nailing him on the cross. However, he rose again on the third day to authenticate his life and message just as he had told them.

Anyone who desires to know the truth can do so now by seeking to have a relationship with Jesus Christ who is 'the truth'. Once we acknowledge that we are not perfect and attempt to connect with Him, we can begin to understand the truth about us, the world, the present and the future. What he said about life, death, you and me has the power to change us and help us become like Him. And life will never be the same again.


Do you want to know 'the TRUTH'?


About the Speaker: Jeyaprakash Samuel (Jp) completed his Ph.D. at IIT-Madras and University of Freiburg, Germany. Subsequent to a post-doctoral stint at Stanford University (Dept. of Chemical Engineering) he joined Lam Research in Fremont where he is now part of the 'New Product Development' research team.

The truth about TRUTH

(Abstract of the talk given on October 20th, 2008 at Stanford Religious Center)


Introduction


Truth has been one among the perennial quests of man. Sages have sought after it. Philosophers have debated it. Scientists seek to find it. All this is because truth matters. It affects our faith and actions.

But what is the essence of truth? How can truth be described? Is it merely a construct of the mind? Is it an experience that ought to be sought after?

Science and Truth

In today's world Science has been hailed as a 'bastion of truth' and all God talk has been relegated to the sphere of myths and superstition. In trying to understand how Science has attempted to discover truth about the 'physical world' around us people have come up with three theories:

- Verificationism - only that which is verifiable is true
- Falsificationism - only that (hypothesis) which is falsifiable is true
- Kuhnianism - truth is progressively discovered through 'paradigm shifts' involving people within a group

Even today many Scientists use one or more of the above methodologies either consciously or unconsciously to discover truth in their own fields of expertise. Each of the above methodologies possess inherent limitations in the extent to which they could be applied to all fields of knowledge and reality.

Science does not deal with the whole of reality. It only deals with the tangibles. It cannot address questions that deal with non-tangible aspects of life such as the purpose of life, life after death e.tc.. This is where Religions come into play.

Religion and Truth


Religions attempt to teach the truth about these signifcant questions of life such as
- who I am?
- where do I come from?
- where do I go?

For most of the eastern religions truth is an elusive, impersonal entity (eg. 'Brahman' in Hinduism) that can only be 'experienced'. Most of the western religions attempt to reduce truth to a set of propositions.


What is truth?


There exists a relationship between truth and the source of truth. We tend to believe truth that is communicated by those we can trust based on their character and capability in our day to day lives.


An astonishing claim about truth was made by Jesus Christ who said, 'I am ...the truth'. While making such an extra-ordinary claim about himself, he lived an impeccable life that attracted both followers and opponents. He performed extra-ordinary miracles demonstrating his divine attributes. In doing so he became the embodiment of truth itself, by displaying both the character and capability substantiating His claim for truth.

As the popular adage goes, 'Truth hurts'. When someone points out our faults, it can hurt us. In the same way, Jesus pointed out to the people the truth about themselves - that they fall short of meeting God's standard of perfection and are in danger of punishment despite their religious, moral and cultural heritage. His perfect life exagerated their anger that culminated in nailing him on the cross. However, he rose again on the third day to authenticate his life and message just as he had told them.

Anyone who desires to know the truth can do so now by seeking to have a relationship with Jesus Christ who is 'the truth'. Once we acknowledge that we are not perfect and attempt to connect with Him, we can begin to understand the truth about us, the world, the present and the future. What he said about life, death, you and me has the power to change us and help us become like Him. And life will never be the same again.


Do you want to know 'the TRUTH'?


About the Speaker: Jeyaprakash Samuel (Jp) completed his Ph.D. at IIT-Madras and University of Freiburg, Germany. Subsequent to a post-doctoral stint at Stanford University (Dept. of Chemical Engineering) he joined Lam Research in Fremont where he is now part of the 'New Product Development' research team.

Immigration and Missions – Biblical Models of Immigration as a Witness for Mission and Spirituality

This article is based on a paper I wrote for one of my courses at Fuller Theological Seminary. Please feel free to comment or suggest. God Bless.

Introduction

It has been eight years (10 now in 2010) since I left my home country of India and moved towards the west. I have spent three and a half years in Germany and four (six now) years in the United States as an immigrant. During the course of these journeys I have visited several immigrant churches in Germany, Singapore and United States and have ministered in a few of them and have witnessed their struggles, questions and issues that are of much significance to the central thesis of this paper. During my times in Germany, God opened doors for us to disciple a bunch of German professionals (one is now serving as a missionary in Papua New Guinnea and the rest are active in their churches in Germany), share the gospel with students and refugees from 33 countries over the span of three years in the living room of our home and minister to the German church. In the time I have spent so far in USA, God has opened similar doors to share the gospel among International students and an occassion to share God's word to the North American Church. This paper reflects much of the learnings I have had from these experiences as well.
The thesis of this paper is that, “Christian immigrants in North America represent the biblical model of immigration as a witness for mission and spirituality amidst rampant materialism and growing plurality of religions.”

The Bible is a dynamic narrative of people of God who are always ‘on the move’. The diagram shown in figure 1 captures the migrant strands across history reinforced against the backdrop of the grand salvific work of God. The movement begins with the ousting of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, followed shortly by the dispersion of Noah’s descendants that created several nations, and ends in the culmination of God’s mission in the New Jerusalem. Seen in isolation, immigration appears to have no big significance and when immigrant communities are unable to connect to God’s mission they remain ineffective and in most cases easily degenerate and get assimilated into the gentile culture surrounding them. When observed within the grand scheme of God’s plan of redemption, it becomes evident that God actively and intentionally uses immigrants to accomplish his mission of blessing many nations and winning them to himself. New Testament authors use two words paroikous(para – beside/along; oikos – house – outside of home) and parepidēmous (para – along; epi- around; demos-people)-while referring to immigrants of both Old and New Testament such as Abraham, Moses and scattered believers (Acts 7: 6, 29; I Peter 2:11). Both these words reflect the fact that immigrants are a community of people displaced from their familiar and welcoming homelands. It is this setting that God appears to have used mightily to shape many of His children towards accomplishing His purposes.

Several aspects of South Asian Immigrant Christians has been discussed by immigrant church scholars and pastors that address the struggles of these immigrant communities and churches (Cha, Kang et al. 2006) such as generational conflicts (George 2006), identity and church dynamics (Alexander 1997). However most of them appear to have approached them from a ecclesiastical dimension rather than a missional dimension. As important as these issues are, without an overarching understanding of how they fit into God’s plan, it is possible that immigrant churches can lose significance over time which is aptly captured by the decline and many times closing down of such immigrant churches within a generational timespan. Churches in the host nations have predominantly been concerned with justice and hospitality aspects of catering to the immigrant churches (Caroll 2008) and have never viewed them as potential partners whom God has brought within their spheres for missions and mutual edification.

Globalization has accelerated the movement of people across borders. One major ramification of this is the displacement of Christians particularly in the marketplace. Although the effects of globalization could be ‘grobalization’ (Ritzer 2004:121) at a sociological level, from a missional perspective it could be a big boon to the universal church which can now with more immediacy give and receive the blessings that arise out of interacting with Christians reared in foreign lands (particularly from the global south) in a different cultural setting and possessing a different form of spirituality. Particularly within the United States, which has had a relatively uniform religious landscape over the past two hundred years, the recent immigration of people from South Asia has changed it into a pluralistic one. In this situation, South Asian Immigrant churches can be a vital partner to local American churches in effectively reaching them. Most of the Indian Hindu immigrants who also belong to the affluent class of society have been fiercely active in retaining their religious identities and have built several temples and ashrams which many a times exist adjacent to a local church with an invisible and impenetrable wall between them. The church in the US no longer needs to send missionaries to these far off countries but now has people from those countries at her doorstep but it is unable to engage, connect and evangelize them.
In this paper, I have attempted to examine four different passages that discuss immigrants in four different eras and analyze them through missiological lenses to see how effective they were in being centripetal and centrifugal missional communities helping accomplish God’s kingdom on earth. In the application section that follows I have attempted to apply the principles that I have gleaned from these passages into my own ministry context. The concluding section highlights and summarizes some of the signficant findings of this paper.


Part I: Abraham and Lot – Models of Contrasting Immigrant Witness and Spirituality (Genesis 12:1 – 25:18)


In his paper Old Testament Roots of Mission, Richard de Ridder says,
“The whole history of Abraham and the story of his call and pilgrimage is a remarkable demonstration of how one who was himself dispersed by the command of God…. – became the gracious instrument by which those who had been dispersed by the judgement of God …will again be brought back to the only source of life and into unity with each other..” (2007:155).

This is also exemplified by the diagram in figure 1. As can be seen in this diagram, the Bible is filled with immigrant movements from beginning to end (highlighted blocks in the diagram) across all eras. There are very few eras where God’s people have been static. The narrative of Abraham and Lot provides an exemplary contrasting illustration of how immigrant communities have engaged their neighbours. Throughout the disucssion of this passage I seek to bring out the contrasting missional responses of Abraham and Lot and their communities to their surrounding nations and peoples. Genesis 12 begins with a roaring call of God to Abraham to move out of his father’s land. Although God began moving Teran to Canaan, it appears that he stopped half-way (Genesis 11:31) and now God is picking up where Teran stopped and uses immigration as a tool to advance His purposes. This is clearly reflected in Genesis 12:2 where God states clearly that it is now His purpose to ‘create a nation’ which will eventually be expected to be a light to the gentiles (Kaiser 2000:51). Originally Abraham appeared to have left a rich and affluent Mesopotamian Civilization to follow God’s call. As Wright points out, “Only Abraham’s leaving releases the nations’ blessing” (2006:202).

However, later on when famine threatens and he moves to Egypt he encounters difficulties and does not serve as an effective witness to the gentile nation. He appears to have moved away from God’s intention of creating a nation out of him in Canaan, thus inflicting pain upon himself. Israel would later on repeat the same feat and once again God would have to intervene mightily this time to bring them back to Canaan. Only after he gets back to Canaan was he able to reaffirm his calling (Genesis 13:4). The same is observed when Lot is seen moving away from Canaan to the land as far as Sodom. Whenever an immigrant community loses it’s focus and calling it tends to become ineffective missionally as can be seen in these two cases of Abraham and Lot’s detour. Once again God allows political unrest that results in Lot being taken as captive and eventually redeemed by Abraham to bring him back to the promised land. Abraham’s venture in restoring his people back to the promised land displays a missional glimpse with Abraham’s act being commended and Abraham being acknowledged as belonging to ‘God most High’ by Melchizedek the king of Salem. Abraham himself is now able to speak about God to the gentile kings in Genesis 14:22-24. Here we see how Abraham and his men as an immigrant community have begun to influence their neighbours for God in contrast to Lot. The tryst of Abraham with the three divine visitors brings out his passion for the lost despite their wickedness where he pleads for Sodom hoping that it would have some righteous people expecting that Lot could have won some. Lot’s discourse with the evil men of Sodom stands in stark contrast to that Abraham had with the kings of his surrounding nations. When the angels help Lot and his wife and two daughters to leave the city it is apparent that there was no one else who were righteous. This evidently points to Lot being unable to missionally engage the people of the city he had moved into. Even after being delivered, rather than returning to the promised land he choses to move away to another city where his own daughters replicate the evil that they saw in the city of Sodom. Lot and his family are a clear example of what happens when immigrant communities fail to influence the people around them and get influenced by the gentile cultures thus depriving them of participating in God’s sovereign plan. Abraham’s encounter with Abimelech is yet another contrasting illustration of how God displays His power through Abraham that leads to Abimelech coming to know that God was with Abraham (Gen 21:12). By now Abraham appears to have realized God’s grand plan and displays this faith in seeking to get a bride for his son Isaac from His own people and instructs his servant to bring his son back to Canaan to be part of God’s continuing action of creating a nation (Gen 24:6).

Throughout this narrative, the stark contrast of Abraham and Lot reveal how an immigrant community that seeks to align itself to God’s purposes of bringing his kingdom are blessed and used by God. Lot appears to have been constantly self focussed with no room for God and is seen going down in history sadly in contrast to Abraham who went died as a man ‘full of years’ (Gen 25:8) and God’s purposes continue.

Part II: Esther and Mordecai – Model for Transgenerational Missional Witness (Esther 1-10)

The narrative of Esther and Mordecai are among the most encouraging and affirming for immigrants who often find themselves in marginalized situations. Despite being in exile, Mordecai exemplifies the contrast community (Lohfink) life-style by rearing a godly orphan girl in his own family Mordecai himself is a fourth generation immigrant (Eshther 2:5) which by itself speaks contrary to commonly observed phenomenon particularly that the second generation immigrants lose their identity and become naturalized. Although not much mention has been made, the role of the ancestors of Mordecai from the time of exile deserve much attention. Being in a marginalized position as forced immigrants from Jerusalem, they appear to have reared the next generations with godly instruction and faith that has preserved until the fourth generation without being corrupted by the gentile cultural and religious norms and pratices. Mordecai’s exemplary compassion of taking care of the fatherless in his family reveals his compassion and obedience to the word of God that has been imparted to him by his ancestors. Here we come across an immigrant whose faith and action would play a key role in preserving the remnant of Israel through an orphan girl to whom he succesfully passed on the same heritage that he received. Esther also displays her loving obedience to Mordecai in both good and difficult times (Esther 2:10, 20; 4:15,16). Here is an example of the fruit and significance of godly parenting that plays a key role in accomplishing God’s purposes in the life of immigrants which usually appears to span across several generations just as in the case of Abraham (it would be several hundred years later that his descendants would inhabit the land of Canaan). Most of the time, South Asian immigrant parents lose their children over to the materialistic lifestyle and are hence unable to pass on the mandate of God to them. The narrative of Mordecai and Esther reveals that they may not have lived a different cultural lifestyle (as Esther was able to get into the king’s palace still hiding her ancestry) but focussed on accomplishing God’s purposes in their immigrant land. When this is borne in mind, God’s purposes can be accomplished across generations irrespective of the cultural conflicts as long as they do not violate scriptural norms. Mordecai’s self-disclosure of his religious identity brings him and the remaining Jews more difficulty (Esther 3). This is another nugget that reveals the non-compromising life-style that he lead despite knowing the consequences which attracted the attention of his co-workers. One of the most striking passages in the book of Esther is found in the fourth chapter (Esther 4:13-17). This passage clearly reveals the faith and hope that Mordecai had in God accomplishing his purposes for his nation and Esther willing to obey God by defying the rule of the king to be able to participate in God’s redemptive act. The missional touch of this immigrant community can be seen in the response of the wife and friends of Haman (Esther 6:13) who appear to know of God’s plan and purposes for the exiled Jews. This would not have been possible without the godly lifestyle and active communication about God to them by the immigrants in their land. The exemplary life of Mordecai and Esther extended upto the palace in the way Mordecai saved the King’s life and the gracious manner in which Esther carried herself utterly relying on God to influence even the mightiest King of those times to yield to Yahweh’s plan and purposes. The fruits of these simple steps of obedience turn out to be profound in helping the Jews to truly be a light to their host nation which began to rever them (Esther 9:2-5) and they were able to accomplish more mighty things in preserving the remnant from their enemies using their newly found favoured position.
Mordecai’s rearing of Esther has signficant insights for immigrant parents who can possess hope of being part of God’s plan in using them in the host nation to advance his kingdom even when the children accept the external cultural norms but retain their passion to obey and serve God who is often described as a multi-generational God (God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob).

Part III: First Immigrant Church – Model for Centrifugal Missions (Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3)


The place where the disciples were first called Christians was at a church in Antioch pioneered by immigrants (v26). Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman empire according to several commentators,, only next to Rome and Alexandria. God is intentionally using the persecution to make the believers scatter from Rome. Although persecution has been used by God in this instance to move His children to unreached places, Globalization may well be God’s instrument today in moving His people to different nations. Thus, it is imperative that one looks at immigration not just from a cultural and sociological perspective but also from a missional perspective to see how this strand fits within God’s grand design of establishing God’s kingdom on earth (Glasser; 199). The believers in Antioch clearly display a strong centrifugal (Bosch) tendency concerning missions.

Interestingly, it was the greek speaking Hellenists from Cyprus and Cyrene who made the first attempts at connecting with the gentile Greeks of Antioch. Antioch being a Syrogrecian town and filled with a large number of both Hellenists and Greeks of non-Jewish origin, God moved the Hellenists who could reach out and connect to them rather than Peter and other apostles who were still warming up to the idea of God reaching out to the gentiles. The contrasting approach of these Hellenists to those who preached only to Jews arises from their belonging to non-Jewish nations thus making them immune to several religious prejudices that were affecting those from Jerusalem. This demonstrates a significant advantage immigrant communities can bring to missions in countries that have traditionally been Christian such as the United States where conventional ‘How can you go to heaven?’ approaches in evangelism have not worked well with recent Asian Indian Americans who appear to be largely untouched by any missional efforts so far and worse still have been agggressive in proselytizing several Americans into Hinduism using methods employed by American Christian missionaries themselves.

The recognition of this budding immigrant church which is now no longer just a fellowship of immigrants but has actively began evangelising the gentiles is another model for immigrant churhces who tend to be introverted and accomodating Christian immigrants alone without seeking to evangelize those from their ethnicity who are away from the truth. It is interesting to note that the core team of prophets and teachers comprised of Barnabas from Cyprus, Simeon called Niger (meaning black and hence from South Africa), Lucius of Cyrene who was also from South Africa, Manaen from a high socio-economic group and Paul who himself was an immigrant living outside Palestine in Tarsus.

Not only did the church at Antioch grow in numbers reflecting the exemplary missional engageent of the immigrant community of believers but also it was able to demonstrate generosity to the established Jewish churches back in Jerusalem (which took a while to acknowledge them) that were in need. Here is another towering model of healthy interaction between immigrant churches and the role they can play in partnering with local home churches.

Apart from efffectively engaging their local neighborhoods missionally and supporting other churches financially, they became the first church to send missionaries to to other places. This is in contrast to some churches dichotomizing evangelism and missions with the former referring to communication the gospel to those around them and the latter referring to sending those to distant nations. Once again the intentionality of God seeking to establish his kingdom is seen by kindling this responsive immigrant church to go ahead and carry on what they did at Antioch that results in several missionary journeys by Paul and Barnabbas expanding the Kingdom of God. Interestingly these missionary journeys were even taken to Cyprus from where the first ‘missionaries’ had arrived. Such a situation can be seen in several western nations that were once sending out missionaries and are now attracting missionaries from the same people to whom they brought the gospel to.

Thus, the first immigrant church demonstrated strong centrifugal dimensions of mission, plurality of leadership and effective partnering with other churches including their mother church and serves as a towering model for all immigrant churches today.

Part IV: The Persecuted and Scattered Immigrant Churches: Model for Centripetal Missions (I Peter 1-2:12)


In contrast to to the immigrants encountered in Acts 11 who conscpicuosly exhibited the centrifugal aspect of mission by reaching out, Peter emphasises the ‘centripetal’ dimension of mission (Glasser) as an effetive means to engage those around them to the recepients of his letter. Throughout the epistle, Peter refers to his recepients with terms such as pilgrims (1:1), aliens and strangers indicating their disposition to the local population. These were predominantly Jewish believers who were scattered possibly as a result of persecution that broke out in Rome and settled in these places and are still suffering persecution. Peter uses the same words ‘aliens and strangers’ to refer to the recepients of his letter which is the same that has been used in the Septuagint to refer to Abraham in Genesis23:4 which his Jewish converts would have been able to connect. This once again re-affirms the motif of the emphasis on the centripetal aspect of mission. As Richard de Ridder notes that ‘Election is always for a purpose and is based on covenant. (Ridder 155) and hence Peter reminds his hearers of their election and ties it to the expected holy living that was meant to attract those around them to Christ just as how Isreal’l holiness was expected to attract other nations to Christ.

On the ouset it appears that Peter is not calling his hearers to ‘share’ the gospel with those around them much like how such explicit commands are missing in the Old Testament concerning the Israelites. However, Peter calls for his hearers who were not just immigrants but were being persecuted on various fronts to display holiness in all walks of life both outside (in their work places) and inside their homes. Such a quiet testimony was expected to win even unbelieving spouses (3:1) for Christ. Although Israel constantly failed to exemplify this lifestyle, Peter was confident that his hearers would be able to do so and urges them to use their lifestyle as a loud apologetic and that would attract the unbelievers to enquire about the hope (3:15) that they have within them. We know that his hearers did heed to his advice based on the contents of the second epistle that were writen to them by Peter himself (II Peter 1:12). An immigrant community can be an effective missional community by leading a life of holiness even under hostile conditions that would provoke those around them to seek to know the truth.

Thus, immigrants who are in marginalized conditions and do not have much opportunity to witness explicitly can still do so by leading exemplary lives in the marketplace and homes. One interesting fact concerning the Asian Indian Christian immigrants in the United States is that they possess more stable homes with much less divorce rates compared to those around them (Sam George). In addition, many of them occupy key positions in Corporations that gives them an opportunity to share their faith among their peers in equivalent capacities.

Part V: Implications for Ministry among South Asian Immigrants in the United States


What emerges clearly from the discussion of the role of immigrants in the above texts is their vital disposition in being used as a missional community both to the people around them and parterning with the local churches amidst them.

Recent studies estimate that there are 200,000 South Asian millionaires in the United States (Gidoomal 2005:82). It also claims that the median income for the South Asian community is over $ 60,000 far above the national average of 38,885$. It further highlights that according to the U.S. 2000 Census, there are about 1.89 million people of South Asian immigrants making up roughly 0.7% of the total population with 1,679,00 of them coming from India alone (informal estimates of Indians in the bay area alone exceed 200,000). Most of the immigrant Christians come to the United States to realize the ‘American Dream’ rather than feeling a sense of God’s calling. Surrounded by a materialistic culture around them they tend to be sucked into it soon. However, whenever people migrated for economic purposes they appear to have gone down history without playing any vital part in accomplishing God’s purposes as exemplified by Lot. This continues to remain a great challenge for South Asian Christian immigrants and they need to be challenged based on the biblical examples discussed in this paper to be vigilant in not losing their missional significance and purpose. As I lead the bible study sessions for the members of our church, I hope to be able to discuss these issues with them.

Another area of concern to most South Asian immigrants is the future of their children who grow up with dual identities. Most of the parents tend to focus on imposing the external cultural symbols on their children and fail to encourage them to missionally engage their world around them. I have seen this in my own church and it has been difficult to convey this message to the parents. I spend one night every month with the youth of our church and attempt to kindle a passion to engage their world as I wait for their parents to be able to understand and join by not focussing on the external cultural symbols but aim for their heart.

Another missiong element that is characteristic of Biblical immigrant communities is the centrifugal dimension and this is found wanting in the North American context particluarly with respect to the South Asian immigrants. Most of the churches however apply most of their energy into sustaining their presence and longivity tha finding God’s purposes for them in His grand salvific plan and finding ways to equip themselves to engage the multi-religious surroundings. It is my prayer and vision to help the local pastors and leaders to see and partake in God’s grand narrative of ushering His kingdom on earth.

Part VI: Conclusion

As we have seen in the Genesis narrative, God intentionally moves His people with a missional goal in mind which is to ‘reconcile the world to Himself’ (II Cor 5:19). He does this by ‘choosing, calling, and sending one to be the bearer of blessing for all’ (Newbigin 1995). God moved Abraham to Canaan, so that He could create the nation of Israel which could be a ‘light to the nations’ . For this to happen He needed a ‘people who were not a people’ weened of all gentile influences and would fall in love with Him to help bring the nations back to Him. Whenever people failed to do so, He had to move them again to refine and bring them back to accomplish His purpose while at the same time using their immigration to touch those gentile nations who came across their exiles and returns including mighty kings like Ahaseuraus. Once the gospel was opened up to the gentiles, He had to once again forcibly move people through persecution so that they could continue to bring the elect from the nations back to him through both centripetal and centrifugal missional efforts as exemplified by the church at Antioch and the ‘aliens and strangers’ of the dispersion. Thus we see that the immigrant motif runs throughout the Bible starting with Genesis and culmination in the ‘New Jerusalem’ when all His people with be gathered to Him. In the light of this, all immigrant communities can now find their true identities and value by not merely seeking new cultural identities but by being a witness in their displaced ambience to participate in ushering God’s kingdom on earth. As pointed out by Hanciles “In both North America and Europe, these new immigrant Christian groups embody a fresh and vital spirituality that is likely to have an impact far beyond their immediate sphere of witness and influence” (2003:151).


References Cited

Alexander, George P.
1997 New Americans – The Progress of Asian Indians in America. Cypress, California: P & P Enterprises.
Bosch, David.

2007 “The Why and How of a True Biblical Foundation for Mission” (1993) in Hopkins “Syllabus and Reader” for MT520 Biblical Foundations of Mission, Pasadena, CA: Fuller Theological Seminary.
Gidoomal, Ram.

2005 Catalyst for Change- The South Asian Diaspora Delhi, India:Horizon Printers and Publishers
Caroll, M. D.

2008 "Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible." Publishers Weekly 255(9): 12-12.
Cha, P., S. S. Kang, et al.

2006 Growing healthy Asian-American churches: insights from groundbreaking congregations. Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press. George, S.

2006 Understanding the coconut generation: ministry to the Americanized Asian Indians. Niles, Illinois, Mall Publishing.
Glasser, Arthur F, Charles E. Van Engen.


2003 Announcing the Kingdom – The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.

Hanciles, Jehu J.
2003 Migration and Mission: Some Implications for the Twenty-first-Century Church International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 27, 146-153.

Kaiser Jr., Walter C.
2000 Mission in the Old Testament – Israel as a light to the nations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books.

Newbigin, Lesslie.
1995 The Open Secret – An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. Grand Rapids,
Michigan: William B. Eerdmans publishing Company.

Ritzer, George.
2007 The Globalization of Nothing 2. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.

Wright, Christopher J.H.
2006 The Mission of God – Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic.



RENOVATION OF THE HEART - book review - Jp

Willard, Dallas, 2002. Renovation of the Heart – Putting on the Character of Christ. Colorado: Navpress.

The author is a professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. He is also the author of thirty other books and mentions in his website that his hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand Him.

Highlighting the fact that since man is a spiritual being, all of his actions emanates from within his heart, the author calls for a renovation of the heart as a first step to changing man, families, churches, societies and the world at large.

The author introduces the concept of spiritual formation in the initial paragraphs of his book by mentioning that the ‘heart’ of spiritual formation lies in the ‘heart’. He defines six basic aspects of a human life that need attention in order to be revived such as thought, feeling, choice, body, social context and soul. He introduces the VIM model (Vision, Intent, Means) that involves possessing a vision for change in each of the six areas which can then crystallize into an intention and then describes the means available for change.
He begins his first spiritual formation focus with the transformation of the mind and discusses the significance of employing thought, love and worship to transform it. Addressing the ‘feelings’ part of the mind the author discusses the renewing effects of love, joy and peace to correct the ill side of feelings. In the next section he discusses the transformation of the will by changing from duplicity, deceitfulness and darkness to reflect the will of God advocating the role of spiritual disciplines to accomplish this. He then moves on to discuss the transformation of the body which ought to be presented as a living sacrifice to God. Finally, he discusses the renovation of the soul from a law and grace perspective that can help us become children of light and the light of the world. In the end, he discusses the failures of the local congregation in being the light of the world and identifies some causes such as distractions and performances that shadow their ability to shine for Christ and urges them to fulfill their mandate of making disciples inside out for Christ.

While I resonate with Willard’s thesis on the whole, I find it difficult to assimilate his ‘scientific’ analysis of the heart, mind and body compartmentalizing them into boxes (or spheres as he does in p. 38 and p.40). I find his statement that it really matters little what else you do or don’t do in local congregation so long as all is organized around God’s plan for spiritual formations as given in Mathewe 28:18-20 to be a gross overstatement. The mission of a church is not defined by just their spiritual state but also by their engagement of the world around them. Although it might be true that when the church does not display a high degree of spirituality the world may turn away from it, the reverse does not hold true in that the world is going to flock towards the church if it displays absolute holiness. It still needs a missional outlook to understand and connect to the world around it and it is only in this way can it be the true ‘salt and light’ that Christ called it to be.