Sunday, December 26, 2021

God’s Fine Print

 Now that the festivities are winding down and the actual day has passed, I thought I’d make the point that although my school boy theology is nearly 30-years rusty, but its most likely that the person we know as Jesus of Nazareth was not born on December 25. I’ve heard several reasons for this, ranging from the change of the calendar by the Emperor Constantine (the first Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire) to the fact this date was associated with Saturnalia, an old pagan fertility festival that the early church founders found easier to adapt than abolish.

That little snippet of trivia should in no way distract from the significance of the festival. The birth of Christ is the central theme of Western and by many extents, global civilization as we know it and if the date of December 25 is a “set-up” it was a pretty clever one in as much as the day after is St Stephen’s Day or Boxing Day as its better known. Stephen was the first martyr of the Christian faith. He was, a man who refused to bow down to the version of God as expressed by the Sanhedrin and penalty for Jews who p*** of the Sanhedrin back in those days was stoning.

 


 This was how Stephen died for this faith - Not the best way to die ……..Copyright – Lee Jay Walker  

So, why would the early church leaders choose to commemorate very brutal death of the first Christian martyr straight after it celebrated the birth of Jesus, or the reason for the church’s very existence?

As a matter of disclosure, I did take Christian theology up to A-levels and my teacher expected me to read theology at university. However, I realized that I didn’t have the patience for detailed study and the thought of learning ancient Greek (the compulsory element as you have to read the New Testament in the original language) and used the national service period as a reason to abandon the dreams of those who had great hope in me. I place this disclaimer so as to clarify that I am merely giving an opinion based on my personal beliefs and observations.

I believe the significance of having St Stephen’s day after Christmas sends a clear message about faith and just about everything else in life, which is the fact that you cannot have glory and joy without being prepared to suffer for it. The point is easier to explain at Easter where we commemorate the pain of Good Friday before the glory of the resurrection of Easter Sunday. However, the point should not be lessened at Christmas. Think of St Stephen’s day as the fine print of the divine contract. Everyone gets excited by the “birth of the savior” on Christmas day because it’s a promise of all sorts of wonderful things. However, there’s the fine print, which says that in order to reach the promised land of heavenly glory by following the proverbial “savior,” you got to be prepared to lose everything, including your life.

This is important because much of the modern capitalistic system is based on instant gratification without the painful bits. Lotteries are the prime example. The odds of winning the lottery defy logic. According to Forbes, you have a 292.1 million to one chance of hitting the big power ball jackpot. By contrast you have a 300,000 to one chance of being struck by lightning. You’d think that with such poor odds, no logical person would by a lottery ticket. Yet, despite these odds, lotteries throughout the world continue to thrive? Why? Everyone is attracted by the prospect of being wildly rich without having to slog and save towards wealth. Being rich is attractive – working to the extent of having to pay a personal price is not.

Another extreme example is “miracle diets” which promise you a beautiful body is you just buy them. I would love to be as lean and trim as Bruce Lee in his prime. Training for six hours a day and 365 days a week like Bruce Lee is a different story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dklsnzXT8yQ

These are extreme examples but the point remains, most of us want the glory without having to struggle for it and there’s a twist to it in Singapore where an “easy life” is seen as an “entitlement.” Too many of Singapore’s leaders forget that one of the key elements of our success came from having to do the ground work. Lee Kuan Yew wasn’t born Prime Minister. He had to struggle to know his electorate. The English-speaking Mr. Lee had to force himself out of his comfort zone to communicate in Mandarin and Hokkien to get people to vote for him.

However, this isn’t the case today. How many of the ruling party’s potential candidates for parliament have had to leave their comfort zones to know the electorate? The only criteria for parliament seem to be checking the right boxes set by an all-knowing party executive and before you know it, you have a cushy side gig paying an allowance that is five times the national average wage.

At least politicians have to face some form of competition every five-years.  Lower down the line you have senior civil servants being appointed CEO of big companies in businesses that are unrelated to their previous work experiences. It’s called “Sharing talent” with the private sector and everyone is supposed to believe this will benefit the rest of us. Doesn’t work like this in 2021/2022. Bosses are expected to understand the ground and know how their organisations work. Yet, nobody expects the former civil servants to know the businesses they have been parachuted to run. Why are we surprised when the companies run by former civil servants end up with floundering share prices and un-balanced sheets despite having a national monopoly on essential services and products?

The leaders of the media industry once claimed that the market was “too small for competition.” The reality is that it is “too controlled” to punish managerial incompetence. Too many of our leaders across all sectors fall in love with being the boss without understanding that bosses need to do work. Hence, they rush out of their way to lavish luxuries and opportunities on hedge fund owners but struggle to pay what is due to movers and stationary providers without understanding that their business needs the support of partners. Yet, the system shields them from incompetence.

This has to change if Singapore Inc is to have a future. Market forces must be allowed to punish leaders who fail to do the work of leaders. In religious terms we all want the divine glory that Jesus brings but are we prepared to put the work that Stephen died for? Unless we are willing to answer in the affirmative, we shouldn’t get the divine glory.  

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Maira Gall