Here is an index of this quarter's postings (December '08 to February '09). Clicking on the titles will take you to that post.

During this quarter the blog recorded over 10,000 page views - thanks everyone for reading!

This quarter featured a post I worked on a while ago, and have been sitting on - but in the end decided to post. It's about the Eastern and Western approach to committees (17 Feb). Also some reflections on a pretty damning report into depression amongst Asian kids who go to church (3 Dec) and the place of duty in Chinese culture - and its influence in Chinese Christianity (22 Dec). You may find these stimulating to read through with your leadership team!

Coming up soon will be some posts on the influence of the concept of face on Chinese culture and Chinese churches ... stay tuned! Oh, and if you're on Twitter, you'll find me here.

December 2008


January 2009


February 2009


[ PS: during this period, which were your favourite posts? which ones did you feel strongly about? ]

Ernest Chiang from CECA has dug up an interesting report from the ABS about the religious affiliation of the different generations in Australia from the 2006 ABS census (it's called Religion across the generations). And in terms of generations, there isn't just Gen X, Gen Y and baby boomers - the ABS divides the population into five generations, from the iGeneration (0 to 19 years), all the way up to the Oldest generation (80 years+).

How do the different generations respond to the religion question on the ABS census? The following graph shows you how people represent themselves by age from the 2006 census (click graph for larger version stored at Photobucket).

The above graph is in terms of age of individuals. This next series of graphs shows you how generation groups as a whole tend to respond to the religion question.

Think Australia is reached? these graphs show just how far behind we really are - and also how we need to prepare ourselves for in evangelism.

Large sections of all generations still identify themselves as Catholics - believing that we are saved by faith plus works. And in Galatians Paul urgently wants people to know that such a gospel is a different gospel - one that is not a gospel at all (Gal 1:6-9).

Not only that, large segments of the younger generations identify themselves as 'no religion' (particularly Gen X, Y and the iGeneration).

And across the board, non Christian religions (eg. Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism) is actually quite a small percentage.

These graphs show that there is clearly a lot of work to do! And it also shows that in terms of preparing ourselves for outreach, it is still particularly important to sharpen ourselves to speak clearly about (a) Roman Catholicism, and (b) atheism/agnosticism. Though how we speak about these things might change because of generational differences...

[PS: any other observations you can make of these graphs? ]

It is actually ten years ago this month (Feb 1999), that I left my job at IBM and started first year at Bible college.

Some people think you don't need Bible college. That it's a waste of time: three years, or maybe even four locked away learning things you never use again. What's the point? And so there's a trend of wanting to cut short or bypass college altogether, and get out into ministry as quick as you can.

Well, I don't agree.

Because Bible college changed my world in many different ways. And today I want to share with you some of the major ways that it did so...


Think you don't have anything to learn from Bible college? that you already have all it takes for ministry? Think again!

[ PS: even a couple of weeks ago I met someone who thought they had nothing to learn from college... ]

How does your committee function? What does the chairman see his role to be? If you map out the relationships, and consider how decisions are made, what will you see?

Eastern cultures lean towards the concept of the "benevolent dictator". In this model the chairman functions much like the king of the committee. He decides what will happen, and what will not. He decides who will do what. And other people in the committee merely function to support or obey the direction of the chairman.


In this diagram, notice how prominent the chairperson is, and how there are strong lines between him and the other members of the committee. However, those other members are much smaller, and the lines between them and the others are weaker. Yes, there are lots of people on the committee - but in reality, the only thing that matters is the will of the chairman.

However, note that this works both ways. Not only does the chairman expect this from the committee, the committee members generally expect to be led by the chairman. And so sometimes if something happens to make the chairman ineffective (eg. a crisis in his personal life, or if he gets too busy), the committee simply doesn't do anything - because they are waiting for direction from the chairman.

Sometimes however it is not just the chairman, but a small group of two, or maybe three people that essentially form a committee-within-a-committee.


In the diagram notice the two prominent members - and the strong link between the two of them. Together, they maintain relationships within the rest of the committee, who are much less prominent. And the relationship between the other committee members again is not as strong.

In practice, what really matters is what goes on between those two committee members. What really counts is the opinion and endorsement of those two special committee members, because they decide what will actually happen. The others might be given some selected information, or asked to approve a decision - but generally information is held back from them, generally they are not allowed to participate in the actual decision making process. There might be the opportunity for their opinions to be heard - but it don't actually make a difference.

In more Western cultures, committees tend to function with the chairman being the facilitator of the committee. He sees his role as allowing others to say what they want to say, working out the intention and plan of the group, and basically serving the group. What tends to be prominent here is the group, not the chairman. Here you could have a chairman with no plan of his own of what he wants to do, yet the committee can still function well - because he is able to get out of the people what they think should happen.


Now these kinds of committees aren't perfect. They have the danger of being hijacked by a group of vocal members, or of factions forming within the committee. This is why Western committees vote.


An Eastern committee chairman would never allow such disharmony and traitorous disunity within their committees! And in fact overly vocal committee members would be seen as a problem. And voting is unnecessary, because he has already spoken to the committee members individually before the meeting, and has already gotten consensus.

Both Eastern and Western models can work - although both have their own weaknesses. However you can see that in cross cultural situations, where more Eastern people are in the same committee as more Western people, there can be massive differences in the expectation of how the committee should function, how decisions are made, and how chairmen and members should behave!

Carefully analyse how relationships work in the committees you are in - whether at work, at school or in the community. Is there a difference between what is on paper, and what is reality? How does the chairman see himself in relation to others, and how do others see him? What happens when there is a difference of opinion to the chairman - is it tolerated, expected, even encouraged? Do people have the same voice at the table, or do some voices have more sway than others?

As you do that analysis you may discover that one cause of much frustration and tension in your committee are differences in expectations of how that committee would function! But many ABCs may also be surprised to discover how Eastern they actually tend to be when they work in committees... for all their Westernness, ABCs often tend to create committees around strong chairmen!

[ PS: how do we reflect theologically on how committees are run? ]

I've noticed that a lot of evangelicals who call themselves 'reformed' don't actually know what that term means - and aren't really all that reformed at all... but that's a post for another day! Reformed evangelicals, however, do tend to be reformed in their understanding of salvation. They tend to be quite clear that salvation is all a work of God, and that humans are unable to contribute to their own salvation. That even the faith we use to receive salvation is itself a gift of God. That, at least, is well understood by many reformed evangelicals.

However I've noticed that those exact same people who are reformed in their understanding of salvation, tend to be completely non reformed when it comes to sanctification! In fact when it comes to the doctrine of sanctification, they tend to hold a decidedly Arminian view...

Those people who are proud to think of themselves as reformed evangelicals tend to be quite shocked when I point this out - but you can quite easily observe it in their preaching and in how they counsel people to make progress in the Christian life.

How do you make progress in the Christian life? From previous posts about the Spirit empowered life (here and here) you can see that the answer many evangelicals give is that now you know what God desires of you, you simply just ... do it. And if you fail, then you simply need to try harder. Or use some extra techniques, such as accountability partners, or meeting up one-on-one with someone. And that's all you need to do in order to make progress in sanctification.

However can you see that this answer is a completely Arminian answer? It lays the emphasis on sanctification entirely on the human agent. It assumes that the human being is able to choose to do those things that please God, and that all that really needs to happen from God's side is to enlighten the mind of the human so they can see what is the good and right thing for them to do.

And that's partly right - that enlightenment does need to happen. Our minds have been affected by the fall. But reformed evangelicals should also know that the fall affected all parts of the human being - including their hearts and their will. It's just that when many reformed evangelicals think about sanctification, they have somehow forgotten that fact, and assume that once enlightened, a Christian will choose to do that which is pleasing to God.

However that clearly doesn't happen - we know that from our own experience!

And that's because the problem is also in our hearts, and our wills.

A reformed view of sanctification will not only acknowledge that Christians need God's Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds to understand his Scriptures to know what is right. No, a reformed view of sanctification will also acknowledge that Christians need God's Holy Spirit to enable our wills to press on in sanctification, and to create a love for God in our hearts.

It is pride that thinks that we can choose by ourselves to please God (our wills). And it is folly to think that we can create in ourselves a love for God (our hearts). Certainly, these things are commanded of us - but these are also things that we need God to do for us.

This means that reformed sanctification prays - pleads, really - that God would change our wayward hearts and grow in us a love for him above all things. And trusts that God enables our wills to pursue the things of God, even when we feel we are at the end of our own resources.

[ PS: is your view of sanctification consistent with your view of salvation? ]

How then does the Holy Spirit work in the life of the believer? Here are three diagrams I've used before - you may have seen it at 500, or a SCCCA workshop.

Dragged along by the Spirit In this first diagram you're like a horse and the Spirit has you by the reins and pulls you along. After all doesn't Paul talk about being led by the Spirit? Well the Spirit pulls us along just like a horse.

And the thinking here is that the Spirit does all the work. It should be easy for us. All we need to do is relax and wait for the time when doing God's will comes easily to us. From when God works in us to make it happen. All we have to do is "let go and let God."

Told where to go by the Spirit This second one is more popular in Sydney. Here the Spirit is involved in your life by show you what you need to do. Here the Holy Spirit speaks through the Bible, and illumines our minds to understand the Bible. After all, what is the sword of the spirit? it's the word of God.

And so here the Spirit works by reveal to us in Scripture what we need to do. "Go over there," we are instructed. "Be godly in this way." The spirit has shown you, and so now you're under your own steam, you have to get on with it.

Walk by the Spirit But the third is that we walk by the Spirit. And here the image is of you walking, and the Spirit - not pulling you, not just telling you where to go - but walking alongside with you. Walking beside you, enabling you as you go to put your feet one before the other. The Spirit making it possible for you to take the steps you need to take (Galatians 5:16-18).

Because in reality, it's actually impossible for the natural human being to do what is truly pleasing to God. God actually has to work inside of us to make that happen. And this is what the Bible writers have always said.

Here are several places where we see that dynamic at work. First off, Philippians 2.


In verse 12 Paul tells us to "work out our salvation" - we are meant to walk. But in verse 13, Paul also tells us that while we are to "work out our salvation", it is God who works inside of us to make that happen. And God works inside of us by his Holy Spirit.

Another place where we see this dynamic at work is in 2 Timothy where Paul addresses Timothy specifically, telling him:


Timothy is commanded to "guard the good deposit" (the gospel). That's his responsibility. Yet at the same time Paul tells him that it is the Holy Spirit who works in Timothy to enable him to do what has been commanded of him. Again, the Spirit empowers the human to do what the human has been commanded to do.

And a third place we see this dynamic at work is in Ephesians 3:


How does a person change their heart? What can a person do to make Christ their treasure, which is what they ought to do? In reality, they can't do it for themselves - God has to operate on our hearts to make this happen, by his Holy Spirit.

Time and time again it is the Spirit inside of us who enables us to live a life that is pleasing to God.

And here are the implications of Christians acknowledging this necessary work of God in their lives.

If we believed (like in the first diagram) that we were merely dragged along by the Spirit, then there is no real motivation to grow in godliness. If it's not easy, then simply don't do it. The Spirit's not at work, and so this musn't be God's timing - so there's no point trying.

If we believed (like in the second diagram) that we were merely told what to do by the Spirit, and then had to carry on under our own steam, this leads to people trying hard - but with two results. On the one hand, when they get to the point where they feel they are at the end of their resources, where they are tempted beyond what they can bear, they will give up. Because they are doing on their own steam after all - and really, they can only reasonably be expected to go so far. But on the other hand, if they do succeed, this leads to pride because they think did it by themselves, under their own resources. Well done to them, because of their determination and self control. What heroes of faith!

That second diagram is the "Spirit directed life". But while we do need the Spirit to illumine our darkened minds with God's truth, we need more than that. We actually need God's empowerment...

And for those who understand the dynamic of the third diagram, who truly believe God's promise that God's Holy Spirit is walking with them and enabling them to do that which is humanly impossible but which God has called them to do - when these people get to the end of where 'their' resources can take them, they can keep persevering and not give up - because they know that God's Holy Spirit empowers them supernaturally for their impossible task of forgiving their enemies. Or loving the unlovable. Or turning away from lust.

And when they do forgive their enemies, or turn away from lust, they will not be proud. Instead, they will be humble, knowing that it is God who enables them to do the impossible.

I once spoke to someone who was unwilling to forgive - even though many years had passed, and even though they knew that was what God commands of them. Why wouldn't this person do it? It was just too hard. And that's right, it was beyond their resources - but we are empowered by God's Holy Spirit. I showed this person Galatians 5, but they couldn't believe that God's Spirit would help them to forgive. And that's the issue, really - whether we believe in this promise or not. Because trusting in that, we can do that which is humanly impossible - like resisting temptation, forgiving those who have hurt us - and even loving God!

[ PS: baby no.2 is coming soon... ]