(1) A poster of the Cultural Mandate talk by Rev Dr Kong Hee

Under the leadership of his senior pastor, Rev Dr Kong Hee, City Harvest Church (CHC) “bases its values on Charismatic and Pentecostal teachings, with doctrinal emphasis on the Great Commandment, the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate.” (1) In the order of the doctrinal emphases : the first points to the law of love – Matthew 22: 36 – 40, vertically with God and horizontally with neighbours, the second refers to the famous Matthew 28:18-20 (made famous by Hudson Taylor in late 1800s) (2), and the third, is Rev Dr Kong Hee’s manifesto to the church, especially evident in this decade, to engage as salt and light in the world as excellent examples. With a membership of 27,086, and growing, its influence in the city state of Singapore, and beyond, is significant.

The Cultural Mandate is not new. Rev Dr Kong Hee was influenced by Dr A.R. Bernard (3), founder of Christian Cultural Center (CCC) based in New York, USA, a fellow mega-church pastor and frequent speaker at CHC, although the idea originated further down history. The Cultural Mandate, so called because of its obvious references to culture and order (from God), can be traced to the Genesis command to Adam to subdue the earth (Gen 1:28-29), and tend it (Gen 2:15). The stewardship mandate for Adam is inherent in all human beings, culminating in ingenuity that benefit humankind. Jerry Solomon writes,

“A return to the opening chapter of Genesis leads us to an intriguing question. Of what does the ‘image of God’ consist? It is interesting to note, as did the British writer Dorothy Sayers, that if one stops with the first chapter and asks that question, the apparent answer is that God is creator. Thus, some element of that creativity is instilled in man. God created the cosmos. He declared that what He had done was “very good.” He then put man within creation. Man responded creatively. He was able to see things with aesthetic judgment (Gen 2:9). His cultivation of the garden involved creativity, not monotonous servitude (Gen 2:15). He creatively assigned names to the animals (Gen 2:19-20). And he was able to respond with poetic expression upon seeing Eve, his help-mate (Gen 2:23). Kenneth Myers writes: “Man was fit for the cultural mandate. As the bearer of his Creator-God’s image, he could not be satisfied apart from cultural activity. Here is the origin of human culture in untainted glory and possibility. It is no wonder that those who see God’s redemption as a transformation of human culture speak of it in terms of re-creation.” (4)

For Christians today, engaging in culture in a globalised world is ongoing and inevitable. For mega-churches, the burden to influence society is almost unbearable. I remember Rick Warren (5) stated somewhere in Cutting Edge (6), that you would think of establishing an institution that leaves a legacy when you reach a megachurch size. Where Singapore is a total urban state with transparent global ambitions, the cultural mandate spells a relevant, winning formula for any leader who needs to steer his ship correctly in the glare of politicians and the public.

(2) Rev Dr Kong Hee

The CHC’s Cultural Mandate verses are Matthew 5: 13 – 16, with the pun on “city” a personal directive to the church. Rev Dr Kong Hee organises culture into 7 Pillars of Society : Family, Religion,Business, Education, Government, Arts and Media where the third to the last aspects form the marketplace. (7) The impact is vis-a-vis pop culture or the mainstream dialectics of community in the order of : Advertising, Celebrities, Music, Movies, Television, Fashion, Sports and the Arts. As Rev Dr Kong Hee explains,

“While we live in a broken-down world, I don’t believe in keeping Christians naive and ignorant of the harsh realities of society. I don’t ever want City Harvest to be so isolated and sanitized that we become out of touch with the world. We want to be a tolerant, accepting and gracious people. We want to identify with their pains, brokenness and struggles. We want to give hope to the hopeless, and peace to the restless, believing that value can be added to those whom are considered worthless. We are not antagonistic to society, or its popular culture. On the contrary, we seek to engage pop culture fully as salt and light.” (8)

CHC and Rev Dr Kong Hee’s contribution to Singapore’s Christian landscape in this decade will ultimately be the Cultural Mandate (every other church should have the first two doctrinal emphases) – it answers for the church’s participation as a socio-charity, and has ready resources to posit itself as an example for this kind of growth – a literal city harvest of souls, through cultural engagement and influence.

The Arts

Rich Nathan and Jeff Heidkamp discuss the implications of church growth, “The lead pastor has to put him or herself on the line and be accountable for growth. That means that you put yourself on the line to be embarrassed or risk failure. That’s an uncomfortable position” (9). In that sense, Rev Dr Kong Hee, his team, and CHC also risks being the largest magnifying glass of the successes and mistakes of carrying out the Cultural Mandate, especially in the arts.

Trailer for Easter drama, The Final Solution, 2008

The arts generally has a double edged reputation in churches : it is frontline in church ministry (referring to the role of performing arts), and difficult to sustain. This is because the arts is also susceptible to the trends of culture. Adapted by people groups for the sake of entertainment, pleasure or worship, the arts is a malleable and powerful form of delivery. And as beautiful as the songs can be one minute, the lyrics can be alienating the next to another generation turned off by staid and distant-to-their presentation. Church history has had an illustrious yet pendulous tryst with the arts. In music alone, the church has seen the gamut from Paul’s psalms and spiritual songs to the medieval church’s rigid antiphons, Gregorian chants, Methodist hymns, gospel, Charismatic high praise and CCM. Church history does not lack variety, but much of it reflects either the leadership of the patronage of the alluring force of the secular music sounds. The irony is, sound belongs and originate with God, who spoke the Word, and created us from frequency made flesh. Frustrations arise for artists when they are hard pressed to please either church leadership or secular culture, but not wait upon the Creator for new forms.

The Cultural Mandate in CHC faces the struggle of growing the arts. Frontlined by the big three ministries of music, drama and dance (performing arts as the preferred face and medium instead of literary and visual), CHC invests much resources – talent, time and money – to be an example of the marketplace and church leader for the Cultural Mandate. Under the helms of talented leaders, the three respective ministries thrive by being active in the secular field, and have members who are committed to growing excellent performing skills even though many are volunteers with full time jobs. CHC plans big scale events like musicals, conferences and the likes that employ their artistic staff to the maximum. Although not in the pipelines yet, the arts ministries’ leaders are open to the visual and literary possibilities, and closer to their home, film, because it is a mainstream, pop medium.

The benefits of their efforts has ushered in a host of celebrities (10) and industry big names to the church, and great relations with their overwhelming, young demography. These successes affirm the Cultural Mandate, but also open up criticism that may or may not matter. For example, has the church become so drawn to pop culture that church service resembles a slick production? The swinging cameras, professional videography, stage layout of musicians and singers may seem to give non-CHC members the idea. A Celebrity Weekend or records of the Emerge Conferences aimed to encourage youths also resemble a well made TV show that some would consider unnecessary.

Perhaps the biggest downside is that most of the public is more attuned to the sensational media portrayals of Dr Kong Hee’s wife and pop singer, Ho Yeow Sun, than the combined efforts of the performing arts ministries. Unfortunately, the success of any church message will always be tied closely to the lives of its leaders. In Ho Yeow Sun – Sun for short – the implication of the Cultural Mandate is not easily accepted.

It is fair to say that nobody has a bone to pick with singing pastors or dancing ones. Drums and loud music is mainstream youth church fare and God forbid anyone that supposes moshing is from the devil. As boundaries expand with the acceptance of secular culture, Sun has pushed the boundaries for church leaders more than anyone in Singapore for the pop scene. As a pastor’s wife, where two becomes one, she will always be (seen as) a church leader even if lay. As a pastor’s wife whose passion was to be a pop star, she has done it and in full view of the church and the public. And again, it’s the envelope that pushes the buttons – China Wine (11) will either go down as the raison de plus for cultural transformation or the most embarrassing MTV for a church leader’s wife to be seen in.

Amidst the haranguing reports of media and other churches’ denouncements, Sun seems the epitome of the Cultural Mandate’s wobbly result in the arts. Rev Dr Kong Kee makes an impassioned stand for his wife on his website (12), that includes her humanitarian achievements, defense of her non-clergy role and explanation of the controversial MTV persona she plays. On the other hand, the Cultural Mandate coup from China Wine is really Sun’s foray into the American music business scene with bigwigs, in order to set up the stage to befriend and slowly influence the industry with Christlike salt. And this kind of success is also reflected in the arts ministries in CHC – their work is high octane and Mediacorp (people) friendly. Inversely, more CHC members’ names are often in current film and tv productions. The dampener is, if being in the world means to engage in the secular field, what kind of line is there to be drawn?

Sun’s China Wine MTV also shows a certain naivety for a church which puts itself wholeheartedly on the frontline to be a cultural forerunner. This is a clear indication that CHC is only just starting to swim in the (western/international) secular arts scene. Secular criticism will always have a bone to pick unless the star overcomes certain stigma/ridicule to be unabashedly shameless for a cause (Madonna is tops), while Christian conservatives will become allies once there is an outright proclamation for the faith somewhere (see Mel Gibson, a Catholic darling despite charges). The same challenge for Sun will also face her peers in the arts ministries in CHC, except that they would have learnt from her prior mistakes.

My hunch is that if Sun, and the rest of the arts ministries, would make it their point to simply have fun with culture, instead of pushing for an agenda, the Cultural Mandate transformation would be easily accomplished. This is always the bane of many arts ministries and disillusioned members in church history : a tendency to put the agenda in front when it comes to arts and culture. And this is why CCM seems always second rate to the secular radio stations, even if the technicians and musicians are amazing. Therefore, the Cultural Mandate to conquer is really to overcome what it means to be part of this world, and not of it, in an organic, fun way that relates to the rest of the world. (Who faults Beyonce?)

Light of the City, 2008

Only history will tell how successfully CHC has utilised the arts for the glory to God via the Cultural Mandate. Two disadvantages face CHC in the case of Sun. Firstly, Singapore is not USA. Few people flinch at the thought of Katie Perry, a minister’s daughter. (Keith Hudson had preached at my church and openly encouraged everyone to take note of his daughter.) When I surveyed the web, I was very surprised to see Katie Perry, whom I thought would have gone the CCM/Nashville route (as with a lot of Christian singers), as a hot MTV star waking up to Vegas. The sensation left after a few minutes and I thought little of it. Another open secret is the non-perfect moral and biting marketplace of CCM, where many have fallen to vices behind their strong Christian message on stage. If we seriously view the marketplace of performers with the perspectives that we still listen to fallen man’s songs and bob to the music because of technical-emotional enjoyment, should the Sun debacle or CHC’s production values in church be of any surprise?

Secondly, there is little comparison from other mega-churches. New Creation Church’s art ministries is limited to worship music, while Faith Community Baptist Church’s Gateway Entertainment mainly supports the magic shows of Lawrence and Priscilla. As the sole mover of the Cultural Mandate on a scale and scope like CHC, it stands alone by circumstances as a leader and a lone target in Singapore.

Despite all odds, CHC has remarkable tenacity to hold onto their dream. If anything, the most convincing pushers of the Cultural Mandate in the arts are really its members. Janet Liu, who has taken part in all three ministries with CHC describes the Cultural Mandate’s impact,

“We became less inhibited with ourselves because the arts ministries’ members were encouraged to step out into the secular fields rather than be insular in church. For example, the dance ministry, when it started, was very conscious about their costumes and how they moved – the costumes usually covered up the whole body and the movements were terse and rigid. We thought that moving in certain fluid motions were too seductive or would bring about much criticism, until we learnt to open up after the Cultural Mandate message. In the drama ministry, the ‘demon roles’ were no longer about just showing nails and gnarled fingers. The music ministry members now are encouraged to ‘be themselves’ rather than follow a certain order of pattern. Of course, this is is acceptable as long as they don’t disturb the music or cause disruptions in the delivery…For myself, I was no longer afraid to take part in singing competitions outside.”

Vanness Wu at City Harvest Church’s Celebrity Weekend 2009

Another member who is not in the arts ministries, also affirmed the Cultural Mandate with raising up a generation of artists who were “courageous to be professional in church and the marketplace because they are in the frontline”. The supporters of the Cultural Mandate and the arts at City Harvest includes a variety of well known Christian speakers from around the world (13) and other (big) churches worldwide, because like-minded organisations can both inspire and be inspired. New Life Church in Taiwan is one such partner : New Life Church’s worship album, Hope, has music from FIR and other well known songwriters who has worked with CHC. On the other hand, their Cultural Mandate work is influenced by Rev Dr Kong Hee, whose preaching galvanised Geng Hong Liu to evangelise to his friends to come to New Life Church, now a hotbed for Taiwanese celebs.

make up and costumes - strong production values from the CHC drama team

In retrospect, CHC has strong in-house teams. Light of the City (2008) is an excellent worship album – the city on the hill type – from the worship team. The recent albums from CHC has reached an international CCM level that should continue to grow. At the same time, you can really feel the pulse, and enjoyment from the other ministries during CHC events. Any glance at their youtube videos can give an idea of what it means to be a mega-church in the city. The combined efforts for the Easter and Christmas extravaganzas (I-Ming, The Final Solution) reflect the kind of work that the members put in for drama, music and dance. Events that include the other groups like children’s church or special needs bolster the the myriad outreaches CHC is known for. Perhaps a healthy diversion for the local church community (as opposed to only news of Sun) is for CHC to create an archive of their past productions, albums or dances as a resource guide or reminder that the arts ministries, are after all, ministries.

In an affront to criticism, City Harvest provides alternatives for its members and ministries – City News (14) and Harvest Times (15). One is a news portal ala CNA and the other, a long running in house magazine that caters to the Cultural Mandate lifestyle. Both are media savvy, and in broad terms, can be considered to be the Christian sort of God channels for believers in Singapore and elsewhere. Their scopes, especially City News, is wide, and the CHC features are always positive.

CHC’s running of the Cultural Mandate is far from easy and the direction of the arts ministries is just thriving. While more engagement is done in the secular field and professionalism on church stage, the real crux of the Cultural Mandate in the arts is being salt and light of the kingdom of God. This is not easily assessed until the demonstrations of the kingdom is evident (16), and the growth of the believers, like the church in Thessalonians, made known.

Kingdom demonstrations include preaching the gospel, healing of the sick, casting out of demons (Mark 16 : 15-18) and not only good works as Samaritans. These are the things that set us apart because they break spiritual bondages, and are the signs and wonders with which to prove the gospel. Unless these take place, the arts ministries and the Cultural Mandate of the church posits only a slice of a kind of kingdom expansion.

When the CHC arts ministries come to maturity within this decade, they would need to be skillfully ready but intrinsically empowered with kingdom rhema for demonstrations. This is what every church artist or ministry aims at : the legend of the healing scarves, shadows, and Isaiah 61, happening at the same time that the art is delivered. That is the creative speaking power of God, originator of all art forms, bringing life as sound frequency is formed. That kind of setting is rare to most artists who settle mostly for influence through award platforms or personal bridges, both of which are definitely acceptable. But the extreme? What is, and can be, happening with CHC now, under the Cultural Mandate manifesto of Rev Dr Kong Hee, is only the preparation stage, and potentially a good one, for deep kingdom work.

Notes :

(1) Wikipedia, viewed November 30, 2009
(2) Castleman, Robbie F. The Great Commission : Ecclesiology, Themelios, viewed November 30, 2009
(3) http://www.arbernard.com/
(4) This is a helpful starter to understand the Cultural Mandate. Solomon, Jerry. Christianity and Culture, viewed November 30, 2009
(5) Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church, USA
(6) Unknown issue. Cutting Edge is a quarterly magazine published by The Vineyard Church Planting Task Force.
(7) http://www.siliconvalleychc.org/web/data/2008/11/31.htm, viewed 30 November 2009
(8) This is a very clear explanation of the DNA of CHC by the founder. Rev Dr Kong Hee, viewed 30 November 2009
(9) Nathan, Rich and Heidkamp, Jeff. The Nuts and Bolts of Church Growth, viewed 30 November 2009
(10) Star of Taiwanese drama serial, Meteor Garden, Vanness Wu, is one example, viewed 30 November 2009
(11) Sun, China Wine, viewed 30 November 2009
(12) Rev Dr Kong Hee, viewed 30 November 2009
(13) This refers to the recurring list of visiting speakers on chc.org.sg for their events.
(14) http://www.citynews.sg/
(15) http://www.harvesttimes.com.sg/
(16) Ladd, George Eldon. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. Grand Rapids, Mi. 1959.

Images

(1) http://www.konghee.com/www/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/culture_mandate.jpg
(2) http://www.chc.org.sg/harvesttimes/ht_28/images/sound_revival_03.jpg
(3) http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4jNhafjmTv0/SSZMPp8twAI/AAAAAAAAAFU/nBLYc-kiRpM/s400/CHC-Light+Of+The+City.jpg

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