A Wife of Noble Character

A friend said he decided to vote for Dr TCB as president after hearing the final telecasts of the 4 candidates' speeches on the eve of polling day. Reason? TCB was the only candidate who mentioned his wife and gave credit to her. My friend felt that a president must work with his wife in partnership.

Right after the polls and Dr TT became president-elect, he gave a glowing tribute to his wife. As I read the news report, I wondered how my friend would have voted if TT had given his tribute before the polls.

In the book of Genesis which describes the story of creation, God creates the man Adam from the dust of the ground and breathes the breadth of life into Adam. Out of a rib from Adam, God then makes a helper suitable for him - the woman Eve. Instead of forming woman from the dust of ground, God chooses to make her from the man's bone and flesh. This signifies the close partnership of man and woman, the oneness of the couple.

Matthew Henry says in his commentary of the "help-meet" (suitable helper) for man:

- a help like him, one of the same nature and the same rank of beings;
- a help near him, one to cohatbit with him and to be always at hand;
- a help before him, one that he should look upon with pleasure and delight.

Blessed is the man with a wife of noble character. The book of Proverbs describes such a wife as being "worth far more than rubies", whose husband "has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value" and who "brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life" (Prov 31:10-31). Besides taking meticulous care of the household and home, the noble wife "opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy", is "clothed with strength and dignity", "speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue". Such a woman "who fears the Lord is to be praised".

Going by the accolades showered on TT's wife, the First-Lady-to-be may well be such a wife of noble character.

One People

"We the citizens of Singapore pledge ourselves as one united people .....". In the weeks leading to National Day, our national pledge was telecast over and over again. I thought the tele-clip on the national pledge was very well done. It was refreshing to be reminded of the words which I used to recite in my schooldays but had somewhat forgotten after I left school.

But I also have a tinge of sadness - that we need a national pledge to keep our people of different race, language and religion united. I suppose as a young nation built by immigrants from all over the world and their descendants, a pledge is a necessity to develop and reinforce our allegiance to the country that we call home.

In the larger family of God, people of different race, language and status are "one in Christ Jesus", being "neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" (Galatians 3:28). As children of God, we are brothers- and sisters-in-Christ, regardless of whether we are red or yellow, black or white. The people of God are united, not by a pledge, but by the seal of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13, Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Apostle Paul aptly illustrates the unity in Christ with the body and its many parts (1 Cor 12:12, 14-26). The foot, ear, eye, nose, head, etc all belong to one body and have need of one another. "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it."

I particularly like a Peanuts cartoon which echoes Paul's illustration. In the cartoon, Snoopy calls attention to the whole “gang” (body) to go jogging and different body parts then claim attention/credit. The conversation among the body parts goes like this:

"Now, hear this!"
"Body components, attention! Okay, gang, we're all going jogging!"
"What's this? If the feet don't go, none of us goes!"
"Now, look here, feet! The rest of us wants to go jogging so let's get with it!"
"All right, feet .. on your feet!"
"You guys are always complaining .. we ears can hear you way up here!"
"Besides, it's us legs who really do the running ..."
"All I know is, running is hard on the back ... Backs should be home in bed ..."
"How about noses? I hate jokes about running noses!"
"Lips are made for kissing, not running ... We need more kissing ..."
"I'm hungry!"
"Ha! I knew the stomach would start complaining pretty soon! We arms never complain."
"That's a laugh! If it isn't bursitis, it's tennis elbow! We still say it's we feet who do all the work ..."
"You think it's easy being a finger?" "Ha! Just try being an elbow sometime!"
"How can the long-distance runner ever get lonely?"

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." (1 Cor 12:12)

Freedom in Christ

Two friends from Wuhan, China came to stay with me for a few days after attending the Eagles Leaders' Conference. Having undertaken to 尽地主之宜, I was planning a tour to Little India including the famous Hindu temple at Race Course Road - something interesting that they didn't have back home in China, I thought. But gosh, they didn't want to visit temples; they were taught that, as Christians, they should not step into temples. So, ok, no visit to temples for them.

At one time when I was still a young Christian, I did feel uncomfortable bringing my late mom to the Chinese temple for her to make offerings to my late father (who predeceased her). When I related my apprehension to my former boss, a very mature Christian, she shared her view that by bringing my mom to the temple, I was honouring my parents. The Bible teaches Christians to honour our parents. This is recorded in the Old Testament as one of the Ten Commandments that God gives to His people through Moses (Exodus 20:12).

Today, I've no qualms about visiting temples, whether Chinese or Indian, or other non-Christian places of worship. I told my Wuhan friends that during my trip to Shanghai last year, I visited the Longhua Temple, the Jade Buddha Temple and the City Temple which I viewed as merely places of tourist/cultural interest. To me, what is important is our heart and not what we do, or eat, or drink.

In the New Testament, we have freedom in Christ. The Apostle Paul says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5:1) So does it mean that we are free to do anything we want? No, Paul further elaborates that we should not use our freedom in Christ to indulge the sinful nature, but rather, serve one another in love (Gal 5:13).

The Apostle Paul cites some examples of different practices in Christian living - some eat everything while others eat only vegetables, some consider one day more sacred than another while others regard every day alike (Romans 14). In his view, he who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord; he who eats meat, eats to the Lord for he gives thanks to the Lord; and he who abstains from meat also does so to the Lord and gives thanks to the Lord. And so, we should not pass judgement on another person who does differently from us.

We should also be careful that our freedom in how we live should not cause other Christians to stumble and fall. If our brother- or sister-in-Christ is distressed by what we do or eat, then we are no longer acting in love. We should then desist from doing what distresses our fellow Christians.

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." (Romans 14:17-18)

In the presence of fellow Christians who think differently, I will then not visit temples, eat food offered to idols or practise Taijiquan. But apart from them, I have the freedom to visit temples, eat food offered to idols and continue to practise Taijiquan, for I am convinced that all food is clean and there is nothing wrong with visiting temples and practising Taijiquan.