(Continued from part 3)
~ Culture of discipleship 🔁
Now and then, we see people who do great work. Yet it stops with them so that the impact is not continuing, and not replicated in the next generation.
What I notice in Rev. Stephen Tong’s ministry is the replication and multiplication of role models, and hence the zeal is passed on and burns the brighter. In particular, their focus is in being:
- Reformed – the right understanding and preservation of foundational doctrine
- Evangelical – the right spirit in living out and reaching out
They invest seriously and heavily in teachings, but that won’t be impactful if it stays only as cold doctrine. Among other things Rev. Tong is respected for, I can see why he ignites the evangelistic spirit in the congregation. As an example, for them to witness him preaching outdoors in the rain from his early ministry until now (he’s 82). Leaders make a huge difference, I experience that in my own life – I’ve grown the most from watching and experiencing the grace, humility and gentleness from other Christians I look up to (not merely their doctrines).
Back to GRII, I have benefited most directly from the ministers who came after Rev. Tong instead of himself. That’s how you want the impact to continue into generations, with ministers producing ministers, and teachers producing teachers. The challenge is in doing so while maintaining the calibre and that’s what I see here.
~ Redefinition of workloads 🐝
In a previous post I mentioned about redefinition of standards (they raise the bar high).
The earnestness seems to be manifested in them not only in doing well, but also in doing much. In comparison to them, we could do better and more. It may be a cultural thing too, for Australia is known to be the koalaland 🐨 by outsiders (by the Indos anyway haha), meaning the too relaxed bunch of weak spoiled lazy bums 🥺. Even so, the Christians should not be identified as such.
There are those who are clearly different and being a good influence in changing the church culture little by little. I do know such people here who do much and do well. In Indo, I see many more. I first knew of one of the ministers there as the pastor who preaches in that particular service every Sun. Then I met him in one of the weekly ‘Understanding the bible’ group teaching series, where he turned out to be leading too. And then I found out he’s also the editor of their magazine arm Pillar, and also involved in the school Sekolah Kristen Calvin, and he went on their gospel rally trips to the regionals too, and so on, etc.
Perhaps that’s why they are firmly grounded, for they fill up their time and leaving no space for worldly toxin to seep in the cracks. I do try to occupy myself usefully, but what I see them doing is stretching me.
Very related to this is their keen awareness of the danger of a pharasaical mentality in themselves. That’s what the Pharisees in Jesus’ time were like, in terms of their wealth of knowledge of the law and history of their tradition. However, they became judgemental of others and losing the point completely along the way. But in GRII, the leaders seem to be very aware of the tendencies of the human heart and their particular weakness and danger, which they frequently preach about. So I don’t see any issue with their high standards, for they do so with their eyes on God and not themselves.
~ Visionary 🔭
A good sign is when the people are investing beyond themselves and their lifetime, as that shows they’re driven by something way bigger than their own kingdom in this world.
As I mentioned before, they built distinctly Christian schools to grow knowledge, build character and faith in the hearts of the children of the next generation. There’s a clear commitment in this area. They also invest in raising and nurturing the right kinds of teachers (they have a monthly seminar for the teachers and parents too as they know raising children need their involvement).
At church, apart from teaching (i.e., lecture style), they set aside time for Q&A to engage with their listeners. Not the ones that go for a few mins after a talk, but special sessions only for responding to doubts and questions people wrestle with. The ones I know of usually go for at least one full hour. And normally two separate sessions! E.g., after a talk on a topic, say, ‘generosity’, you have two 1-hr session to listen to people’s thoughts/questions to the speaker and his response. I think that’s quite an effective way to gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding on a topic 💡. It looks like they’re serious about nurturing godly characters, not just delivering one-way verbal dump of cold theology.
Lastly, I heard that most of their ministries were started before they had enough funding. Part of what happens when they think big and far, and having the faith and vision of the movement they’re in. So far, turns out God never left them lacking when the time comes for funds 💰💰
In closing, those are some of the good (see part 2 and 3 preceeding this post too) I think we may be encouraged by and learn from the Indo churches. Obviously I don’t mean if you go there, you’ll see all that in everyone attending the church. However, what I have said are the good I have been struck by, and especially clearly displayed in the lives of their leaders. And as said before, leaders leave a huge impact. They’re indicators of how the church is doing or where it is going. Congregation, if not yet, will likely follow in the examples they see.
This ends my four-part post on my thoughts on the church in Indo during this trip. As we know, no church is perfect, likewise this one. But I’ve used up all 4 posts! 😅 So I might write another piece covering what I thought could be better..
Meanwhile, may God continue to bless their ministries to transform the lives and nation of Indonesia and beyond!