Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana?: To judge or not to judge?

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Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus VMAS 2013 video, VMAS 2013 video

 image from here.

My friend Doug’s Facebook update says this. “I’ve noticed an interesting thing on my newsfeed today. A lot of people who usually are hollering, “Don’t judge!” when it comes to themselves and what they do, like, and look like, are today doing that very thing with Miley Cyrus. I guess that only applies in one direction. Just an observation.”  Yes, this is the perfect illustration of misquotation of Matthew 7.1.

 

My Facebook feeds have been full of Miley news instead of the news about the warfare in Syria.  Different reactions come up.  Some condemn her.  Others prefer the news to be about something more significant than whether Cyrus should be tweaking and twerking her bum. So do I.

 

Naturally, many who have “value” find her whole performance disgusting.  I suppose as a father, I should feel concerned. The fact is, as much as we want to be tolerant in this society, we all judge. Everyone does!  We judge especially when things aren’t going the way we would imagine them to go.

 

After all, how does Hannah Montana becomes Madonna with a big tongue over night?  We want  our pure little Disney princess remain a princess forever.  We all want our reality to resemble a fairy tale and our princesses not to grow up and make mistakes.  Some of us have, in fact, thought whatever was on TV IS reality.  Some of us think that Hannah Montana is Miley Cyrus.  Do we honestly think that our child stars actually ARE the roles they play?  According to the haters, we honestly do.  Do we actually think our junior highers are as innocent as they claim?  Our fantasy entertainment world is not reality however. Reality is broken, grown up, and rough around the edges.  Life causes people to move one direction or another.  That’s reality.  Nobody stays static.  When people move different directions, others would make the judgment.

 

What if we apply the standard we judge Miley Cyrus’ changes to ourselves in our life changes?  What if some of us have made other mistakes but not in such a public manner (though I doubt if she thinks she has made a mistake)?  Would we apply that same judgment on ourselves?  I do wonder.  Life is not fairy tale after all.

 

After this episode, we definitely need to rethink how we read Matthew 7.1.  For my previous blog on this verse, please see here.

Book Announcement: Right Kingdom, Wrong Stories

Ever imagine the way Jesus could’ve told his parables in Matthew?  There’re more than one way to tell any parable or any cultural story in any culture because many possible scenarios could happen.  This is my new book on Matthew’s parables and their impact in their time and ours by looking at other ways Jesus could’ve told such stories. Due to the fact that almost every story has a hinge in its plot, we can attempt to locate the hinge or hinges and then retell the story in some other ways.  Interesting results will come.  By doing so, we can see clearer what Jesus meant to address even within his own cultural value.

In my usual manner, I will continue to interpret every parable within the greater context of the paragraph.  Quite often, this is the missing element.  People just do not read carefully enough when they do their Bible studies or even preaching before they start to spew what they think about the parable’s applicability or doctrine.  As a result, many run into a wall very quickly.

When writing this book, I have deliberately simplified it for the interested lay person as well as the busy pastor.  A colleague remarked that he would wish for me to deal in a bit more detail on each parable the way Klyne Snodgrass did with his book.  Trouble is 1) the book will become too thick and inundated with too many methodological details 2) a thick book may prove less accessible and more expensive to both the laity and the busy pastor.  After all, not many pastors can figure out the implication of Matthew’s parallel with the Gospel of Thomas saying.  If I went the way of Snodgrass whose work is still very excellent, I would not be able to demonstrate a simple method of reading parables.  To me, in this information age, MORE information equals to NO information.  At least, that’s what i’ve learned in preaching all over the world.  Another work that I wish I had the chance to consult is Amy-Jill Levine’s Jewish reading of Jesus’ parables that has yet to be published.  I will get myself a copy when it comes out.  I have deliberately tried to stay sensitive towards two issues that also concerns Levine when I wrote my book 1) not to oversimplify my reading into a singular “what the Jews believed in the first-century” metanarrative 2) not to be insensitive to possible anti-Semitic reading of Jesus’ sayings. I hope I have succeeded.

You may order it here or here.  Here’s what others are saying about the book:

Full of surprises, this book retells the parables of Matthew from all sides and in all manners, even backwards. Lay and professional readers are sure to rediscover something fresh here. Highly recommended.

Sze-kar Wan, Professor of New Testament, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

Here is Dr. Sam Tsang at his best: calling readers out of lazy interpretations of Jesus’ parables in the gospel of Matthew and into a reading filled with fresh insights. Right Kingdom, Wrong Stories reveals a Jesus who challenged the social convention of his day and continues to challenge us today with his ‘upside-down kingdom’ ethics. While incorporating the most current scholarship in the field, Sam Tsang has produced an arresting and provocative volume that pastors and lay leaders can ill-afford to ignore. Everything in this book, from Dr. Tsang’s literary analysis to sermon outlines and discussion questions, is designed to motivate the reader to think—really think—about Jesus’ deeper truths that are often buried beneath the veneer of religious superficiality. In an age of unprecedented evangelical and Pentecostal growth, Dr. Tsang invites Christian disciples to resist the temptation of worldly success by heeding Jesus’ countercultural parables.”

—Timothy Tseng, PhD,
Former Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity and Pastor of English Ministries at Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church (San Jose, CA)

I’m particularly thankful to both of these colleagues because of their Asian-American research in Bible and religion.

I have written this book through my Asian-American experience as well as my overseas Asian experience because those experiences are often closer to those of the first century society than our often individualistic all-American society.  These colleagues have been very supportive. So, I once again thank Sze-kar and Tim for taking the time out of their busy academic and pastoral schedule to write the recommendation.  I hope you order it and enjoy its content.  Feel free to contact me on my website here or my Facebook if you have any question or if I can serve your church or reading community in any way.

The Making of Right Texts, Wrong Meanings: Luke 10.38-42 Busy Martha and Lazy Mary?

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Luke 10.38-42, Mary and Martha

I’m now blogging about chapter eight of my book.

“I identify myself with Martha because I’m always busy.”  How often do we hear of that saying in our Bible studies?  This is what I call Christian self-loathing, but is Martha really that bad?

On the other hand, many tout Mary. Oh, we should all be like Mary, using more time to do our devotion (i.e. listening to Jesus) and now be bothered with so many tasks.  This passage is what I call a nightmare for ministers because as we all know, the cliché of 90% of the work being done by 10% of the masses is truer than not in many churches.

How do we deal with this passage?  First, Luke 10.40 uses the word “preparations” which actually means “service” in the Greek.  We must look at all the occurrences of this word in Luke’s writing.  We’ll soon find that Luke has a very positive outlook towards service.  So, Martha’s problem is not first and foremost her work.  Those who say that serving too much is the problem miss Luke’s point.  Second, what in fact is the role of Martha in her society?   In general, the host directs the guests.  We notice that Martha indeed was directing Jesus.  If we look at the wider context of Luke 10, we have Jesus sending the 72 out for work and the Samaritan doing admirable work.  Certainly, Jesus was directing people to do work.  How are these themes related?

A clue for my readers … they are related.

As I always say, the texts are not at fault.  The interpreter is!

Popularity and Alienation: Is it about Truth?

This blog reflects on popularity as a social phenomenon especially among the religious, specifically Christians.   The inspiration from this blog came from a Facebook discussion with a dear friend on the politics of the church.  Self-congratulation regarding popularity and alienation usually takes on two different ways of thinking, both of which centers on Truth.

First, some Christians think that they’re popular because they’re speaking the truth.  Those who think they’re popular because they’re speaking the truth suffer from a kind of unhealthy version of the prosperity gospel or exaggerated pragmatism.  They often think, “I must be doing something right. That’s why I’m so popular.  Our church must be blessed by God because so many people are coming, and it’s still growing like crazy.”  The problem is, many popular movements have turned out to be immoral and harmful.  For instance, fascism was popular in pre-WWII Germany.

Second, those who think they’re alienated because they’re speaking the truth suffer from the opposite.  They suffer from the martyr syndrome.  Their logic often goes something like this, “I’m on the fringe because Jesus was also on the fringe.  I am not politically correct. That’s why people hate me.  Those who have the truth are always on the fringe historically.  I’m cool and radical, just like Jesus.  I’m hated for Jesus’ sake.  The big churches [or fill in whatever you wish] have lost the tradition and catered to the society. That’s why they’re big and we’re small.  We don’t compromise.”  People like this also draw other malcontents who love to commiserate.  The problem is, many fringe movements have also turned out to be immoral and harmful.  The best example would be the Jonestown mass suicide.

Based on the discussion above, truth has nothing to do with popularity or alienation.  Just because one is popular or alienated, it does not automatically make one right.  Instead of petting ourselves on the back, we need to ask different set of questions. First, HOW did I end up this way?  There’re many ways to achieve popularity and cause alienation.  Some have achieved popularity via unethical means, kissing bottoms on the way to the top.  Others have suffered alienation simply because they’re jerks, not because they speak truth.  Second, WHY did I end up this way?  Some have become popular because their message has mass appeal, not because their message is profound or true.  Others have suffered alienation because their messages or their personalities were needlessly offensive.  More often than not, we did not become popular or alienated because we speak truth.  Many factors simply have nothing to do with truth because truth neither depends on a popularity contest or a pity party.  These two extreme states create an opportunity not for self-glorification but for self-examination.

Cyber Space Politics of Holy Discontent

I think I first heard the term “holy discontent” from Bill Hybil.  I wish to comment on what I see in blogsphere and Facebook pages lately.  Some of the most popular religious bloggers (both in English and in Chinese) are those who point out the problems of the church.  Many of them have made a living blogging about these problems.  Their contribution is very important.  I often read many of them faithfully.

Several themes surface among these bloggers and some Facebook updates (and such updaters happen several times a day on the same topics).  They may say that the church has lost the gospel.  Others may say that the church’s stance on certain issues (e.g. homosexuality or same-sex marriage) is passé.  Still others point out that based on this or that study, numbers are declining, making the church irrelevant and even unnecessary.  In many cases, the framing of the problem is almost formulaic.  The problem could be theological, ethical or numerical (or pragmatic).  There’re two ways to react to such bloggers.

First, some may choose to conveniently ignore them by maintaining status quo.  Others are more vocal in denouncing such bloggers as radicals and liberals.  I believe there is a third way.

I always feel very hesitant to buy into everything these bloggers say simply because some of them have not had church ministry experience.  Sure, I think ministry experience is not the “be-all and end-all” criterion in judging someone’s observation. In fact, I think some of the keenest observations come from my non-Christian friends.  This is the problem however.  They only become popular because they hit a nerve on many others who feel equally discontent.  Before we know it, there’ll be a chorus of curses raining down on the church. What they say may be valid, but their observations often offer no solution to the real problem.

Real problems have to be solved within the church.  I believe that it is naive to get rid of all of the structures of the church and then call it renewal.  If we were to do so, we end up with anarchy in the name of renewal.  I also feel that structures were set up for a reason.  We somehow lost the reason along the way, thus being stuck with the structure.  Thus, i think the solution to structural issues should be solved by research and reflection on why certain setup worked in ages past.  As Christians, we can’t simply assume that the Spirit somehow works NOW in the renewal of the church without regard for the PAST work of the Spirit.

Many studies have been cited by bloggers to back this or that reason why numbers are down.  The fact is, statistics could often be listed along with “lies, damn lies and …” You get my point.  Those who are familiar with statistical analysis know that certain sociological studies are heavily laden with presuppositions and in some sad cases, question-begging and circular reasoning.  Statistics tell only part of the story if they even do that much at all.  Statistics are the metanarrative of modernists and unaware postmodernists.  Even if the metanarrative is right bout the dropping numbers, can we simply correlate one cause to the drop?  From my observation of many declining churches, each case is often drastically different. Even if the statistics are true, what different factors are causing the drop in attendance in church? These factors could fill up tomes.  The whole “the number is dropping” argument also creates another pesky problem.  We’re starting to measure success purely based on statistics, and number becomes a larger and larger part of the way we evaluate truth.  In such a case, is the church more and more becoming just like a corporation, with some being successful numerically (and turning profit) while others failing miserably (and suffering loss in finance and attendance)?  The very tool we often use to evaluate success represents the very thing many such blogger hates: institutionalized religion.  I’m unsure whether many who make such an argument are aware of this fallacy.

I’ll use one more example.  Some have said that we have lost Jesus or lost the gospel and so on.  Well, that’s fine. It’s easy to say that we’ve lost Jesus or the gospel. Okay, fine!  Such rhetoric even makes one sound “cool” and “hip.”  (Can we even use the word “hip”?  It is so uncool.  Maybe I should say “sick” as in “dude, that’s an uber sick ride. It’s dripping in gold.”)  How do you FIND Jesus and the gospel?  Would the same bloggers offer solutions via serious research in biblical studies, church tradition, and theology to formulate the TRUE Jesus or the gospel?  It’s easier to complain than to do serious research.  I can tell you a secret.  Most of them are not serious researchers in any of these areas.  If you don’t believe my claim, google them for any serious research on biblical studies, theology, church history or ethics, in serious academic publishers and journals. Whoops, I’m exhibiting academic snobbery, yet another hated trait by this group of cool bloggers.  IF by some chance some of them have done some serious research, not many of them have  tried to preach regularly in a contextualized manner what regaining this Jesus or that gospel actually means.  At the end, these blogs are spiritual junk food.  Sure, they taste good initially because you can resonate with the problems they bring up, but then after you devour them day after day, they can hurt your attitude and ruin your spiritual health.  The unsolved problem therefore remains: “cool” is overrated.

The third way is a simple way.  IF you want to complain, earn the right to complain by being part of the solution, by doing serious and deep reflection or research, and by participating in the church’s life to bring forth change.  When people do not participate in the church’s life, they should also lose the credential to complain.