The Fig Tree - Great Profession without Reality

I have just finished listening to a sermon on Matthew 21:18,19 about the Barren Fig Tree. I thought it would be appropriate to share what I have learnt.

Matthew 21: 19 - And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever by any fruit from you,” And at once the fig tree withered.

Well, there is something I learnt about fig trees. Fig trees are deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves during the winter season. During summer, however, the tree would be in full foliage. Along with the luxuriant appearance of leaves, there would be figs on the tree.

However, this was one special fig tree that Jesus came across. The tree was in foliage, but strangely there was no fruit. Guess what? Jesus cursed the tree and it withered and died.

This has a great deal of application for us. Many times, we are like this fig tree. This fig tree was a pretensious fig tree, donning the appearance as if it bore much fruit, but in reality, there wasn’t a single fruit on it. Similarly, we often don the appearance of being religious by participating in a lot of religious activities, but our lives, in reality, are not pleasing to Christ.

There was once a well-known bible teacher was asked to go out and play the piano for a swedish church. Not knowing what he was in for, he agreed to go. The church members were sweds, carrying out their service in swedish. He sat at the piano and heard them sing the songs that he was playing, but didn’t understand a word they were singing. Then, the announcements were made in swedish too and he didn’t understand anything about them. The sermon came and it was in swedish and he didn’t understand anything about that either. As he was going home, he reflected upon the fact that this was much like life.

There are people who go through life, but do not really understand what is happening. They are like people who read a book and read only the words and don’t understand what is being said.

He said that this are true of us spiritually as well. We are attending church, reading the word of God, hearing the word of God, but we don’t understand anything about God. We are like him who sits in the swedish church, not knowing anything that is going on, hearing everything, seeing others singing, seeing others understanding things, but we don’t grasp it at all. We can put on a facade that makes people think that we really are getting it when we are really not.

Are we like this barren fig tree, having a luxuriant appearance of leaves but without any fruit? When in front of others, are we pretending to be holy, but in reality, our lives bear no likeness to Christ? When we attend church, are we merely following the flow, but actually we do not know the purpose of attending? When we pray aloud in a group, are we ‘beautifying’ our prayer to please others, or are we praying sincerely to God? When we serve in church, are we trying to show others that we are good christians, or are we serving God genuinely? Do we go around telling people how much we read our bible or how much we pray or how much we love God, when in reality, we do not do these things?

In many things that we do, it is very easy to be hypocritical, to have great profession but without the reality of it. There is a need to examine our actions and our motives behind our actions very carefully. We need to ask God for the inward reality of our profession.

Reflections from my China trip Part 2: A conservation that struck me so much

Travelling to Guizhou wasn’t easy. There wasn’t any direct flight from Singapore to Guizhou. My tour group had to transit at Kunming, Yunman. Hence, it was two plane flights before we could reach Guizhou.

Plane flights are always tramautising for me. There would nevertheless always be this fear in my heart of a plane crash. People could call me pessimistic or stupid for worrying over taking a plane. It is true that the chances of a plane crash is close to zero, but I am still fearful that I would be in the wrong fateful flight. Hence, before a plane takes off or lands, I would always be in prayer, because I know that my life is in the hands of the Lord. I do thank God for answering prayers, bringing me safely back home through the four plane flights.

It was also very exhausting. Apart from the long hours in planes, the waiting time to board the planes were also rather long. During my final flight from Kunming back to Singapore, I had a conservation with two of my tour group members and that conservation made quite a huge impact on me.

The conservation began in a mild manner. We started conversing about our trip. One of them, being observant, knowing that I am a christian, noticed that I was rather reluctant to step into one of the Buddhist temples in which we visited, asked me the rationale behind my actions. I replied that I felt awkward at that point of time, but I told him that I didn’t mind entering to view the architecture if no form of worship is involved.

At that junction, the conservation took a slant towards religious issues. He suddenly made the comment that Christians are very narrow-minded people, citing the example that I felt awkward entering a Buddhist temple. He continued by saying that from what he observed, Christians isolate themselves from others instead of accepting other religions.

Hearing his view,  I asked him what had formed his opinion about Christianity. That was when he began to tell me about his past. He said that he used to be a christian when he was a teenager and that he was active in church. He read the bible, attended bible study and joined christian activities. After a while, he realised that christianity wasn’t quite for him, so he went to explore other religions.

I was curious so I asked him further why he had decided not to be a christian anymore. What he told me struck a deep cord in me. He said that christians preach one thing but do another, and that they show no respect to other religions by enforcing their beliefs on others. The other guy quoted the example that when he is on the train, he has been approached by christians trying to convert him, telling him that if you don’t believe, you can’t be saved and that other religions are false. He added that each time this happens, he would tell them off. The reason behind their reaction: they are disgusted because they were told that other religions are wrong, by people who know nothing about other religions at all. They are also annoyed by the fact that christians think that there is only one way to be saved and all other ways are wrong. Finally, it is because christians do not promote peace and harmony, but isolate themselves from the rest of the people thinking that they are better than others, yet their lives don’t show any difference.

This was the very 1st time I was caught in a religious conversation like this. At that point I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure what to say, fearing that I might stumble the two guys in anyway. Hence, I kept quiet.

But in my mind, a lot of reflections were circling about. There wasn’t so much a feeling of anguish than a feeling of disappointment.

I wasn’t as angry with the two guys for putting Christianity under such a bad light than I was disappointed with myself.

It was truly a wake-up call for me, that, hey, people are observing my life whether I like it or not.

I was pondering over how I was living my life. When those two guys described christians who preach something and do another, were they referring to me? Is my life pleasing to God? Am I living the way a christian should live?

2 Corinthians 5:20 - “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Previously I knew this verse simply for the fact that we are ambassadors for Christ, we represent Christ in this world.

But suddenly, I realised the emotions beneath this verse. It wasn’t just an ordinary commandment verse, something we had to do. Reading it again, this verse felt like a desperate plea from God. Paul uses the words ‘God is entreating to us’ and ‘i beg you on behalf on christ’. It felt as if God was trying to emphasise the importance of being an ambassador so much that it became a plea from him.

The seriousness of being an ambassador suddenly dawned upon me.

Previously, I knew the importance of being an ambassador for Christ, meaning, living my life to represent him. Now, I see the desperate need of being an ambassador for Christ.

Being an ambassador for Christ is not just important. It is a desperate need, like a plea from God.

It really saddens my heart to see how people from another religion comments about Christianity in such a way. It wasn’t so much what they misinterpreted about Christianity, like how christians do not promote peace and harmony at all. More so, it was how we christians failed to represent God, how we christians failed to manifest the life of Christ in us that the person of Christ in us is marred. People do not know God simply because we misrepresented him.

And God is there, pleading for us to reconcile to him, to live for him, to see this desperate need of represent him.

This truly is a wake-up call for people are scrutinising my life. And if my life is to represent God, who am I do even dare misrepresent his character in any manner? Who am I to stumble others away from God due to selfish living to please myself?

Reflections from my China trip Part 1: People need the Lord

I flew back from Guizhou/ Kunming, China last Thursday morning.

Well, this isn’t the 1st time I’ve been to China. Actually, it is the 3rd. Counting the number of places in China that I have visited, it would be 9.

However, this time, at Guizhou, it was a totally different. Previously, all the other places were rather urbanised. Guizhou, on the other hand, was a hilly, uneven rural land.

However, I had to say that the land was beautiful, scenic and peaceful. The pace of life was very relaxing and enjoyable, unlike urban areas that we live in.

Being a Geography person, this tour couldn’t be more suitable for me. I finally got to see with my eyes the very things my teachers taught me: things like karst landforms, floodplains, hills, waterfalls. It was a very enriching experience.

Apart from all the waterfalls and beautiful scenery, the people there really made an impact on me. As I noticed the lifestyle of the rural people, I couldn’t help but realise that my perspective was enclosed and incredibly narrow.

I found these kids by the lakeside, standing around, observing tourists as they came to take a boat ride in the lake. It was probable that they are the children of fishermen and boatmen. Due to their young age, their parents would leave them at the shore while they go out to work.

These kids can’t afford to go to school and they do not have any productive thing to do. All they could do is to sit at the lakeshore from morning to evening till their parents return from the work. It is difficult not to feel sorry for them, seeing the lost looks on their faces.

I took this picture on the way up climbing up one of the hills. This little girl truly melted my heart. As we were journeying up the hill, she was relentlessly trailing our tour group from behind, asking us to buy joss-sticks from her at 1RMB. Although our tour group ignored her initially, she continued in determination, following us up the hill. Finally, she got her wish, as one of the group members succumbed to her pleads and bought her joss-sticks. I truly admired her courage and determination, despite her young age!

Observing all the tough life of the rural people , inevitably, there would be much compassion for them.

These people are so poor that they have to exhaust all means to earn enough for mere survival while here am I with my basic needs totally met, an opportunity to be educated and a very comfortable life. Truly, I have been very fortunate. I shouldn’t be taking all the little things that I have for granted.

But then, these people are so carefree, without the troubles and toils of stressful urban life. I toyed with the idea of being those kids at the lakeshore. Truly, their pace of life is one which every city-dweller would crave for.

I began to realise that life wasn’t really that unfair. Although we city-dwellers do have much possessions, we live a stressful life. While these rural people have very little, their life is carefree.

I do think that the only one thing that men really needs, city and rural people alike, is the Lord. I couldn’t guarantee that the rural people have material possessions they could be satisfied. Of if we have a stress-free life, we would be satisfied. It is the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Bread of life, all men needs.

John 6:35 - “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Only Jesus satisfies the emptiness in our hearts!

I couldn’t help but recall a song my choir sang during an evangelical rally:People Need the Lord