THE “GOD” OF KONG HEE

Kong Hee, the pastor of City Harvest Church, said that God spoke to him and told him He is sorry. God is quoted as saying, “My son, Kong … I am so sorry …”. His sermon containing God’s “sorry” statement was published in Youtube and has since gone viral.

Kong testified how he felt so depressed and disappointed with God, “‘Father, Father, why, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and thrown me to the dogs?’” He said he was finally lifted from depression when God spoke to him: “For the first time in eight months, God, I heard Him cry. And he said ‘My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone, so that you and City Harvest Church can be the man and the ministry I call it to be. I’m so sorry, but you need to go through this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation.”

Did God really speak to Kong? Did God really say those words to him? I submit to you that if it was God who spoke to Kong, then this “God” is not the God whom we have come to know from the Holy Scriptures. It is someone else. I say this because the God of the Bible has never said things like this and will never say things like this. We know that God is truthful and consistent in all His ways, and it is impossible for God to contradict Himself.

There is a whole lot of bad and wrong theology in Kong’s sermon and testimony, words he had attributed to God whom he claimed spoke to him. Now, let us examine Kong’s claims in the light of the Holy Scriptures.

(1) God Does Not Apologise for His Deeds

It is not in God’s nature to ever apologise or be sorry for anything that He does or wills to do. That is because God is absolutely sovereign and wise in all His ways, and He makes no mistakes. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent (Hebrew nicham, to be sorry): hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” God neither regrets His decisions nor His actions. He is always holy and perfect, righteous and good in all His ways. He does no evil and does no wrong. Since God is all- powerful and all-knowing, it is impossible for God to fail or to err (Heb 6:18).

Now, from Kong’s testimony, it does seem like God is saying sorry to Kong because God has forsaken him and has thrown him to the dogs. However, Kong has since explained that he is not saying that God has apologised to him in the sense that God was admitting guilt, but that it was God’s word of comfort to him, like someone saying, “I am so sorry for your loss.”

Nonetheless, even if this was the case, is God ever sorry for all the sufferings that His children go through for His sake? The answer is no. God is not at all sorry for that. In fact God has already warned His children to expect suffering in this life. In Acts 14:22 we are told, “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Jesus Himself tells us in John 16:33, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

How does God comfort His children who go through suffering on account of Him? Not with a “I am so sorry”, but a “You are so blessed”. Matthew 5:10-12 says, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” 1 Peter 4:12-14 likewise assures us, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”

God blesses His people who are suffering for righteousness’ sake, and expects His people to be happy when they go through such trials and tribulations. “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (Jas 1:2-3).

But here, we find the “God” of Kong so sorry for Kong’s suffering, speaking in such a way that is so out of character with the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is happy when His children suffer for His sake, and tells them to be joyful when they go through trials and tribulations because such experiences will build them up in the faith.

(2) God Does Not Say Thanks to His Servants

The word “thanks” is used a hundred times in the Bible, and not once is it used of God thanking man, but man thanking God. For instance, 1 Chronicles 29:13, “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.”; Ezra 3:11, “And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.”; Psalm 75:1, “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks.”

If God is pleased with His servants, He would commend them, not thank them. If God were to thank His servant, that would make God inferior to His servant. God is not below us, He is always above us, our Superior. In fact, He is not just Superior, He is Supreme. Consider what Jesus taught in Luke 17:7-10, “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”

It is only God who is indispensable, not man. It is man who cannot do without God, and not vice versa. As such, it is man that has to thank God and not the other way round. But here we have God thanking Kong, “My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this. I need you …” The “God” of Kong appears to be subservient to Kong, and cannot do without Kong. The “God” of Kong is very different from the God we find in the Scriptures.

(3) God Does Not Leave Us Alone

God does not leave His children and servants alone either. He has promised to be with them until the end of the age. In the Great Commission, Jesus promised, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matt 28:20). God told Joshua, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Josh 1:5). God assured Israel, “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isa 41:10).

God would never abandon His children even when they backslide or stray away from Him. As a loving Father, He would chastise them, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Heb 12:6-8). You see, our loving heavenly Father does not leave us alone. He applies His disciplining rod to get us back on the right track. God only leaves the reprobates and apostates (ie, those who are not His children, but children of the devil) alone. His children, on the other hand, are always under His constant watch and care, and sometimes we get His “sugarcane” for our own good.

When the Apostle Paul asked God to take away his “thorn in the flesh”, a certain physical ailment he had which brought him tremendous pain and suffering, the Lord said to him and encouraged him three times, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9). God did not remove Paul’s pain but promised him His grace, His strength. God never leaves us alone to suffer the trials and tribulations, hardships and difficulties we face in life. He is always there to help us. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Kong said that God wants him to go through his sufferings alone so as to bring about a change to his generation. What is this change that Kong will bring to his generation? Is it the whole new way of looking at Christ and Christianity that he and his wife are trying so hard to promote? Is it the carnal and worldly Christianity of his “Crossover Project”? Is it through the sensuous and seductive “China Wine” of his wife? The Bible is clear that it is not in God’s holy nature to employ such ungodly and worldly means and methods to win people into His Kingdom. Jesus never wooed and wowed people into following Him through money and sex; that is what Satan does, not God. Satan tempted Jesus once in such a way, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt 4:8-10). Here again, we see the “God” of Kong to be so different from the God of the Bible.

In light of these three biblical reasons, we cannot but conclude that the “God” of Kong is not the God that we know from the Bible. He is another “God”. “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matt 13:9). JK