The Business Arm of NCC.

Has the business arm of New Creation secured a good deal? 

Recently, the business arm spent $296m to acquire The Star Vista and the church assured her members that it will not be raising funds for the purchase. 

It reports that “the New Creation Church is the richest religious group in Singapore in terms of donations collected. Last year, it collected $122 million in donation, in the form of tithes by church members, and it has $633 million in reserves.”

The church is unquestionably rich and it is thus prudent that she is not taking anymore money from her members in the light of such abundant storing up of wealth. 

And that a church, being a predominantly charitable organisation from a secular point of view, is so exceedingly rich is rather out of her missional character?

Even charity council chairman Gerard Ee advised caution when he said that such huge property investments are “certainly not perceived as normal church activities.” But ultimately Gerard said that “it has to be between the church and its followers.”

Well, that is true. It is between those who give and those who receive. It is more a private affair. And how those who receive it use or apply the funds will be reminiscent of the parable of the sower, the talent and the wise steward. 

Although I caveat that those parables that Jesus shared specifically relate to spiritual investment that bears demonstrable, enduring fruits in how one impacts lives with personal sacrifices, no one can say from an objective standpoint that NCC is not impacting lives and bringing the name of Christ to even a larger audience, especially in US. 

And if the accumulation of riches is one of the signs of a church revival, though of a smooth velvety kind, then I can safely say that being the richest missional organization in Singapore, if not in the world, Joseph Prince’s Grace Revolution has come a long way from his Alps experience and he has singlehandedly redefined evangelism from the day Jesus carried it out with only 12 with not even a roof over his head. 

From the one who has reminded us to not be anxious about anything because He has overcome the world to one who preaches prosperity and longevity and ensuring the church’s business arm is responsible to make prudent investments, you get the feel that had the Rich Young Ruler entered the Star Vista today, he may not be walking away from it so disheartened. 

I guess the eye of the needle doesn’t stay the same size as time passes and cultures change 

(Question: Do we overcome the world by ruling over it with money, power and fame that only the world can offer? Or do we overcome the world at a crossroad where the world ridicules, despises and/or shuns?)

In any event, this is the rationale for the acquisition. “Given that The Star Vista and The Star PAC are inextricably linked, our immediate objective of acquiring The Star Vista is both to protect the interest of the church and to preserve the good experience for all who come to The Star PAC.” (Council Chairman Deacon Yong). 

While believers ought to be intimately aware of the interest of the church, although I qualify that the word “interest” (instead of using words like “calling” or “mission”) risks some misconstruction, Deacon Yong’s concern (whether intended or not) “to preserve the good experience for all who come to The Star PAC” is telling of how we expect a worship service to be. 

Now, to be fair, without further elaboration, you do not know what exactly Deacon Yong meant by it. He may be speaking from a strictly business/marketing or consumer-oriented point of view.

But it is nevertheless telling because Jesus once said that “no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other, Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

And if I am called to be the “devil’s advocate” for NCC, I would defend her vast accumulation of wealth by saying that the church is constantly subjecting her invested “mammon” in servitude to and of His Kingdom, in particular, to expand it to the outermost regions of the world whilst preserving that tangible “good experience” for all who enters NCC’s signature sanctuary. 

That should end the debate right? Who is the better judge of that than the lives who have been testifying that they were transformed by the Grace Revolution and such testimonies can be found in JP’s books and his audiotapes? 

Well, to be honest, my only reservation with that defence is that I believe the Rich Young Ruler walked away that day not so much because he could not give up his massive wealth after proudly confirming that he has complied with all the commandments Jesus had listed. 

Alas, he however left that day, despondent, because he can’t imagine his life, that is, his religious life, apart from or without the trapping of his vast wealth. In other words, he felt that there is nothing more important than that which defines him, and that which defines him is something he just could not let go of.

Ps: And that is a reminder to all of us, especially those who have much.