Please note that this paper is INCOMPLETE, can be INACCURATE and is ALWAYS CHANGING (hence incomplete) because I believe that a personal theology that is good will never be fixed, just like how we cannot encapsulate God or define Him. We learn more and we adapt as we grow in Christ and learn about him. The word "Theology" basically means: a strategy of teaching or bringing the gospel to people (in your own context). Here's mine - feel free to have a go at it, I'd be most welcome to accept criticisms or praises :) cheers!
PS. I am writing from a point of view of a non-Christian, not a Christian *Methodist/Catholic/SDA etc...Success is the ultimate goal for most Singaporeans. My theology is being built around the words Success and Achievement because these two words can basically define a Singaporean. Success and Achievement define only the extrinsic part of life and it is pretty much what life in Singapore is all about success and achievements. This theology is geared towards the middle-class citizen as this class makes up a large chunk of the population in Singapore.
The middle-class Singapore citizen is probably unique to Singapore alone. He or she would be making about $1,200 to $2,000 dollars a month, if married, would have a spouse who is working, spends the weekends with friends pubbing/clubbing, probably own a car or a motorcycle for personal transport. On a spiritual note, he or she might believe that there is a God but not be totally committed to the religion because money really is his or her real religion. If there is a national religion in Singapore, it would have to be money and if there is a national church to go along with this religious group, it would be the bank, where the four million Singaporeans trot to everyday to check on their bank accounts, making sure that the interest is growing and that their accounts are fat and healthy. God is usually nowhere in the picture in the everyday life of the average Singaporean. God isnt needed in their personal affairs, religion is an extrinsic entityuntil something happens and it is plain to see that there is nothing their skills, friends or money can do to help them out.
To better understand where I am coming from, let us have a look at what drives Singaporeans to be so
kiasu Literal meaning of
kiasu is afraid to lose. In this sense, I am using the word
kiasu to show that Singaporeans are so goal/target oriented because of the fact that they do not want to lose out to anyone., making them very goal/target oriented. Singapore is a tiny island with little or almost no natural resources. Human resource has been driving the success of Singapores economy. Through the educational system, citizens are trained to be hardworking, goal-oriented, successful money making people from the day that they first enter school. On a more culture-oriented note, I should also state the fact that Singaporeans take pride in not
losing face Another Singaporean expression.
Losing face carries the equivalent of personal embarrassment or being known to be not as good as someone else. and always being a step above the rest, or usually, the next-door neighbor
. At the tender age of ten in primary four, these kids meet their first
tuning session to be programmed for success. Students are
streamed to different classes according to how successful they are academically. At the age of ten, a student will know where he stands academically among a few hundred other kids his age. The brighterstudents will be put together in one class and the average and slow students will be grouped together likewise. The extrinsic part of life begins to show its apparent importance at this tender age.
Two years later at the age of twelve, students take their PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination). This examination is graded from A for excellent to U for ungraded. Filtering is seen here again same thing in a different form. Grade averages are calculated over a maximum possible score of 300. Students will then use their scores, most of which land withinthe 180 to 230 range to enter a secondary school. These secondary schools can be compared to the
streaming mentioned earlier that happens in primary schools. There are the top schoolswhere a score of 260 and up is required to be considered for entrance and the average neighborhood schools which have an easy entry requirement of as low as 170 up.
This is not where the streaming ends though, within these schools, students are once again filtered to various classes according to their grade scores. At a top school, students whose scores fall within270 to 300 are filtered such that one class would have students from the range within 290 to 300, another would have students who fall within the 280 to 290 and such.To get into a prestigious school would be the definition of success for both the student and the parent, and at this age, ultimate success would be getting into the best class in the best school around.
The whole game of whos better Or sometimes, whos worse off is played. Subtle taunting by flaunting successes to friends, neighbors and relatives are common. and who is more successful is played out for the rest of the life of a typical Singaporean, whether at work or at play,
kiasuism is present and everyone wants only the best and to be the best because no one wants a loser, no company would take in someone with no academic success, no one wants to be around one who isnt successful in something. Success is far more important than extrinsic happiness, the thing that everyone lusts for would be defined as achieving tangible success climbing up to the top of the corporate ladder, taking home a five-figure salary each month, driving a Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Bentley or Rolls Royce, living in a huge house or in a condominium with the best facilities around next to downtown, getting the latest in kitchen-ware, having better things than the neighbor next door including a child who is brighter and more talented.
Christianity in Singapore suffers from this whole phenomenon. Christianity is the last thing that people think will bring them happiness because Christians are too busy being
kiasu and worrying about everything that religion is excluded altogether
. If worrying about religion is not a problem, money, commitment and time problems arise because Christians
have to give ten percent of their income to the church, give offerings of money each week, spend time with church work and commit to events; all of which take up precious time and money. The prospect of achieving the six Cs however, overshadows the prospect of finding intrinsic happiness Many Singaporean families and young working adults in the middle-income group tend to place extrinsic happiness on a pedestal. This is sad because it is only after achieving extrinsic happiness that they realize that success has not brought about true happiness. Families break apart, parent-child relationships break down and sometimes, lives end., which is secondary in the minds of Singaporeans, until they realize that extrinsic happiness that comes with success is a big vacant world. In a country that prides itself in its people who have successfully made the nation one of the worlds topthrough literal hard work, one should not even toy with the idea of religion and a God when all the wasted time and effort should be pumped into achieving success in life. (I believe that national success and personal success is very, very different, but most people seem to believe that both are synonymous anyway)
Is the gospel irrelevant in the lives of those who have acquired extrinsic happiness and success in life? We shall dive into the Bible to have a look! Example one: James and John. These two brothers were fishermen. When Jesus called them, the bible says that immediately they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men and went with him. Id like you to notice that these two brothers had hired men. James and John were like CEOs of a company. They hired people to work for them! When one speaks of the title of Chief Executive Officer, people ooh and ahh, some in admiration and others out of envy these two were CEOs of their time! Highly successful, running their own fishing business. Fish was the staple food for the people who lived around the Galilee area and these entrepreneurs went into what the people wanted.Jesus chose successful businessmen with astute business thinking to be part of the team that changed the world! These men were successful and I am sure that they were happy with their lives, but now they were going to have a taste of success with the added spice of real (intrinsic) happiness that can only be found in God!
Paul, the man who spread the Gospel to the gentiles was a successful tent-maker New International Bible Dictionary - Paul, one skilled in the art of making tents that sheltered the Roman army. To put Paul in post-modern times, he would be the equivalent of an entrepreneur who funded his own work; a self-supporting evangelist! Think of the amount of money Paul had to make to support his long distant trips. This was a successful man not just a skilled worker with a business but also a scholar, who studied under Gamaliel, one of the top teachers of his time.This man was skilled and learned and God chose to use him to further his work. Paul found true happiness after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and he would not speak of anything other than Christ and Christ alonebecause it was the Gospel of Christ that touched his heart.
Another one of the famed twelve, Matthew, was a revenue officer of Capernaum. Matthew wasnt a bum who didnt have a good paying job. The position that Matthew held was one that would have placed him in todays context of a successfulcarrier man; not ranked with the most honest, but ranked along with the likes of prostitutes, thieves and murderers New International Bible Dictionary - Matthew. Im not sure how Matthew slept at night knowing that he was branded along with all the people who were disrespected. Jesus came along and turned his life around! He found true happiness and later in the book of Matthew, we find Jesus dining at Matthews house a strong possibility that Matthew had them dine at his house so that his peers and colleagues might hear of what Jesus had to say and be followers of Christ. Matthew was successful, but true success was not found till he found Jesus.
The Bible tells us that Abraham who left his home when God called him to, taking with him all the possessions they had accumulated and people they had acquired in Haran. Further down in the book of Genesis, we learn how much he had accumulated and acquired. He had acquired cattle and riches from the Pharaoh while in Egypt and it added to what he already had. When his nephew Lot was captured, Abraham led a small army of 318 trained men from his household and pursued the enemy, recapturing what was lost and defeating the enemy. This was not only a rich man but also a wise commander who followed Gods commands and found true happiness to add on to his successes when his son Isaac was born to him. Success runs synonymously with the finding of intrinsic success in the stories of these men. They all achieved success in life which was full and not one with a big gaping hole left to be filled.
Ecclesiastes begins with words that are very shocking but so true Everything is absolutely futile! NET Bible. Ecclesiastes 1:2, ...Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!Reading on, we find that Solomon, despite all his riches, wisdom and glory finds that life is meaningless until we believe in God. In his words, Solomon says that we should fear God and obey all of his commands because it is the whole of man. Anything without God is meaningless. When one gains success but fails to successfully gain eternal life, is it not meaningless? The short time spent in this world to accumulate wealth that will not follow you when you are dead and gone. Even Solomon, had it all. He had the latest and best
cars, lots of money, branded clothes, a harem of the most beautiful girls around, friends in high places, unsurpassed human wisdom, charm - he had everything and he realized that without God, he was not truly happy and successful. Would the hallmark of the Singaporeans epitome of success, the six Cs, mark out true success in todays world, both extrinsic and intrinsic? I would like to strongly suggest that it would not, because despite the apparent successes of many Singaporeans, many still face problems in their families, workplaces, at schools and many cannot find peace in themselves, always having to worry about things. The hallmark of success, the sixCs it seems, is only skin deep with nothing more to show when pulled away.
Singaporeans, experts in the game of achievement and success and immersed in what I call the
face-saving syndrome and
kiasuism should give a chance for the Gospel and play its game of success for a try; before finding extrinsic success and realising that it they need the other part too - just that it's become too late). Climbing the corporate ladder of success and gaining wealth is all part of a successful life that is merely extrinsic (lacking in the intrinsic part of life. If only Singaporeans can put their heart and soul into the word of God and give the Gospel a chance,like they do in attempting to achieve the six Cs, true success will be found, success that is not futile but full of meaning. Success that does not leave one wondering where all the success went when it seemed to have been found.
- nothing fancy, a Yamaha CG-160 that I first started with. It looks nothing like this guitar cos it's got volume knobbies stuck on, a 'scar' where something else was once stuck on and also a pickguard that's black. hehehehe