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Article: A Word to the Parents: Reflections on
Suburban Life Trinity Christian Church of Greater
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By Joanny Chang
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First, when comfort is regarded as an end in itself, our spiritual growth may become stagnant. Think of how the primacy of comfort can be seductive: aren’t our cabinets and closets in the kitchen, living room and bedrooms filled with gadgets? This abundance means that many have thought and worked hard on our behalf to make life convenient. Even easy and speedy access itself has become a commodity. In order to save time and hassle, we are willing to pay extra. Efficiency is the new virtue on the block. People expect themselves and others to accomplish the most within the shortest time span. These new “values” associated with comfort are now the norm of the suburban life. Once they are well accepted and established, they inevitably have an impact on spirituality because the suburban church naturally absorbs suburban values. Hence, we demand that church should also make us comfortable and provide efficient programs to satisfy our spiritual needs instantaneously. As this expectation is perpetuated by weekly routines, it is so easy to forget that the very essence of Christianity is to make life uncomfortable: God requires His children to repent and be conformed to His perfect Son – a very inconvenient request! There is no “efficient pathway” to spiritual maturity. It is a process of slowly dying to oneself, forsaking self-asserting privileges in order to live for God. Unfortunately, in the world of comfort, devotion to the Lord can easily be replaced with a commitment to task-oriented ministries such as faithful participation in a small group. In actuality, the Lord who draws everyone out of their comfort zone will not settle for anything less than an undivided heart. Secondly, the deep longing for a stable life may also pose a threat on our faith. The systems of insurance provide security and stability. Monotonous schedules create a similar effect: piano on Wednesday night, small group on Friday night, tennis club on Saturday morning, etc. Routines are iron laws written in our palm-reader dictating our activities. When stability becomes a great asset, work, the principal provider in maintaining this life-style, can easily play the role of master in our life. As work is elevated to top priority, God can no longer be God. Perhaps we would be more honest with ourselves by admitting that work probably has usurped God in our suburban homes because from it we draw our sense of security, satisfaction, and well-being. Where then is God? He is the person upon whom we set limits restricting what He can and cannot do. Hence, the genie is allowed to come out of the bottle only a few minutes before sleep, while we are driving, or whenever we are in need. This is the hard truth we have to face as a church: if God is not at the center and our first priority, church is nothing but a religious club that provides service to our self-imposed, pre-established stability. Thirdly, many of us, suburban parents, misplace our expectations for transcendence onto our children’s achievement. For some unknown reason, we have transferred our hope for the new heaven and new earth to the lives of our descendents. This intention adequately explains why we would invest so much money, time, and energy into our children and allow our lives to revolve around them. We take them to the English tutor on Mondays, school band on Tuesdays, soccer on Wednesdays, painting on Thursdays, etc. How does this affect the way we look at church? Our consideration could easily be: will church activities help my children build character and motivate them to excel in their studies? A poor youth program can be our sole reason for moving to another church. We want our children to love both God and school. But what are all these investments for? How would we respond as parents if our child comes to us and says, “Mom and Dad, thanks for teaching me to love God and to love knowledge. Now that I’m about to graduate from my Ivy-League university, I’d like to dedicate my life to the Lord and to full-time ministry. So I plan to go to seminary upon graduation and would like to receive your blessing.” What would we say to him or her? Or perhaps, we have already taught them to draw a line between faith as total submission and religion as a hobby. Suburban parents are confronted with many challenges. Likewise, as members of TCCGP, the subtlest and most ferocious threats await us. If God is truly God of our church, we have no choice but to yield to Him. He will certainly come and take away our dependence upon comfort and stability and our misplaced expectation on our children. However, as we the members of TCCGP are willing to let go and let Him be God, we can be assured that our church will be blessed with a promising future. ho do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:18-20) In Matthew 6, we see Jesus’ joyful reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” (v. 17) |
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Joanny is completing her doctoral studies at
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Buying
a house and settling down to the suburban lifestyle is the American dream for
many. A dream fulfilled is indeed a gift from God; however, what counts as a blessing
in one aspect may turn out to be detrimental to one’s faith in others. In
light of this truth, I wish to raise three perhaps highly contentious points.