Reading the news that FCBC pastor Lawrence Khong is seeking a High Court judicial review of MOM's decision to penalise the Church for its unfair dismissal of a pregnant employee, it once again brought to my mind the tumultuous relationship between the Church and the State.
As a Christian in Singapore, I belong to both the civil and ecclesiastical polity. Being a citizen of both polities not only means that I am accorded legal and spiritual protection, but more importantly, that I have the civic and moral responsibility to discuss, negotiate and maintain what is good for all human beings. Unfortunately, there are times when the political identity of being a Christian and the political expectations of the secular state collide.
For this case, I thought it should be settled privately between the 2 parties. Both the government and the pastor need to set aside their differences and egos! Like the wise Chinese saying, 大事化小，小事化无!
While I appreciate that the Church would want to uphold the moral integrity of its staff, it could have just compensated the employee and asked her to leave. From what I know, the clerical staff was sacked because she refused to repent and break off her extra-marital relationship. Just as love cannot be forced, one cannot simply forced someone to stop loving another. Similarly, we cannot forcibly convert a homosexual to heterosexual, these processes need time, understanding and reconciliation.
Most importantly, the ugly and drawn-out confrontation with MOM is unnecessary and puts the Christian faith in a bad light. First, non-Christians might have the wrong impression of Christianity as one that is intolerant, confrontational and dogmatic. Second, pursuing a judicial review is a waste of money and it might breed politics of mistrust and sour State-Church relations.
It would seem as if Lawrence Khong is leveraging on this issue to create publicity for himself and his LoveSingapore community, opting to bask in the limelight of the media instead of working towards an agreeable middle ground with the MOM.
Furthermore, this is not the first time he has attracted public attention. Early in January this year, on behalf of the FCBC and LoveSingapore, Khong caught Minister Goh Chok Tong off-guard with an appeal against the "looming threat" of LGBT activists to the family unit and for Section 377A to be retained. A month later, LoveSingapore decided that they should also be given the opportunity to meet with Minister K Shanmugam after the latter met up with LGBT activist group Sayoni.
Would it be too far-fetched to think that Khong is orchestrating these events as he wants to be seen as the spiritual leader of Christian activism through LoveSingapore?
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom
This is also not the first time that Khong has turned to courts to exercise his right to legal protection. Just a couple of months ago, Khong filed a suit against the Singapore Polo Club after he was suspended from the club. This penchant for hostile confrontation goes against the Christian doctrine of peacemaking and harmony.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord
Perhaps Khong's confrontational approach stems from the often misguided view that the Church has to pit itself as a rival state with a rival government and a rival system of law, against the secular State. Yet, according to St Augustine in his work on the City of God, he says that it is not about systems of institutions but about the way humans visibly live together.
We can choose to bear one another's cross and burdens, or to live at each other's expense. If we choose the former, we will gradually move in the direction of the City of God. But if we choose the latter, we will eventually slide into chaos and the best we can hope for is controlled selfishness.
Here, it is important to recognise the ideal of the human citizenship, where everyone works towards a common good, a good that belongs to everyone, and not confined to just an individual or group. To quote the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, he said that human citizenship is
"a way of living out your human dignity in which the capacity to make decisions is real and central and the responsibility for sustaining your human environment is real but is never going to be reduced to one system of management or government".
It will not be an easy task to manage our moral and religious decisions in a secular and multi-religious State like Singapore. Maybe God is challenging us to find our own light as we constantly juggle between the demands of Church and State. I'm not sure what good we can gain the judicial review will do for Singapore and Christians, but if we go down this path, I am sure we will lose some of the basic building blocks of our society, i.e. peace and mutual trust.
