Prince - Psalm 91 Part 2.

Psalm 91 starts with these two lines: - 

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

This is Joseph Prince’s victory chant against the current outbreak of the coronavirus. 

In today’s papers, his church is reported as business as usual, that is, the Father’s business. 

It reports: “At New Creation Church in Buona Vista, large numbers of congregants were seen coming and going at The Star Performing Arts Center in between morning services.”

One churchgoer, Hui Yi, 35, said: “It doesn’t really seem different from the usual apart from (temperature-screening and cleaning) measures. It seems like it’s just as crowded as it usually is.”

At this juncture, you must know that the Catholic Church at Novena is going online, 

mass is therefore suspended for the time being. As such, the Church of St Alphonsus had “fewer than 30 people”, which has a seating capacity of 1,500. 

On Friday, Archbishop of Singapore William Goh said “that public mass for Catholics here would be suspended indefinitely from noon on Saturday to minimise the risk of spreading the coronavirus.”

Not only that, mega-church FCBC, with two locations, Marine Parade and Bukit Merah, has told church members on Saturday that services will be moved online - this is to reduce large public gathering at one place, at one time. 

It reports: “A worship session was streamed live - The Straits Times understands that only about 20 staff members were in the audience - and church members were directed to give their weekly offering through PayNow or card payments. A sermon was part of the service as usual.”

So, looking at the religious landscape as reported thus far, can it be said that, what we have is different manifestations of faith or different attitudes adopted towards the spread of coronavirus?

While the Catholic Church and some other Churches are going virtual space, others services like NCC are “just as crowded as it usually is”. And for Paya Lebar Methodist Church, she is doing both, that is, having weekend services and online streaming.

Now, let me explain that I revisited this topic (from last Friday on Prince’s confident pronouncement of Psalm 91) because one friend/netizen wrote to me and said that, if I want to see whether Psalm 91 really works for NCC, then maybe I should wait for the outbreak to be officially declared over, and then count whether NCC has a significantly lower rate of infection (even zero) as compared to other churches. 

Anyway, I am sure my friend does not mean that as a scientific way of evaluating/comparing the evidence because at the highest, we are just talking about correlation, rather than causation for there are more factors at play here than just the recitation of Psalm 91 

(Notwithstanding that psalm 91 is a prayer which is often times held closely and endearingly in a soldier’s heart when he goes to war, not knowing for sure whether he will be spared a bullet or not). 

So, the question is, have we misunderstood Prince, when he preached Psalm 91 and then used it to say with such certainty that if you believe it, no virus, corona- or otherwise, can come near you as a believer? 

Should we then take his word quoting God’s word as the medical ”refuge and fortress” against pestilence, terror of night and arrows that fly by day? 

Well, that is the issue right? And it boils down to how effective it is in keeping one completely untouched by the coronavirus. 

In any event, putting aside the atheist’s smirk of bewilderment, wondering what kind of supersitition we are mired in, in this scientific day and age, as a believer, I perennially struggle with the gap between the emotional side of faith and the scientific side of it. 

And if faith is the evidence of things hoped for, then isn’t it as good as saying that it is very much a no-enter-or-fly-zone when I attempt to trek the path of faith on the scientific side. Because, if you think about it, “evidential hope” is rather oxymoronic? (I know the debate here will go on like the Titanic song. So I leave it at that here for the time being). 

Now, let me also add that this is not a case of being “unreasonable”, or seen as one, when it comes to the perplexing questions of faith, but being reasonably ignorant/humble about it, because there is still many things we don’t know, save for gravity and textbook arithmetic, among other things. 

This brings me to the emotional side of faith, and I am afraid Prince may have given it too much air-time, or stretched it to breaking “unrealistic” point. For who is then to say that a believer in his church would not interpret psalm 91 as a sure thing, a form of medical amulet, to be worn over the trembling neck to ward off the “secular” virus? 

Is this what charismatic preaching demands then - front-load the good stuff and hide in the shadows the qualifiers and caveats to it, and risks arousing populist sentiments that usually boils over? Discerning listeners in his church excepted of course. 

And if it is meant to be a mental balm to soothe the jangled nerves at this time of uncertainty, then will Prince make it clear, that is, by way of illustration, psalm 91 has been cited by even soldiers, but not all of them return to their families alive? 

That is my burning issue with the emotional side of faith and how some preachers - having critical masses beholden to him or her - apply the scripture as an opportunistic means to a self-favouring or self-confirming end. 

Mind you, the risk is this - the emotional side of faith can be a bottomless pit of credulous elasticity, and not all believers can be considered as mature, prudent and people who apply critical thinking to what is preached. 

Some take it all in, lock, stock and barrel. Others examine the lock, sift through the stock, and empty the barrel of weed and rot.

And that is my point about Prince rah-rah-ing the crowd like a spiritual cheerleader with his scriptural pom-pom instead of taking the stand of a shepherd with a more discerning and balanced take on this specific issue.

And let me therefore end with what I had said before, that is, as leaders, with greater influence comes greater prudence, especially when the emotional side of faith is so pliable, and risks misinterpretations, that one cannot be deemed too careful about it during such sensitive time

Prince's Psalm 91 - a prayer of immunity.

Joseph Prince seems to be assuring biblical immunity from physical harm arising from the coronavirus. 

In one of his recent messages, he urged his congregants not to forsake the assembly of the people, but he did add that if you are sick, unwell, ”don’t come for the sake of men”. 

And, as an immunity chant, he cited Psalm 91 to justify it: -

“I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.””

Prince preached with debonair confidence that no plague can and will infect his people who are the chosen ones, because angels (in the plurals) surround just one soul forming a hedge of protection against any virus that threatens him or her. 

Well, imagine the protection every believer will receive with ”Innumerable” angels covering them from the swelling epidemic. 

Alas, running parallel with that is the worrying news that another Church, Grace Assembly of God, has been suspended for the next two weeks. It emerged that it is the fifth cluster of the coronavirus infection. 

A total of seven cases has been confirmed since yesterday, a concerned jump in infection. And one of them is the newly appointed reverend Wilson Teo. He is currently being quarantined at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (since Tuesday). 

This is what Rev Teo said, in quiet assurance: -

“This is a very difficult time for the church. While we have received many questions and heard many concerns, some of these are beyond our immediate ability to respond.”

“I am moved by the courage of Gracians who have offered themselves to send meals and buy groceries for those who served with the home quarantine orders.”

Lesson? One. 

This is sensitive time and I strive to be sensitive. But what is disconcerting for me is, when I juxtaposition Prince’s clarion call of gifted immunity and Rev Teo’s rally call of prayer and unity side by side, I find that Prince is being disingenuous when he said “God is in the protection business” by taking (in my view) Psalm 91 out of context and plunging it into the unscientific realm of personal convenience and expediency. 

Like one friend of mine said, it is tantamount to challenging his congregants to test God at such time with the immunity that Psalm 91 does not confer or is not meant to offer. 

Because if you think about it, the reality is that we have two churches with two different outcomes, at least for now. In fact, there is another church, that is, the Life Church and Mission being also identified as an infection cluster last Saturday. 

By the way, the main question is this: at such time, is that the message a responsible pastor would want to preach over the pulpit in the face of thousands of believers, many of whom are credulous enough to put his words above the words of sound, scientifically based agencies?

The sad reality is that such preaching only encourages, on a semi-conscious level, an elevated sense of “I-am-safe-here-therefore-my-church-is-more-godly-favoured-than-yours” - intention however otherwise notwithstanding. 

Now, I want to be fair to NCC, because I have heard the selfless acts they as a church have been performing especially during such time. Kudos to them. 

But my gripe is only restricted to the words used at the pulpit, especially during this time of uncertainty. Is it prudent then to apply a scripture in that way and risk it being perceived as some sort of “medical talisman” when it was not meant to be interpreted that way?

I mean, what do we then say to the believers of Grace Assembly and Life Church? If God is in the “protection business”, has his hands of protection not wide enough to cover all believers, or anyone who cites psalm 91 the way Prince cited it with panache?

In the end, the real testing for me comes in the unity of faith to overcome adversity, and not the cowardice of men’s hearts to run from it. None of the disciples and apostles of Christ turn away from what is before them, and many gave their lives for what they believe in. 

It is not about ensuring we have a stake in God’s business of protection, but it is joining hearts together in a bonfire of faith and hope to pull through as a body of Christ. 

Is God then in the “protection business” or one where His believers stare in the face of death and declare, “where is thy sting”? 

In any event, I am very much more encouraged by the words of Gracians, when they said this: -

“Congregants have been very supportive and certainly, the church leadership has requested them to pray for the church, the affected members, and their families, as well as for our nation.”

Now, that is to me the apostolic faith of overcoming and hope, and not one soaked in its own murky spring of self-delusion and scriptural bravado.