wfn.org | Lutheran world assembly told witness gives meaning to identity

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Witness gives meaning to identity, keynoter says
Choong Chee Pang addresses Assembly on theme

HONG KONG, July 25, 1997 (lwi) - How to convince people by our words and
deeds that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world, is still
"the awesome task of those who dare to call themselves Christians," said
Dr. Choong Chee Pang, professor of New Testament studies at the Graduate
School of Trinity College, Singapore, and visiting professor at Beijing
University. 

"Besides worship, fellowship and celebration, it is, I believe,
particularly for this task that we have taken the great trouble to be
here," he said in the keynote address to the Assembly July 10. Through mass
communications "what we say here can instantly be heard in Beijing,
Washington and other places, but what: what is the content of our message?"

Christians must constantly struggle with the questions of who (identity)
and what (witness). "The two are inherently one," he said. "Ultimately, it
is our witness that gives meaning and content to our identity."

The 10 topical issues to be discussed at the Assembly show that the LWF
cannot be criticized as irrelevant and aloof, he said. The majority of the
issues are mission and action oriented. One of those issues is human
rights. 

"For many years now the issue of human rights has been a major concern of
the LWF," he said. The human rights issue is a Christian concern because
humans are created in God's own image, "with all the freedom, dignity and
worth that are inherent in it." As God's image-bearers, Christians are
"called to be witnesses as well as defenders of that image."

The issue of human rights in China "has to be handled with great care and
sensitivity in this Assembly in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding
and misinterpretation," he said. The issue has acquired Western overtones
that jeopardize the universal nature of its principle and the validity of
its application, he said. When we speak out on the issue, "let us make sure
that our advocacy does not become a mere echo of the media, whether Western
or Eastern."

"In fact, we are bound to lose our credibility as independent, faithful and
courageous witnesses to Christ, who is the truth, once we jump on the
bandwagon of any self-seeking and self-serving power block," he said.

"Our concern for human rights is undoubtedly biblical and noble. Let our
commitment be firm, our judgments sound and our voice loud and clear. In
order to do that we must never allow ourselves, whether as a world body, a
member church, or an individual, to be politicized and manipulated.
Ultimately, the issue is also one of identity and witness." 

The diversity of backgrounds, contexts, viewpoints, perceptions and
expectations will be reflected during the assembly. "We must therefore
learn how to 'speak the truth in love,' according to the wise counsel of
the apostle Paul." he said.

On the issue of "faithful stewardship of God's creation" he said that "a
sound theology of creation" is perhaps the most valuable and much needed
contribution that we can possibly make to the secular world on the subject. 

Regarding the issue on "Christian witness in a world of religious and
cultural plurality," he noted that "thoughtful Christians obviously have to
struggle constantly to try to be faithful and truthful to their witness and
be open to genuine dialogues with people of other faiths at the same time."

He opened his address with some autobiographical comments on his early
years and his introduction to Christianity. He said the year 1997 is
significant even "magical" as the year Hong Kong is returned to China and
LWF observes its 50th anniversary. It also has personal meaning for him as
it is the 40th anniversary of his becoming a Christian.

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