That the world may know...
After more than two and a half years of living in Timor, I’m beginning to behave and think like the local people in some aspects.
Gradually, we have come to adjust to their rhythm of life and flow along with it. We wake up when it gets bright, which is about 6:30am at this time of the year. Instead of stocking up on breakfast supplies like we used to, we now buy just what we need every morning like the locals do. I honestly don’t know why we started doing that; it just feels right. At mid-day, everything shuts down and people head home for lunch and catch a nap. So do I. With the onset of the rainy season, activities end not according to a pre-determined schedule, but when dense, grey clouds descend from the mountains, signaling the start of heavy rains.
Last Sunday, as I sat in church, I realized I had become like the Timorese in another way.
The preacher was a young man, M, who was studying theology in the Indonesian city of Jogjakarta. He was back for the Christmas break. We got to know him when we visited another pastor friend living 2 hours outside Jogjakarta in August. We had never been to Jogjakarta before, and didn’t speak Bahasa Indonesian. So this friend sent M, and another Timorese theological student to pick us up at the airport. They sent us to their campus to rest for the afternoon, while they got bus tickets for us to travel to our friend’s home. We spent several hours together, had lunch, and got to know one another. It was a good time connecting, and we were very grateful for their help.
M preached well. He was engaging, funny and taught the Word with passion. As I listened to him, I was reminded of the help and hospitality he so cheerfully extended to us in Indonesia. The fact that I had a personal and very positive encounter with him made me especially receptive to his message. Then it dawned on me, that I was personally experiencing what I had learnt about communication, that the credibility of the messenger affects how the message is received.
There is a cross-cultural difference at work here. In societies like Singapore where the rule of law and state organs are strong, trust is bestowed in the office that someone holds. For example, we respect and trust a traffic police officer in uniform, because we recognize that he is an agent appointed by the state and invested with authority to enforce traffic rules. Whose son he is, and what the police officer is like in his private life doesn’t matter when he is acting in an official capacity.
But in places like Timor, where the rule of law is weak, and state institutions are less developed and competent, trust is a different ball game altogether. You trust someone not so much because they hold an official title, but because you know them personally, and have experienced the fruit of their life. Trust here is bound up in having a personal relationship that has stood the test of time, or in someone’s personal history of serving and caring for others.
So just standing behind the pulpit, and having the knowledge and skills necessary to expound the Word of God isn’t sufficient. To be a trustworthy and credible messenger in some societies, one has to manifest fruit over time, as well as share life with others in strong personal relationships. That was what happened as I received M’s message into my heart last Sunday. I had been personally blessed by him, and I trusted both him, and the authenticity of his message intuitively.
This has also reminded me of an important fact that we often miss due to our Western mindset that sometimes over-emphasizes cognitive development. The word “know” in the English language does not do justice to the biblical concept of knowing. Knowing that 1+1=2, is not the same type of knowing, as when we say that we know God is good. The former is a cognitive knowing, the latter, an experiential knowing. True biblical knowing is tied up with a personal experience. It is not a cerebral, intellectual exercise.
In that light, we can better understand why the Angel of the Lord told Abraham in Genesis 22:12, “…now I know that you fear God…”, after Abraham was stopped from sacrificing Isaac. Yes, God in His omniscience knew that Abraham would obey him, but it was in that moment when Abraham actually lifted the knife to slay Isaac that God personally experienced Abraham’s complete obedience and faithfulness.
Have you given God a personal experience of your love for Him lately, such that He can say “Now I know that you love Me”?
Curious, I browsed through the gospels for other instances where Jesus taught about knowing God. One verse caught my eye.
“But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.” [John 14:31]
I meditated on this verse for a long time today. What was the motivation behind all that Jesus did? That the world may know. Know what? That the world may know (remember, that means personally experience) His love for the Father and His obedience to His commandments. And the outcome? He arose and went to Calvary.
If Christ is our example, all of our doing should spring out of the same motivation – that others may truly know ie, personally experience both our love for God, and our obedience to Him.
Have others personally experienced my love for the Father through the things I do? When others look at what we do, can they tell that we love the Father?
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