The Low Ways of Christ Are the High Ways of God

Sermon by the Rev Jeffrey Khoo at the Chinese Service of True Life BPC, 1 August 2010

Introduction

Today in Singapore, the “Megachurches” have become very prominent. The big four are City Harvest (23000), New Creation (16000), Lighthouse Evangelism (12000), and Faith Community Baptist (10000). In a matter of 20 to 30 years, they are able to boast a 5-digit membership. How did they grow so huge so quickly? It is the philosophy of ministry they adopt and the type of gospel they preach, which is utterly man-centred and man-exalting. The “worship” and the “gospel” are packaged in a worldly and carnal way that exalts the ego and excites the flesh. The worship is no different from a pop or rock concert, and the prosperity, health-wealth gospel is no different from what many New Age think-big and feel- good motivational gurus dish out to a gullible audience. These Megachurches pattern themselves after the Multinationals, and their “Pastors” function as “CEOs”. One sees very much the world in the church; “I desire heaven, but I want the world as well.” The Megachurches offer a very attractive two-in-one bargain!

What should be our philosophy of ministry according to Scripture? We learn from John 3:30 that our philosophy of ministry must first and foremost be Christ-centred and Christ- glorifying—“He must increase, but I must decrease.” The Lord Jesus Christ Himself  sets  for  us  the  supreme example of what it means to serve in a humble and lowly way that would bring glory and praise to God the Father. Jesus said in John 17:4 that He had glorified His Father on earth, and that He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt 20:28, Mark 10:45).

How did Jesus minister in a godly and not worldly manner? We see Him ministering in a godly manner in these three ways:

Not Centralisation but Decentralisation (John 4:1-3)

This is one of the well-known sayings of our late founding pastor, the Rev Dr Timothy Tow, “Decentralisation, not centralisation, is the key to Church growth.” Here, we are told that Jesus “made and baptized more disciples than John” (John 4:1). Was Jesus trying to compete with John? Was Jesus trying to show off that He was indeed much better and greater than John? Of course not for in the next verse, it was quickly clarified that it was not Jesus who baptised but His disciples. The Apostle John made sure that this was made clear to all his readers, that it was not about who had the bigger following or tallest building. Kong Hee of City Harvest is well known for having built a $48 million modern- looking, titanium-clad skyscraper of a church with a 12m-high, 800kg-heavy stainless steel cross which he boasts as the largest in the world. Joseph Prince in partnership with Capitaland is going to build a new $1 billion shopping mall cum church complex just next to the Buona Vista MRT. You may say, “Wow, what a success story! The Church is making it big time!”

Is such vertical growth the way of Christ? In John 4, the Lord, seeing more and more coming to Him for baptism, could have thought that Judea where all the action was was the place to do His work. His work would become more prominent and powerful with the growing number of disciples. Jerusalem the capital city and Judah the royal tribe of Israel were located in Judea, the centre of politics and religion. There was no better place to make a name for Himself and His religion. He could have centred His ministry and grew His church in Jerusalem, Judah and Judea. But the way of our Lord was not a Tower-of-Babel centralisation but a Go-and-make-disciples decentralisation!

Jesus was not interested in building a tower of Babel but in fulfilling the Great Commission, “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). That was the policy of our late founding pastor, the father of the Bible-Presbyterian movement in Southeast Asia. He was never interested in building God’s kingdom vertically but horizontally, encouraging his church members to take the step of faith and start new BPCs in other parts of Singapore in order to spread the gospel. The BPC is not one big Megachurch with a claim to fame but over 40 BPCs scattered all over Singapore, each one having their own pastors, and doing their bit to shine the gospel light; “you in your small corner, and I in mine.”

Not the Popular but the Despised (John 4:4-6)

Jesus went to places that were not popular with the common people. He went to places which in fact were despised by the community. He went to places which most people would not want to go. We are told in verses 3 and 4 that he went to Galilee and Samaria. Galilee was not as prestigious a place as Judea. It was inhabited mostly by farmers and fishermen, unlike Judea which was populated by kings and priests because of Judah and Jerusalem.

In travelling to Galilee, it is significant to note that He chose to go by way of Samaria. Samaria was a place hated by the Jews. The Jews despised the Samaritans because they were not true blue Jews. The Samaritans also had a corrupted form of the Jewish religion which centred not in Jerusalem but in their own appointed mountain—Gerizim (John 4:20, 22). That was also why the Samaritan woman was totally taken aback when Jesus a Jew asked her for a drink: “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9).

God is no respecter of persons, and Jesus did not discriminate against the Samaritans. Jesus visited Samaria to offer the gospel of salvation to them. From the well of Jacob, He preached the good news to this Samaritan woman who was very immoral and sinful, for she had many husbands, and was then having an affair with a man who was not her husband (John 4:18). This was precisely what Jesus came to do—to save sinners and call them to repentance. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Following the spirit of Christ, the Church is not a hotel for the healthy but a hospital for the sickly. We minister to the poor. We do our bit for the poor saints in Palestine (Baraka BPC, Bethlehem). We help the orphans in Myanmar (New Life Orphanage, Yangon). We give to the needs of the Bible College of East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania). We thank the Lord for our sisters Jenny Kan and Deborah Mae who minister to the elderly at St John’s, and a few have come to worship with us every Lord’s Day in our Chinese service. All of us come to church because we are spiritually dead, spiritually sick, or spiritually weak. We need to be spiritually revived, refreshed and recharged by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. Be baptised and partake of the Lord’s Supper. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are means of grace which God uses to strengthen our faith in Christ. Never forget to come to church on the Lord’s Day. Keep the Sabbath holy!

Not the High and Mighty, but the Poor and Lowly (John 4:7-9)

Jesus reached out to those who were shunned and despised by the high and mighty. That was why the disciples were surprised that their Master talked with this Samaritan woman (John 4:27). She was a Samaritan and a woman. Know that in those days the Jews not only despised the Samaritans, they also despised the womenfolk. The men regarded the women as no better than their goods or property. Women could be used and discarded according to their pleasure. Women were considered second-class citizens, and no better than slaves.

Jesus however broke away from sinful culture, and spoke to the Samaritan woman. Lowering Himself to speak to the Samaritan woman was nothing. It was merely a tiny extension of the tremendous extent to which He had already humbled Himself—He who was none other than God Himself became man, He who was King in heaven became a slave on earth. That was why Paul wrote, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:5-8). Jesus was “a friend of publicans and sinners” in order to save them from their sins. What great love Jesus showed, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:6-8).

Most of us in church do not belong to the rich and powerful class. We are mainly ordinary folk with nothing to shout about. That was why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” James 2:5 says, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

For sure, God has not shut the door of salvation to the rich and powerful. But if they are to enter into God’s kingdom, they must become lowly and humble, and kowtow to Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). May we ever follow after the humble ways of Christ for they are the exalted ways of God Himself. Let us “be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5). “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas 4:10).