A north Staffordshire Christian has told the General Synod how he converted to Christianity from Chinese folk religion. Mr Chik Kaw Tan received lengthy applause after his contribution to the debate on the uniqueness of Christ in multi-faith Britain.
He told the Synod: ‘I was brought up in Chinese folk religion. This is a religion which incorporates Buddhism, Animism, Confucianism, Taoism and ancestral worship. I bowed down before various idols and offered incense to them for 17 years of my life. And then I came to understand that Jesus Christ is truly unique and there is no other like Him.
‘Firstly, the Lord Jesus can be known. I knew nothing about the spirits and idols that I was worshipping. I did not know their teachings. I did not know their character or their nature. They were simply not knowable. Yet through the Bible and through the Holy Spirit I can come to know Jesus.
‘Secondly, the Lord Jesus wants me to, and allows me to, know him. This was astonishing and earth-shattering to me. The idols and spirits I worshipped demanded sacrifices and incense. If I did not placate them, evil would befall me and my family. We lived in fear of such spirits. Don't talk to me about "the happy heathen", they don't exist. Yet our Lord Jesus, out of his love, wants me to know him.
‘I grew up in a predominantly Muslim country, and my Muslim friends would tell me that Islam teaches that a God who is so holy, so almighty, so high, so far away - it is almost blasphemous to talk about knowing him in the same way we call God Abba, Father, Daddy. But the Lord Jesus Christ does more than that: he calls me brother and friend; and wants me to know him.
‘Thirdly, the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins. Which religion teaches of a God who took the form of a human being, albeit a sinless one, to accomplish one over-riding mission: the reconciliation of man with God through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross? Other gods and spirits demand obeisance, demand sacrifice. This God died for me.
‘I was a Buddhist and tried to be a perfect one. I tried to be perfect in order not to be reincarnated into a lower form. How I failed! If God were to judge me according to my own chosen standards, I am doomed! Yet God, through Christ, died for my sins. There is forgiveness through the cross. Isn't that great news?
‘Fourthly, the Lord Jesus Christ claims to be the way to salvation. I have many Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist friends; and I shall meet them in Malaysia in a few months time. And they would say that none of their founders claim to be The Way, The Truth and The Life. And yet Jesus claimed that He is The Way, The Truth and The Life; and proved it by rising from the dead.
‘And so, at the age of 17, I rejected the beliefs I was brought up in; and placed my life in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is truly unique. This is great news. This is the Christian gospel; and if we truly love our neighbour we will want to share Jesus, as he really is: fully God and fully man.’
During the debate, members of the Synod also heard from a Wolverhampton Vicar, appointed to a ‘pioneer minister’ post in Wolverhampton City Centre. The Revd Richard Moy told Synod of a number of recent encounters with people of other faiths, and said: ‘A young man recently, working in the centre of Birmingham, sent me an e-mail saying: "could you help me to answer these questions that a Muslim I work with is asking about Jesus?" And I thought, "Where do I take him too?" I thought of some books which I knew off; and I happened to be at a training college which was very good at engaging with Islam, so I was very helped by that. I had far more than just a day; but where do we return to it?
‘I thought of the time I put a sofa in a shopping mall and just sat on it wearing my dog collar and said: "Would anyone like a chat?" A young Algerian came up to me and emphatically told me that no Muslim ever converted to Christianity. And then just afterwards along came a Nigerian who had recently converted to Christianity after trying to persecute Christians while back home.
‘I think of the Hindu man I baptised not long ago. Ever since he was a child, whenever he walked past a church he was drawn into it and now feels at home and complete. I think of the many people from a Sikh background who were members of the church where I was a curate.’
He told the story of a local Muslim store-keeper from east Africa who, on first meeting him, said he had lived in this country for 22 years and had never previously met a committed Christian. The man had given Richard Moy and his wife a new £700 mattress.
Mr Moy told the Synod that in response he gave the man a new leather-bound Bible, saying: ‘You have given me something very valuable; I would like to give you the most precious thing I have,’ and said: ‘I saw him a month later. He had put it on his telly and every day he and his family read from it. He had named each of his children after people in the Old Testament and sent them to Christian schools.’
He added: ‘I tell you: there is a hunger where I live from people from every single ethnic background and every single religious background for the Lord Jesus Christ.’
The debate was sparked by a Private Members Motion from Mr Paul Eddy, of Winchester Diocese, which said: ‘That this Synod request the House of Bishops to report to the Synod on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.’
NOTES:
- Mr Chik Kaw Tan and the Revd Richard Moy are members of the General Synod having been elected by lay members of deanery synods and the clergy of this diocese; but like all Synod members, their views are their own and not necessarily shared by the Diocese.
- The General Synod is meeting in Church House Westminster from Monday 9th February to Friday 13th February in what is the first of two meetings planned for this year.