Being "Well-Taught" vs Real Knowledge (1 Corinthians 8)

Madrinaa Pizza. iPhone 3GS + CrossProcess.

In some Christian circles, it is a virtue to be well-taught - to be able to handle the Word faithfully and to hold to biblical doctrines. And God tells us that these things are indeed important and essential for every aspect of life as a Christian (see, eg, 2 Timothy). These skills alone however, don't make us children of God anymore than getting full marks on music theory papers makes us useful tinklers of ivories.

But our innate sinfulness will not let us remain, harmlessly, completely useless. We quickly become puffed up by our knowledge. Those in-the-know separate themselves from the clueless. We could be robust in our defence of the gospel and have an answer for every objection, we could be fantastic expositors of Scripture and committed preachers or teachers and keen studiers of CCM song lyrics, but we could merely be applying abilities that would formerly have been spent diligently doing our homework, successfully spotting exam questions, trashing our opponents in debating competitions and in completing a postdoctoral thesis on the etymology of the Middle English suffix -more that would be published in preference to a competing postdoctoral thesis on the etymology of the Middle English suffix -hede.

"If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." (1 Corinthians 8:2-3)

We know that food offered to idols is nothing since idols are nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4-5), just as we know that a text without a context is a pretext and that Above All contains a unbiblically man-centred chorus. All this is true, yet truth, God's truth,is never merely propositional but primarily relational.

When we, in our superior state, scorn the know-nots and their pedestrian tastes in doctrine, we actually deny the very knowledge we claim to have. So the Corinthians, by insisting on their freedom in the truth that there was only one God to the detriment of their weaker brothers, denied the truth that it is only for God and through Jesus Christ that we exist (cf 1 Corinthians 8:6) - they in fact destroyed their brothers for whom Christ died (1 Corinthians 8:11) and were as those who denied Christ (1 Corinthians 8:12).

This isn't so much a case of knowledge vs love. Rather it is that real knowledge is both factual and relational knowledge - that one is known by God and that causes one to love God and people. (Though it must be said that this love flows from the truth of the gospel and isn't a vague niceness that doesn't try to push the gospel.) We take our cue from God the All-Knowing, whose infinite and eternal knowledge is concerned with having loving relationships with the Trinity and his people.

I think! ;-p



Madrinaa Pizza & Pasta
Blk 3, # 02-141 Queen's Road,
Singapore 260003

Another Tioman Trip feat. Encouragement

washed out*

At the end of a week that didn't seem like it would ever end, there was Pulau Tioman. The Paya Beach Resort bit of Tioman Island wasn't spectacularly pretty. Its kampung feel was slightly on the more rundown side of charmingly rustic.

The sand on its beach was dark yellow and rough, but the water clear enough to gaze at corals and fishes while sitting on the railings and chatting at the jetty.

Tioman time is relative, said the Chinese cze char resto owner as he brought out more complimentary Tsingtao beer for the FIFA World Cup 2010 Germany vs Serbia match, 大家都走得很慢.

And it seemed that lazy hot childhoods were spent fishing with a bit of bread, a hook and a line,

or fooling around on a surfboard and waving goodbye to divers going out to sea (sometimes, the goodbye is forever, as we found out from the boatman while idling off Pulau Labas, waiting for people who had gone on their second dive to emerge from underwater tunnels. A few days ago, a girl died after falling from the upper deck of a boat on the way back from a snorkelling trip. Last year, a Japanese woman was killed by a boat's propeller as she was surfacing from a dive - the dive master had come up first and put up the sausage but there were three divers from the group who had yet to surface (this report tells a different story). There was another fatal incident involving falling from a boat that had been rocked by a strong wave at the jetty, a lifejacket and another running propeller...)

or over an old checkers board with plastic bottle caps.

The free breakfast was decent enough. The sausages that were more starch than meat were fed to the many cats moseying around for a free bite.

Lunches of Special King Beefs (Ramli burgers with two beef patties wrapped in egg) at Sunrise Cafe barely lasted us till dinner.

For dinner, there was the choice of edible cze char to the right of the jetty

or good barbecued seafood, and buckets of duty-free beer to wash down satay and otah at the resort.

And we had plenty of time to check out the snacks while waiting for the 11.00am ferry that finally arrived at 2.00pm after being stopped by the marine police for a spot-check.

It was good to be in the midst of people reading good books - the Good Book (someone started reading from Genesis and was at the Book of Esther by the time we got to Tanjong Gemuk), Mark Ashton's Christian Youth Ministry (that got passed round a bit), a book on finishing the Christian race well, and spontaneously gossiping the gospel (no pulpit nagging repeatedly quoting The Great Commission necessary). A bit of rest after two weeks of little sleep, dealing (not successfully) with my own irritation at people not bothering to be organised enough or selfless enough to make the most of gospel opportunities and even sabotaging such times, frustration at energy and time expended on things for the tummy and not eternal things etc etc

Truly God is is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Until the end of the age, there will exist that tension between human responsibility and God's sovereignty; we must do all we can to preach salvation, yet we must never put our confidence in our work or make idols of our schemes. As David Jackman puts it,"...our business is growing...but only God gives the increase..."

On Christ the solid Rock i stand,
All other ground is sinking sand

*********************************

To get to Paya Beach Resort:

• coach from DFS Orchard, Singapore to Tanjung Gemuk, Malaysia (via various bus operators)
• purchase ferry tickets from Tanjung Gemuk to Pulau Tioman
  

And don't forget to pay your Tioman Island Marine Park fee. Keep the receipt at all times in case the ubiquitous marine police pull you over for a spot-check.


At Paya Beach Resort, snorkel gear can be rented from this bald dude, and diving equipment from the Dive Cove and say hi to Funny while you're there.


I be liking this mask.


So much more to see!

*all photos by iPhone 3GS + Tiltshift or Crossprocess or Swankolab + PSMobile. Interestingly, one of my photos will hanging around the Schlechtriem Brothers Gallery in Berlin Mitte as part of the chosen 144 (not thousand) in the EYE'EM Award 2010.

Fallen Frangipani, Really Wise Living (Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:29)

Fallen Frangipani. iPhone + SwankoLab

After the wake, we sat at Lavender Food Centre, ate and drank and spoke about alternate realities - what could have been; what if... But such talk was foolish, as foolish as believing that the right ingestion of antioxidants will prevent cancerous growths or that intellectual stimulation and a healthy social life will stave off Alzhimer's or that a certain style of parenting will produce a certain type of child or that following baking instructions to the letter will produce the desired confection; as arrogantly foolish as believing that science, mathematics, philosophy, psychology or one's pet subject will with a little more research, allow humans to find out everything about the world and so control their destinies.

Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:10-12)

What has happened has been determined by God (naming something means having authority over it - cf Genesis 2:19-20). God is sovereign all things and has ordained the present to be exactly as it is. We may disagree with how he has ordered it, but who are we to dispute with God who is more powerful than us - do we even know how to live well in the short time that we are given on earth? Do we know what will happen in the future? No? Well, then how silly to presume to tell God how to run his world.

Panasonic 3D ad, Vivocity. iPhone + SwankoLab.

A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-11)

Still, it is advantageous to be wise during our fleeting lives: it is better to live knowing that death is certain, knowing the dangers of this world, having control over one's emotions, not looking back to the past with foolish nostalgia etc. Wisdom is useful while we still draw breath, for there is a certain order to the world.

For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. (Ecclesiastes 7:12)

Many will have us think that wisdom is better than crassness of money. In fairy tales, it is always the wise (but poor) lad who kills the dragons, solves the mysteries and wins the politically-incorrect prize over the filthy rich (but always foolish and morally degenerate and usually physically corpulent) man. But in reality, the protection of knowing how the world works and knowing what is right to do is equal to the protection afforded by money - useful but only up to a certain point.

Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14)

Man will never be able to understand all things so that he knows how to navigate his way through life, because there is ultimately no set order to things, no universally certain cause-and-effect. God has made this so that man's search will be frustrated.

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18)

And so we observe that wisdom does not always produce the desired outcome. Things don't always go well for the righteous nor badly for the foolish. The practical conclusion then is not to trust either our wisdom or foolishness to see us through but rather to fear God who controls both good and bad outcomes.

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. (Ecclesiastes 7:20-21)

And while wisdom is useful, its usefulness is also limited by the inability of even the wise to live rightly.

All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:23-29)

The Qoholet searches long and hard can't find ultimate wisdom, but perhaps the very search for ultimate wisdom is foolishness that lands the intrepid searcher in the fatal embrace of Madame Folly (there is the suggestion that since Ecclesiastes is part of Hebrew wisdom literature, the two metaphors of that genre - Madam Folly and Lady Wisdom make their appearance here as well). For although God has made mankind wise (apparently "upright" is synonymous with "wise" in the Hebrew), he has sought to understand the scheme of things apart from God and so become a fool.

Ultimate wisdom, then, is found in God who is sovereign over all things - he alone orders the present and ordains the future. Therefore we should please him and obey him for only he can tell us how we should live our lives.

Death vs Man = ∞ vs 0

So Death claims another.

Sunshine after the storm. The last days of the MV Doulos. iPhone 3GS + SwankoLab

But in our minds, she is alive and animated, holding forth in a loud voice in the canteen on the merits of Madonna. She is rebellious. She is sassy and a natural leader. She is a school prefect with disdain for authority. She speaks her mind. She wears white-rimmed spectacles. She has brown floppy hair that she keeps pinned up with a clip. She has pale perfect skin.

She is laughing her cute laugh as she feeds a lamb from a bottle.

She takes the cats for walks on leashes.

She is just a long chatty phone-call away.

She loves her dog and smokes her ciggies with nonchalance.

She is no more. She walked out the window of her apartment. Her broken body lies within a closed coffin.

If time-travel were possible, if she were told how it would all end, she would have laughed. It could not be: she was strong, she had places to go and things to do. She would not have known there would be illnesses beyond the control of man.

Her husband's Facebook relationship status says: Single.

National Geographic Store Singapore. iPhone 3 GS + SwankoLab

As we all too die off one by one, there will be no memory of her ever existing. Her careful handwriting in autograph books will fade, her photos deleted, her possessions in the Salvation Army bin. There will be no remembrance of the joy she brought to some, nor of the consequences of her strongly-articulated opinions. Her love and her hate and her envy have already perished, and forever she has no more share in all that is done under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:6). It will be as she never was.

As it will be for us all.

Perhaps in mourning her, we mourn for ourselves. But it need not be.

...he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:4-5)

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10)

Even though we are too shuffling along in the queue to the crematorium, we can enjoy life wholeheartedly, without bitter irony, because we know the One who has given us all these good things (cf Deuteronomy 8). He not only provides for us abundantly in the here and now, but he is the Eternal One - the only one who can and does remember us long after we are dust. Life is not meaningless and valueless; what we do and think and say counts because there will come a day when God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:14). And when we die, we die as ones with hope, going home to be with our Lord and our God, certain that He will raise us to life again never to die again (see 1 Corinthians 15), to enjoy his glory forever.

Rawa Island and Godly Contentment (Ecclesiastes 5:8 - 6:9)

Paradise island, if such taxonomy is applicable to Pulau Rawa (off Mersing in Johor, Malaysia), is replete with cliches:

palm-fringed powdery-white beaches, azure clear waters perfect for snorkelling and hovering over fish and coral, young girls with sarongs and hibiscus in their hair, deck chairs and blue-and-white striped beach towels, friendly dogs, tyre-swings hanging from coconut trees, and coconut oil-basted human flesh gently roasting in the sun...

Less than 4 hours after boarding the mini-bus from Singapore to Mersing and then a boat from Mersing, we checked-in at Rawa Safaris Island Resort, one of two resorts sharing the tiny island.

The nicest accommodation in Rawa Safaris Island Resort.

The nicest accommodation in Alang's Rawa (formerly Le Club - read more about Tunku Ibrahim Alang here).

Prettily situated amongst greenery teeming with butterflies (and welcoming clouds of mozzies) and sweet with bird-calls, the hillside huts at Rawa Safaris were basic - a bed, two rattan chairs, a rail for hanging clothes, airconditioning, one power socket and a bathroom with whimsical water pressure and a western toilet,

the expectation being that guests would be spending most of their time by the beach. And after filling up at the buffet breakfast, there was indeed energy enough for snorkelling, kayaking, jumping off jetties, and

travelling down the water slide in creative ways immediately imitated by a breathless bevy of kids, when they weren't having these sorts of conversations:

Boy: I've lived in China and I hate China.
Girl: Why?
Boy: China's really lame.
Girl (Chinese): How dare you!
Boy: Why, they don't even worship God!
[Cue: water fight]

All meals were provided buffet-style just a few steps from the beach so when it got too hot, we went in to lunch, dropping flippers and goggles and snorkels by the table and

noshing on very decent Western and Asian food while having teary talks about the faithfulness of Christian parents, the great privilege of growing up in a biological family of believers, the great and faithful work in Australian universities,

interrupted only by little French girls called Margaux singing long French songs.

After lunch, there was the choice of beach volleyball, or paddle ball in the water or frolicking with black-tipped sharks, then popping into the restaurant and bar at Alang's Rawa for snacks and cold beers

while lazily watching beagles chew up Havianas ("Someone should stop him" said J helpfully, before nestling into his folded arms for a snooze).

We topped that up with a takeaway smoothie for lying under the shade, reading a good book, discussing the theology of work and the possibility of tchoukball clinic evangelism before more afternoon napping.

After a leisurely wash-up, we sat and watched the gorgeous sunset before heading in to a barbecue ("Saturdays only") dinner.

Stuffed to the gills, a jetty stroll preceded drinks under the amazing vast canopy of stars and talk about conversions through Christmas parties, and some planning for the corporate future.

Money cannot buy the rare jewel of contentment, nor the ability to enjoy life. It is only in the context of our relationship with God that we can rejoice in the good things in life because we know they are gifts from God, just like (though much more than) a mixtape of songs put together by someone who loves you is far more enjoyable than the same songs compiled by iTunes' Genius:

• Because we know God, we can enjoy whatever wealth and possessions God has given us (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20), We can be satisfied and enjoy his good gifts without expecting or depending on these things themselves for satisfaction. After all, no one can ensure that one's riches will be secure - one bad business venture could bring the corporate mogul so far down he would not even be able to provide for his children (Ecclesiastes 5:13-16). If one relied on this for one's security, surely one would be always under a cloud of worry and when things went wrong, sick with anger (Ecclesiastes 5:17). In the end, there would be no enjoyment from all one's toil.
• Even if one's riches were intact, there would be no satisfaction from money. More cost outlay would be necessary to maintain one's growing possessions and in any case, there would never be enough money for the one who tries to find satisfaction in his wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12). Money is inherently valueless but if one is otherwise deluded, one will amass more and more of it in the hope of gaining just some sliver of satisfaction.
  
• But the fact is that the very ability to enjoy wealth, possessions and honour is given by God (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2). A man with everything anyone could ever wish for but without the ability to enjoy these things is worse off than a stillborn child. He lives a wretched discontented life without ever finding satisfaction and then goes to his death still despairing (Ecclesiastes 6:3-6).
  

So the Qoholet strongly advises learning rightful contentment in life.

Q: Do we think ourselves fairly satisfied and content in life?
Q: What is the basis of our satisfaction in life? How would our first answer change if:

• we lose the ability to work?
• there is little result from all our hard work?
• our job causes us to lose the esteem of family and friends and the general public?
• our work does not suit what we think are our personality and talents?
  
• we find out that we are much more poorly paid than our peers and have fallen behind in our chosen career path?
  

May we give up all attempts to rest our love and hopes on something other than God, for that way lies a terrible life of vexation, cares, sleeplessness, despair and then death, because any object other than our Creator is ultimately empty, a vanity, vapour.

Ecclesiastes
Easter Everyday
Quest for Immortality: EPIC FAIL (Ecclesiastes 1:1-15)
Life is Vapour, Therefore Enjoy Life (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3:15)
Life is Far Worse than an iPhone Game, Therefore Harvest the Day! (Ecclesiastes 3:16-5:7)
Rawa Island and Godly Contentment (Ecclesiastes 5:8 - 6:9)
Fallen Frangipani, Really Wise Living (Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:29)