By Khen Lim
Over the decades, Chinese Christians have had much to do in
trying to come to terms with the Chinese New Year. Early-generation Christians
have sought to understand how their faith can and cannot intertwine with this
celebratory event. Being so interlaced with superstitious elements, this is not
surprising but it has not been easy for any of us to know exactly how much of
Chinese New Year we can and cannot retain.
As we have looked at a little more than a dozen suspect
features of the Chinese New Year, we can appreciate all these potential
pitfalls but more importantly, it’s knowing what we can do that is more crucial.
Modern society permissiveness keeps telling us that it is
alright to turn a blind eye, brace and go through it, then forget about it and
before we know it, it’s another year and we cross that bridge again. But to do
that is to breach our trust and relationship with God because in a way, it’s
not so different from embracing some of the very things that the LORD detests.
If there truly are elements of the Chinese New Year that we must
refrain from, it is only righteous that we do not shirk from what our faith
tells us to do. So in going back through the same points as before, here’s the
Christian counter-view from what I can personally see:
1 Cleaning the house before Chinese New Year and then stashing the
brooms away
Image Source: sgpropertygowhere.com
The original idea behind this is all about sweeping or not
sweeping away good fortune. This in itself is superstition and as Christians,
we can easily do away with this one.
Having said that, there is also nothing wrong with getting
your home spic-and-span in readiness to bring on the New Year. If you are the
type who hardly cleans the house, then this might be a good time to do so and
if you’re the opposite type, one more time hardly hurts at all.
In other words if you clean up your house because Chinese New
Year is coming, not because of any superstition but because you prefer visiting
guests to see a clean home, there is certainly nothing wrong with it. It’s all
in how you want to see things.
2 Putting up auspicious characters and icons in and around the house
Image Source: timeanddate.com
A single character ornament like ‘chun’ (to mean the ‘spring’ season) should be harmless to
Christians since the meaning itself has no counter-religious sentiments so long
as you don’t hang it upside down to play up the superstition.
‘Fu’ (as in ‘luck’),
on the other hand, is somewhat different. Christians simply cannot place their
lives on the element of luck. It is either God or good luck – you can’t have it
both ways.
With God, you don’t gamble with your life. Your life is
eternally saved in your faith in Jesus Christ. With good luck, you never know
whether you’re winning or not and therefore your confidence is unassured.
And as for pineapple-like adornments, these are out of the
question since they play purely into the prosperity theme with nothing
spiritual meaningful to offer to the Christian.
3 Offering of foods and flowers to dead ancestors
Image Source: chinablog.cc
Christians have nothing to do with praying to the dead. That
however does not mean we have to be disrespectful or cold or distant.
We can and should fondly remember them. We can think about our
times with them when they were alive. These are memories we can cherish. There
is nothing wrong with viewing back the old videos or looking at dog-eared photo
albums for old times’ sakes.
But we are to avoid deifying them or according them the same
level of attention as if they are alive. Unbelievers may think that Christians
do not understand filial piety. If you come across those who share that
sentiment, remind them that filial piety is enshrined in the Ten Commandments.
If you have a Bible handy, turn to Exodus 20:12 and respectfully recite it to
him. From there, make it a point to say that, piety as such stops the moment
they are no longer with us in the living.
As Christians, we are free to honour our ancestors by
respecting and remembering them but we do not pray to them. Neither should we
offer them food or flowers or anything else or placing their favourite
newspaper at the altar in case they feel like reading it.
But we don’t have to make a fuss about it. If someone asks of
our participation, we can kindly, quietly and humbly refrain from doing so
without needing to offend or upset anyone.
4 Incense offerings to the so-called god of wealth
Image Source: nationsonline.org
Exodus 20:2-5 offer enough evidence as to why this part of
Chinese New Year is abhorrent to God. As such we must have no part to do with
this.
Verse 3 (NASB) is as plain as daylight:
“You shall have no other
gods before Me.”
Verse 4 (NASB) says, “You
shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”
In other words, we should not be any idols lying around our
Christian homes as opportunities to worship. If there is a statue of the god of
wealth somewhere in your own house,
this is as good a time as any to dispose of it – destroying it beyond
usefulness would be far superior to giving it away. I stress ‘your own house’ –
in other words, don’t muscle in on other people’s personal territory.
Verse 5 (NASB) says, “You
shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous
God.”
And with this, we should have no difficulty understanding where
we stand with false gods. In our lives as faithful Christians, they cannot
exist. We do not worship them. We do not take them lightly. We are not to pay
any attention or be serious with them. Our worship is solely devoted to God and
Him alone. Our attention is strictly and exclusively to Him.
5 Visual, cultural and traditional importance of the mandarin orange
Image Source: corporategiftsboston.blogspot.com
If you love the taste of the mandarin orange, by all means
indulge in it. Eat as many as you like but only because you enjoy such a juicy
delicious fruit, a creation no less by God Himself.
The use of these oranges as customary gifts during Chinese New
Year is an established tradition. It is therefore enormously difficult to have
to explain it away.
However Christians don’t really have to explain it away anyway
because we can continue to offer them but as a gift of goodwill and fellowship rather
than as a prospectus for prosperity and good fortune. In fact we can be in the
same spirit of generosity and kindness with everything else we offer beyond the
mandarin orange.
What this means is that we have no concern over the
pronunciation issue. It does not affect us. It does not rock our Christian
beliefs. It does nothing to change the way we feel about our faith.
Our goal should always be a gesture of lovingkindness,
thoughtfulness and charitability. As such it has nothing to do with any
implicit or explicit prosperity message.
6 Doing things in pairs
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Image Source: packagingoftheworld.com
As Christians we should not worry about the number of fruits
we offer to our guests or when we go visiting during the Chinese New Year.
Whatever the amount, it will not matter to God. He has no hidden response to
whether it’s an even or odd total.
And there are no ill omens, no bad spirits and no evil outcome
worth concerning about. You choose how many you wish to give and you go ahead
and do it.
Christians must refrain from indulging in any form of symbolism
behind choices of numbers. It goes beyond just odds and evens. While
unbelievers place inordinate amount of faith in certain numbers that are tied
to ‘prosperity’ or ‘good fortune’ (such as ‘8’ or ‘3’ or ‘6’), Christians are
not to invest such trust.
The question for Christians is whether we want to stake our
faith in manipulating elements and external forces to attain harmony, peace and
order in life or we look to our heavenly Father through faith in Jesus Christ
as our sole source of peace. Consider Romans 5:1 (NASB):
“Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
No matter what Chinese numerology may imply from the feng shui
master’s standpoint, nothing denies the fact that no inanimate forces can ever
generate the kind of quality of life that only God can give. No such
externality has the ability to influence tranquillity and harmony to bring
human lives back in sync except our Saviour. Through Him, we have peace that
surpasses human understanding:
“Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.
The lord is near. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the
peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7, NASB)
7 Predominance of the colour red
Image Source: dailymail.co.uk
Technically speaking, Christians should not be troubled by colour implications. In other words, feel free to wear clothes of any colours or stripes or patterns you like including, if you must, blacks and greys. If that’s your style, don’t feel inhibited. But that’s just the theory because in practice, we should also learn to adjust and accommodate for the sake of avoiding conflicts and be a good reflection on Christ.
Because the choice of colours should not be a big deal for
Christians, we should also consider being tolerant and accepting.
Ephesians 4:1-3 (NASB) reminds us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been
called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for
one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace.”
Romans 14:1 (NASB) adds that we must also “accept the one who is weak in faith but not for the purpose of passing
judgement on his opinions” and certainly, also, not to be a stumble for him
to understand Christ.
Instead we are to “welcome
one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7
NASB).
After all, whatever colour your attire is for the day, God
will still recognise who you are.
8 The exchange of customary red packets
Image Source: mairtownkindy.blogspot.com
The misfortunate part of this tradition is that its recent materialistic flavour has overshadowed its original root meaning. A kind and simple gesture of goodwill and hope has now been eclipsed by a desire to outdo one another, to attain bragging rights or to simply undermine others.
Whatever the objective, the material gain is a sad indictment
of today’s society of greed and power. Often we can even catch ourselves
measuring a person’s worth by the amount the ‘hoong pau’ he gives the children contains.
However we also fail to grasp the number of people who simply
struggle to keep up with this tradition. As the economic crunch makes life even
harder to cope today, the added burden of offering bountiful ‘hoong pau’ is hard to imagine. If we are
to consider this, maybe we can be a little more circumspect in the way we view
this tradition.
I think back to the days when I was a young kid and a ‘hoong pau’ carried a dollar on average.
Wealthier family friends would give us more but that was all we had to deal
with. As the cost of living increased over the decades, today’s ‘hoong pau’ is expected to be magnitudes
more but then social expectations have also played their part as well.
Chinese Christians can still participate in offering ‘hoong pau’ without submitting to the
materialistic game. We should refrain from getting trapped in a race to outdo
one another. So long as we focus on the goodwill intention, we are safe.
The ‘hoong pau’
should not carry any more significant value than what it means to kids. And
Christian kids must be encouraged to think of it as a simple aspect of the
Chinese New Year and not perceive it as the key motivator to visit well-to-do relatives
and family friends.
9 Homecoming dinner for New Year’s Eve
Image Source: ibtimes.co.uk
Of all the longstanding features of the Chinese New Year, the homecoming dinner (‘tuen yuen farn’) is easily the most meaningful, most significant and the most heartwarming. In this sense, it draws parallel to Christmas’ Thanksgiving Dinner.
Chinese Christians should not see anything wrong with this as
it encourages family unity and love, offers great opportunities for
reconciliation and icebreaking.
As a bonus, it may even be an ideal platform for the
occasional ministry. Homecoming dinners can be a nice little springboard to
share the Gospel, to answer some questions, to pitch in interesting ministry
ideas and to enrich the Christian perspective.
At the same time we can also use these dinners to minister to the
hurt and the aggrieved. Distant relatives that come together only on such
occasions can offer us a glimpse into their lives in which we can bring
ourselves to pray for them and to lead them spiritually with the fervent hope
that they may come to church.
But there’s a warning clause to this – be super aware of your
own boundaries and be disciplined not to cross it. Avoid zealotry at all costs.
Play down the heavy-hitting offensive and don’t encroach when any of them feels
a touch defensive. Do more listening than talking. Behave empathetically. Be
prayerful. Talk only when you know you’ll be listened to.
But whatever you do, do not be overly persistent and know when
to stop.
If you’re new to sharing the Gospel, go easy. It’s just as important
to show patience, humility and kindness as it is to be accepting of an
unbeliever’s faults and flaws. Do not pounce on his pagan practices and do not
get on your authoritative high horse. You don’t have to feel competitive and
persist with the superiority complex.
We should, instead, follow Paul’s advice and bear with one
another in love, ever eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace, knowing that having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God
(Romans 5:1, NASB).
10 The ushering of the new animal sign
Image Source: visiontimes.com
There is no other clearer way to put this other than to say that, none of these is in abidance to God. But that doesn’t mean Chinese Christians should sneer or be snarky at unbelievers. No matter what, Chinese Christians should neither dumb down nor criticise them.
The Christian perspective of the Chinese animal horoscope is a
simple one – because it is one and the same with the ancient Chinese practice
of astrology, it is detestable to God.
Isaiah 47:12-13 (NASB) says the following:
“Stand fast now in your
spells and in your many sorceries with which you
have laboured from your youth; perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you
may cause trembling. You are wearied with your many counsels; let now the
astrologers, those who prophesy by the stars, those who predict by the new
moons, stand up and save you from what will come upon you.”
The worshipping of the twelve
animals is also dependent on Chinese geomancy with its wide use of almanacs and
charts, bringing together the involvement of celestial bodies in which ancient
Chinese have been using to predict human behaviour, businesses, relationships
and to foretell the future; all of which still take place actively today and
all of which are completely forbidden by God.
The Bible in 2 Kings 23:5-7 (NASB)
says the following:
“He
did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to
burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding
area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the
moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. He brought out
the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron
and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on
the graces of the common people. He also broke down the houses of the male cult
prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD, where the women were weaving
hangings for the Asherah.”
We should not be participating in
any of these. Other than friendly banter, Chinese Christians cannot take any of
these seriously.
11 Traditional Chinese New Year greeting
Image Source: publicwallpapers.org
To not partake in the simple gesture of a well-meant Chinese New Year greeting might be to invite unnecessary trouble; even enmity. Chinese Christians may then find themselves needlessly segregated from the others simply because we refuse to be part of the larger community of broader and more diverse cultural traditions.
Although it is true that ‘Gong
Xi Fa Cai’ does have its prosperity message, Chinese Christians are
encouraged to greet others with sincerity for a better year, a year that
perhaps can bring about prosperity in more ways than one. We can always look at
the word ‘prosperity’ not from a material aspect but in terms of ‘prospering
spiritually.’ We can certainly greet unbelievers by encouraging them to reap
the rewards of a ‘more spiritually rewarding year.’
The key to this is perhaps semantics but in truth, we Chinese
Christians must learn to detune ourselves from an over-proliferation of materialistic
values that undergird the Chinese New Year ethos. The greeting can be a perfect
example of how we can stay abreast with our faith to God and yet be we can
still be seen as integral to our larger Chinese community.
The last thing we want to do is to offend unbelievers with our
holier-than-thou attitude. One way is to continue to express the same greeting
but perhaps add something ‘more meaningful’ for their edification. It could be an
inspiring line concerning spiritual yield, or a more meaningful year or a year
of better understanding. Anything but the material focus could be just enough
for you to be comfortable with the way you greet an unbeliever during Chinese
New Year.
12 The New Year Cake
Image Source: en.apdnews.com
Ultra-conservatives would instantly point to Leviticus 19:26-31 (NASB), which says the following:
“You
shall not eat anything with the blood nor practise divination or soothsaying.
You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of
your beard. You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any
tattoo marks on yourself: I am the LORD. Do not profane your daughter by making
her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become
full of lewdness. You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverse My sanctuary; I am the
LORD. Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled
by them. I am the LORD your God.”
Never mind that the verses aren’t
specifically talking about Chinese New Year Cakes. Never mind too that other
than the first verse, the rest are about something else. Ultra-conservatives
often brandish these verses with an air of authority that we must not do the
things that God sees as defiling of ourselves and of Him. The fact is the New
Year Cakes do not contain blood of animals.
As a counterpoint, here’s what Paul
says in 1 Corinthians 10:27-29 (NASB):
“If one of the unbelievers
invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without
asking questions for conscience’ sake. But if anyone says to you, “This is meat
sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you,
and for conscience’ sake. I mean not your own conscience but the other man’s;
for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience?”
The New Year Cake – ‘nian
gao’ as we call it – is harmless. And so it is, too, with a hammer or a
meat cleaver. It’s what drives you to use them and how you end up using them,
your motive and your intentions – these are the important factors.
The purpose of a hammer is to drive nails into a piece of wood
or a wall. A meat cleaver is to make it easy to slice or cut pieces of meat.
That’s what we use these tools for. But of course, we can use one or the other
to murder or maim a person. It’s the intention or the thoughts in our heads
that provide the fuel to use or misuse them.
And if someone were to say that they have ‘prayed’ over the
hammer, would you use it any further or would you dismiss the silliness of it?
Would you then go out and buy another hammer because that one is tainted and
rendered unusable?
Would any of these be applicable to the New Year Cake? Would
you throw it in the bin, knowing that the premise behind it is to hoodwink some
‘kitchen god’?
Frankly Chinese Christians would do well not to get too
pernickety over such things. Rather, eat it, enjoy it and not worry too much.
My personal point is simple – I don’t invest any belief whatsoever in the
so-called ‘kitchen god.’
Whatever this god is, there is no significance for me. I know
it doesn’t exist. I know my God is superior and more than powerful enough to
obliterate this and all other false gods. If I happen to consume ‘nian gao’ – and like it very much – no
kitchen gods will hijack my faith in and allegiance to God.
At the same time, we should remind ourselves who we are in
Christ and how we display ourselves to the outside world.
Romans 14:13 (NASB) puts it succinctly:
“Therefore let us not
judge one another anymore but rather determine this – not to put an obstacle or
a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”
In other words how we say and react reflects the nature of who
we are. As Christians, we are often placed under the microscope. People measure
how we respond to them. Very often they can take something we say or express
and turn it against us. And if we are careless in our mannerisms or flippant in
our thoughts, we can send the wrong message to unbelievers who may then see our
bad nature as an example of Christ. We may not mean to but inadvertently we
ruin it for God.
So before we all get too uppity about some insignificant ‘nian gao’ and articulate their pagan
roots, think a little more about what message we really want to send out to the
unbelievers.
13 Burning of firecrackers and sparklers
Image Source: malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com
Let’s be sure about this first – Setting off firecrackers or sparklers is illegal anywhere in Malaysia. That alone should put paid to any thoughts of doing so this Chinese New Year. But it’s not just Malaysia alone – many other countries have similar bans in place because of their danger to lives.
Besides being illegal, Christians must then come to terms with
the use of the firecrackers to supposedly ward off an alleged evil monster that
goes by the name of ‘nian.’ In other
words, it’s one thing to set off firecrackers because they’re illegal but quite
another to do it knowing that they’re
designed to fight ‘evil monsters’ in an unbelieving pagan world.
Scripture does have references to encounters with evil forces
but invariably they talk about angels doing the fighting. One of the better known
verses are Revelation 12:7-9 (NASB), which say:
“And there was war in
heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his
angels waged war and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a
place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the
serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
Christians have no need for illegal firecrackers because in
the midst of our faith in Christ, we know that the devil is taken care of. All
we have to do is to trust unequivocally.
Whether or not the tale of fighting the evil ‘nain’ is believable, many revel in the
burning of firecrackers because they might think it’s cool to create such a
racket. Besides, doing something as illegal as this seems to excite some people
too.
None of these reasons, however, are also acceptable to
Christians.
14 The ominous lion and dragon dances
Image Source: demotix.com
These are, without a doubt, one of the star attractions of any Chinese New Year but for Christians, they can also be a problem because of their ancient religiously-tainted mysticisms.
In short, they have no place in the faith of a hallowed
Christian. Like the firecracker episode (see previous point), we’re asked to
believe that a dancing lion or dragon will do the same and help usher in a more
promising year of prosperity.
Remember what is said in Leviticus 18:30 (NASB). Here, God
says:
“Thus you are to keep My
charge that you do not practise any of the abominable customs, which have been
practised before you, so as not to defile yourself with them; I am the LORD
your God.”
Lion and dragon dances are, as the Gospel of Mark says, “the
ideas and works of men” and they need to be set aside in deference for God’s
ordinances. Pagan practices have no place in the hearts of Christians and God
commands us never to be subsumed by them.
In Mark 7:6-9 (NASB), Jesus says:
“And He said to them,
“Rightly did Isaiah prophesy to you hypocrites as it is written: “This people
honours Me with their lips but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do
they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” Neglecting the
commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to
them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep
your tradition.””
In Deuteronomy 12:32 (NASB), God makes it unquestionably clear
where we stand when it comes to observing pagan practices. He says:
“Whatever I command you,
you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.”
Precisely, God is saying, nothing more and nothing less;
exactly what He expects from us. So does that mean Christians are not to watch
the spectacle as well? To stay clearly away and never to peep at it?
No, probably not. Lion and dragon dances are also
categorically an historical cultural event that is uniquely Chinese. There may
even be times when you may find yourself in a work situation where you cannot
walk away from being in such an event. You may be the event organiser or you’re
privileged as the invited guest where your hosts are proudly Chinese.
There is patently nothing wrong with watching it. After all
when executed by professionals, this is, admittedly, quite a spectacular show.
Such events have travelled around the world as part of the tourism promotion
for China.
The point is Christians should have no problems watching it as
part of a ‘cultural lesson’ from China but we are to separate ourselves from
being involved in its mystical or religious implications. We cannot follow the
ways of men and as Christians, we have an obligation to the LORD, our God, to
follow His ways and to stay obedient to His commandments.
15 Superstitious Tripe
Image Source: fengshuitoday.com
The unbelieving Chinese tends to be a hugely superstitious person. Shaped by centuries of astrology, mythology and plain blinding fear, unbelievers that allow superstitions to shape their lives have little understanding of a God who saves, who loves, who is simply superior to whatever pagan beliefs tell them. Deceived by unfounded taboos, they have yet to encounter a God who reigns from everlasting to everlasting.
Unbelieving Chinese are sold on the diktats of geomancers who
behave like oracles making a roaring trade, offering tripe dressed as ‘sage
advice’ on anything from building a home to advancing business operations to
when the best time is to buy a car or to get married.
Image Source: ssquah.blogspot.com
More notoriously known as ‘fengshui’
masters, the hoodwinking phenomenon has now even penetrated Western markets including
America, Canada and Germany as well. In Malaysia, people like Lillian Too and
Joey Yap occupy large areas of bookshelves offering their deceptive wisdom in
the form of books, calendars, DVDs, charts and even diaries. It’s not a
surprise that they are also millionaires several times over.
But this is what Deuteronomy 18:10-13 (NASB) has to say about
all this:
“There
shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practises witchcraft or one
who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who casts a spell or a medium or a
spiritist or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is
detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things, the LORD your
God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your
God.”
Look out for the Third and Final Part tomorrow.
Look out for the Third and Final Part tomorrow.
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