Mono-lingual Christians?

Dr Roland Chia gave an interview to the Christian Post on Christians Need to Love Before, For God: Theologian

Dr. Roland Chia. (Photo: The Christian Post)

The challenge for Christian discipleship today, according to theologian Roland Chia, is to help Christians recognise that they live their lives Coram Deo or in the presence of God and that everything they do must be done for His glory.

One of the most important emphases in Christian nurture has to do with the removal of the artificial dichotomy between the secular and the sacred.

"There are no private spheres, no secular spaces," said Dr. Chia.

Most Christians understand this at a theoretical or ideational level, he added.

The challenge is to help Christians to recognise the implications of that truth in their thinking and relationships and in the things that they do.

According to the theologian, the true goal of Christian discipleship is to live one's life before God and for His glory.

"To do this requires faith, discipline, prayer, wisdom and courage on the part of the Christian," he said.

Dr. Chia shared his reflections in an email interview with The Christian Post. The interview revolved around ways to encourage Singapore Christians to live more biblically.

Christians need to learn to be 'mono-lingual', to have an appreciation of reality that is informed by the Christian worldview. Elaborating he said: "They sometimes look at reality through the prism of secularism, pragmatism, relativism and pluralism.

Mono-lingual Christians would look at economics, science, the arts and education through the account of reality provided by the Scriptures.

"For the mono-lingual Christian, everything is theological," said the theologian. Everything must be understood from the standpoint of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, he explained.

Unfortunately most Christians are not mono-lingual but bi-lingual, he observed.read more 

It is interesting that Chia uses mono-lingual and bi-lingual  to describe worldviews but I assume that he is using them as metaphors rather than equating linguistic with ontology. However, it does beg the question whether it is possible for anyone to be mono-lingual and yet live in our multi-cultural, multi-religious and pluralistic world.

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