Old Wineskins and New Wine: 1989-1994
The Second Pentad-Years of RCCC’s 25th Anniversary
Luke 5:36-39; 1 Corinthians 13:9-12; Select Verses
Elder Don Hong
Initiation of the English Ministry – The Single Most Important Change-Event in the Second Pentad Years of RCCC History – 1989-1994
In this second pentad-years [the 5-year period in the history of RCCC from 1989-1994] commemorating the 25th anniversary of RCCC, I would like to highlight, in my opinion, the single most significant event in this pentad that led to the growth and development of the Church.
While the callings of Pastor Hansen Chen as senior pastor in 1988 [tenure: 1988-1994] and Pastor Jireh Lin as English pastor in 1990 [tenure: 1990-2000] were significant events in themselves during the second pentad-years [1989-1994] of RCCC history, the single most significant and everlasting event may be the initiation of the English ministry that began in 1989. After 20 years, it is alive and well today. Its current worship attendance averages over 200 people each Sunday.
In the first pentad-years, especially in the 1983-84 formative years, RCCC was solely a Mandarin speaking church. Sermons, announcement and the written pages were all in Mandarin Chinese. In the following couple of years there was an initial effort to have simultaneous translation of the sermon to English but with no apparent success. Because of the limitation of the simultaneous English translation, and later side-by-side translation, the youths in the congregation were not fed from the spoken word. Soon they were, instead, taken out of the Chinese worship to have its own worship and that began the youth ministry at RCCC. Then the Church purchased its own building on Wake Forest Road and we moved from Forest Hills Baptist and had our first worship there on Thanksgiving Sunday, 1988.
Seven months later, in July 1999, the English ministry and congregation was birthed with a separate English worship. Like today, the English flipped-flop with the Chinese in worship time and Sunday school. Looking back, getting here was a rendering of Luke 5:39 which says, 36 … “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ” Luke 5:36-39 (ESV)
There was a lot of turbulence going forward to start the English ministry specifically in initiating a separate English worship. There were plenty of cultural and timing issues (e.g., “I want my kids to worship in Chinese, not in English” or “Raleigh Chinese Christian Church is a Chinese church not English” or “The timing is not right” or “Not yet” or “Wait until Rev. Chen is settled.” Granted, when it comes to changing long-held traditional Chinese-church convictions, changing is very difficult. More so 25 years ago. Looking back, change was possible though difficult.
To be sure, God essentially leads you and me by (his) decree, direction, discernment and declaration. By decree God sovereignly designs circumstances where he wants us to be even when we don’t have any conscious part or control over the matter. It occurs infallibly. By direction is what God does for us by giving us the commands and teachings from His Word. By discernment is how we follow God’s leading by a process of spiritually sensitive application of biblical truths to the specifics of the situation. Lastly by declaration is simply God telling us what we should do.
In the formation of the separate English worship, direction and discernment played big roles in its fruition. The following verses were deemed supportive and beneficial then:
Direction:
Galatians 6:7-10
This is a revealing of God’s directions from the Word. While we await our rewards in heaven, we should do good when we are on earth. The primary focus here is to serve those in the church, and to the people in the wider earth. Jesus tells us that the Christian’s primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God, to God as our heavenly Father, then to family, church and friends.
Discernment:
Romans 12:2
Generally discernments in life are not specifically spelled out in the Scriptures. It is a shaping of the heart and mind through His Word and prayers to give us an inclination as to what we should do. Fellowship with others of like-mind was immensely helpful. With the gradual influx of the English-only speaking and increasing number of youths, it was felt that the time has come for RCCC to meet the needs of this group and the resulting work enabled a growth and development of the Church itself.
Luke 5:36-39
This parable tells of Jesus and his teaching as the new wine coming into the world, but the scribes and Pharisees could or would not accept him and the teachings as new teachings and thus there were no joy in the relationship.
1 Cor. 13:9-12
The Holy Spirit helps us change by teaching us that God is merciful. Given our incomplete notions of him and not only is he willing to commune with us, but he also bless others in spite of our flawed conceptions. We often hear and even talk about thinking outside the box. We’ve been boxed in too long and we need to get out of our comfort zone. Paul reminds us of our imperfection. None of us are perfect but we can be assured that our walk with God has been authentic and perhaps others have been blessed by our ministry even if we have shortcomings about God and his ways. Too, surely God has an immense capacity and gracious generosity to bless needy souls in the midst of their erratic and incorrect notions of who God and the Holy Spirit are.
舊皮袋和新酒：1989年至1994年
洛麗華人基督教會二十五週年的第二個五年
路加福音五章:36-39節; 哥林多前書十三章:9-12節; 節錄經文
湯傑偉 長老
英文堂事工的開始 — 洛麗華人基督教會歷史的第二個五年期間 – 1989年至1994年 – 唯一最重要的改變和事件
我們在此慶祝洛麗華人基督教會二十五週年並回顧第二個五年 [洛麗華人基督教會歷史從1989至1994年的五年期間]，我想強調這五年當中，依我個人看來，唯一最重要也是導致教會增長和發展的事件。
雖然在這五年當中 [1989-1994年] 於1988年聘請陳涵生牧師擔任主任牧師 [任期：1988-1994年] 和1990年聘請林以勒牧師為英文牧師 [任期：1990-2000年] 都是洛麗華人基督教會歷史很重要的事件，但最重要並且持續至今的事件可能是1989年英文部事工的開始。二十年後，這項事工仍然相當活躍。目前每週日崇拜人數平均超過二百人。
第一個五年，特別是在1983年至1984年成立初期，洛麗華人基督教會純粹是一個講中文的教會。無論是講道信息，報告事項和文書印刷都是用中文。隨後的幾年﹐嘗試了中文講道同步翻譯成英語，但果效不佳。由於同步英文翻譯，以及後來的並排翻譯的限制，會眾當中的青少年沒有得到靈裡的造就。不久﹐他們和中文堂分開崇拜﹐另外有自己的崇拜，從此開始洛麗華人基督教會的青少年部。後來﹐教會購買位於 Wake Forest Road 的教堂建築，我們從森林山浸信會(Forest Hills Baptist) 搬出來，並在1988年感恩節週日首次舉辦我們的崇拜典禮。
七個月後，英文堂事工和會眾終於1989年7月開始了自己的英文崇拜。就像今天，英文堂和中文堂交替崇拜時間和主日學。回首過去，我們能有這一天就好像路加福音五章36-39 節所說，36 …“沒有人把新衣服撕下一塊來補在舊衣服上；若是這樣，就把新的撕破了，並且所撕下來的那塊新的和舊的也不相稱。37 也沒有人把新酒裝在舊皮袋裡；若是這樣，新酒必將皮袋裂開，酒便漏出來，皮袋也就壞了。38 但新酒必須裝在新皮袋裡。39 沒有人喝了陳酒又想喝新的；他總說陳的好。’ ” (路加福音五章:36-39節)
開始英文堂事工﹐特別是開始一個單獨的英文崇拜﹐整個過程我們遇到許多反對聲浪。我們面臨許多文化差別和時機的問題（譬如，“我希望我的孩子們用中文，而不是用英文來崇拜”或“洛麗華人基督教會是一個華人教會不是英語教會”或“時機不對”或“時候未到”或“等陳牧師安頓好再說”）。可想而知，一旦涉及改變根深蒂固的傳統華人教會的想法，要想改變是非常困難的，更何況是在二十五年前。回想起來，改變雖然困難，但還是可能的。
我們可以確信，神主要是以（祂的）旨意，指示，智慧和宣言來引導你和我。神因著祂的旨意，在我們還沒有察覺或有任何作為時﹐就已具備萬事好叫我們順著祂的旨意而行，一切都按著神的定意發生。神因著祂的指示﹐透過祂的話語給我們命令和教導。神因著祂的智慧，教導我們根據實際情況對聖靈敏感並應用聖經真理﹐來跟隨祂的帶領。最後﹐神因著祂的宣言﹐告訴我們應該怎麼做。
成立一個獨立的英文崇拜，神的指示與智慧對整個果效發揮了很大的作用。以下經文成為當時的支助:
指示:
加拉太書六章: 7-10節
神的話語顯明祂的指示。當我們仍在世上並等待屬天獎賞的同時，我們應該盡力做好本份。我們的主要重點在服事教會的肢體和世人。耶穌告訴我們，基督徒最重要的職責乃是忠於神的王國，天上的父神，然後是家庭，教會和朋友。
智慧:
羅馬書十二章: 2節
一般而言﹐生命的智慧在經文中沒有具體的闡明。但透過神的話語和禱告能改變我們的心意，並逐漸知道我們該做什麼。能夠與其他有同樣想法的人一起交通，更是幫助很大。隨著只講英語的人和青少年越來越多，有人認為時機已到，洛麗華人基督教會應該滿足這一群體的需求，如此也會帶來教會本身的增長和發展。
路加福音五章: 36-39節
這個比喻說明耶穌和祂的教導﹐就好像新酒來到世上，文士和法利賽人不願意也不會接受祂或祂的教導，或把它當作新的教導，他們之間沒有喜樂可言。
哥林多前書 13章:9-12節
聖靈幫助我們改變﹐並提醒我們上帝的恩慈。雖然我們對祂的瞭解不完整，祂不僅願意與我們交通，也因著我們祝福了他人，即使我們的想法任有缺陷。我們經常聽到甚至談到，要脫離固舊想法。我們受到傳統的束縛太久，必須跨出腳步往前邁進。保羅提醒我們人都有缺陷。沒有人是完美的，但我們可以確信，只要真心與神同行，即使我們對神和祂的道仍有虧欠，因為我們的事工，也許他人可以蒙福。不錯，即使人對神和聖靈的觀念不紮實也不正確，神因著祂的的大能和熱愛能夠祝福那些有需要的靈魂。