Issues facing the Malaysian churches
The chairman of NECF, Rev. Eu Hong Seng, writing in the November-December 2010 issue of Berita NECF offers us this sobering message to end the year.
I see the top five issues that plague the church of Jesus Christ in this nation today as the following:
Prayerlessness - just look at the attendance of prayer meetings in most churches, if they still hold them. Most believers would hardly spend more than 15 minutes in prayer daily. Where is the altar in our lives?
Migration - this is symptomatic of lack of trust in God who has placed us in this country for good and not for evil. Barring a sovereign word, every migration speaks of our unhappiness with our lot in life in the country God has placed us in. We worship our happiness rather than obey the will of God.
Materialism - we succumb more and more to the desire to acquire and enjoy. We are more holiday conscious. We have no qualms about spending thousands of ringgit on ourselves but gripe so vehemently about the few dollars we have to pay for Christian courses and seminars which we need to improve ourselves.
Content to be Christians, but not disciples - lukewarmness characterizes so many in our churches. We are prepared to "surrender" a few hours to our God on Sundays and no more. Many could be mistaken as "Christian atheists", as far as their lifestyle and faithlessness is concerned.
Reluctance to be sent - Jesus Christ's command to "Go…make disciples" wherever He sends us is but a good suggestion for a few to do. The church has become "immoveable" for the wrong reasons.
Something to think about as we end the year.
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posted by Alex Tang at 8:54 AM
7 Comments:
Thanks for posting this, Alex. Much to reflect on in the New Year for Malaysia. I was in Malacca for a Church Camp in the past 4 days and watched Malaysia win the Suzuki Cup with great pride. May God bless Malaysia and all Malaysian Christians.
Hi Tony,
Amen. May God bless Malaysia and all Malaysian Christians.
Also trying too hard to be politically and Islamically correct to the detriment of the gospel ...
BTW, You don't have to approve this comment
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your perspective on this :-)
Another issue is Cultural Christians (real christian who embraces the christian culture but misses the most important thing - a strong relationship with God) :1) Christians who are spectators in church rather than participants 2) Christians who take the bible as another self-help books, lead bible studies and conduct other spiritual activities as part of self-actualization activities 3) Christians who are obsessed with serving God rather than pleasing God. Buzyness becomes a virtue and too buzy to pray!
We, including myself, need to spend more time in our prayer closet!
Hi Anon,
These are really good points you have raised. I really like the one where Christians who are obsessed with serving God rather than pleasing God. This is an interesing point which needs to be unpacked further.
Hi Alex,
When I serve the King, the great commission becomes an ASSIGNMENT! When my mission is to please the King, then I see the great commission as an ALIGNMENT as souls are dear to our King!
I do my QT early in the morning as an assignment from the Lord, because He calls me to "seek first the kingdom...". But the very moment, I completed my QT, I too completed my assignment of "seek first his kingdom" and went on with other kingdoms!
If I seek to please the King, then the seeking above will not be sequential...but the king will be pre-eminent in my life! This is what really please him. He wants me to be in his kingdom and you can never have a kingdom without a king!
How can I please Him? Only if I spend time in prayers!! King David knows this very well! Jesus knows this as well!
Be aligned with the heart of the King through prayers.
thanks
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