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Pastor's Corner by Pastor Jonathan

March, 2006

Initially I wanted to write about some of the “hot topics” of today, but I am hesitant to express my personal views in this newsletter for fear our church may lose non-profit status for expressing political opinions! Why do I have reason to be hesitant? It seems to me that Jesus and God have been purposefully excluded from our everyday life in America.

We have “Turkey Day”, “Holiday” parties, “Holiday” Trees, and “Spring Break”. In my son’s kindergarten class, the word Christmas was not mentioned, no Nativity crafts, no Christmas cards, and no singing of Christmas carols. Candy Canes were not allowed since they are supposedly a symbol of Jesus (shaped like a “J” or the staff of the Good Shepherd, the white and red stripes representing the His purity and blood.) However, Kwanzaa was mentioned, Santa Claus crafts were made, they danced to Jewish folk songs, and each student was given a Jewish toy called a dreidel. Then, last month the entire class celebrated Chinese New Year by dressing in colorful costumes, making paper dragons and lion heads, and parading around the school chanting, “Monsters, monsters go away, and don’t come back on any day!”

Don’t misunderstand. I really enjoy celebrations! I also encourage everyone to learn about different cultures, traditions, and beliefs. However, why are Jesus and Christianity left out of this agenda of supposed openness and tolerance? The reason cannot be for separation of church and state, since many of these alternative activities are definitely religious. The reason cannot be for sensitivity to other cultures, since half of the students are not Chinese. The reason cannot be for exposing children to various folk tales, since others would obviously think Jesus birth, death and resurrection are also only folk tales. And the reason cannot be for the sake of balancing out an overemphasis on Christianity, since in my own informal survey of a talking with people a majority still do not know the historical meaning of Christmas or Easter!                                   

Perhaps the reason is an unconscious determination to eradicate all mention of the person who presents truths that many do not wish to face. These are truths that speak for changes in values and lifestyles.

The “hot topic” I will advocate for here is that Jesus be at least mentioned: be it as Savior, religious founder, historical figure, or merely a character in a folk story. Here I will not endorse or condemn any particular political platform, but I am endorsing any activity that will just include Jesus in the conversation.

Although I believe it is necessary to be involved in the political arena, I also believe we should live in such a positive way that it is unavoidable that Jesus be mentioned. Prayer in school? We ought to pray to at home. Same sex marriages? Let’s be an example of how Jesus builds healthy marriages.  The 10 Commandments on government property? Keep writing the Great Commandment on our hearts (Matt. 22:37-40). Concerned about abortion? Don’t let the concerns of the world abort our fellowship with God. Separation of church and state? Allow Jesus to be Lord in every aspect of our lives. When we are engaged in these ways everyone will have a reason to celebrate who God is and all He’s doing to draw every tribe, language, people and nation to Himself.

Pastor Jonathan

我本來想寫一些有關今日〝熱門〞話題的分享，但我猶疑，害怕當我表達我個人的政治言論後，教會可能會失去〝非牟利機構〞的地位。我有什麼理由要猶疑的呢？我覺得美國是刻意地將耶穌和神排除在我們每天的生活之外。

我們有〝火雞日〞、〝假期〞歡聚、〝假期〞樹、和〝春假，在兒子的幼稚園班中，不可以提〝聖誕節〞這個字、不做〝耶誕〞手工藝、無〝聖誕咭〞、沒有唱〝聖誕歌〞；亦不可以有〝棒棒糖〞(candy cane)，因為它們是耶穌的表徵﹝J字的形狀、或好牧人的杖；白和紅的顏色代表祂的聖潔和血﹞。但是他們會提到美國非洲裔族群的七德節(Kwanzaa)；做有關聖誕老人的手工藝；他們跳猶太人的土風舞；派給每位學生一個猶太人的玩具陀螺(dreidel)。然後在最後一個月，全班會穿起彩色繽紛的服裝來慶祝農曆新年；用紙來做龍和獅頭；和在學校中遊行並高叫〝妖怪、妖怪離開，不要再回來〞。

不要誤會，我實在是喜歡慶祝的，我亦鼓勵每一個人去認識不同的文化、傳統、和信仰。但為什麼在這個應該是開放和接納的地方，耶穌和基督教竟然被忽視呢？絕對不是要〝政教分離〞，因為很多其他的活動肯定是與宗教有關的；也不是要對其他的文化保持敏感，因為有一半的學生不是中國裔；亦不會是讓學生可以多接觸到其他不同的民間傳說，因為明顯地其他的人相信耶穌的出生、死亡、和復活只不過是民間傳說而已；更不可能是為了平衡避免過度著重於基督教，因為在我一個非正式的統計中，大多數與我交談的人根本就不知道聖誕節和復活節的歷史意義！

或許理由是一個潛意式，為要阻止一切有關他們不想面對卻是代表真理那一位的言論。這是事實並表明我們的價值觀及生活方式在改變。

我要在這裏提出的〝熱門話題〞是起碼可以提及耶穌：無論是作為救主、信仰的創始人、歷史人物、甚至只是民間傳說中的一個角色。在這裏我不會贊同或批判任何一個政治團體，但我會贊同任何包括耶穌在內的活動。

雖然我知道參與政治是需要的，但我亦相信我們必須要在生活中正面的提到耶穌。在學校禱告？我們要定意在家中祈禱；同性婚姻？讓我們作為基督建立健康婚姻的榜樣；在政府物業中張貼〝十戒〞？不斷將〝大使命〞(馬太福音廿二章37-40節) 刻在我們心裏；擔心墮胎？不要讓世界的纏擾中斷我們和神的團契；政教分離？容讓耶穌成為我們生命每一部份的主。當我們這樣做的時候，每一個人都有理由為神去慶祝，而祂所做的就是要帶領屬於不同部落、方言、種族和國家的人來歸向祂。

李振倫牧師

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