Michael Pucci (MP): My first impression of you from print and your website is that you don’t tend to talk about the artist or artistic expression so much as art and the media as an epistemology – a means of knowing the world in a different way. Do you want to unpack that idea?

Kelvin Tan (KT): Epistemology is very important for me; not just what knowledge is but how we attain knowledge. I think I’ve been very inspired by philosophers or thinkers who have suffered; who have been through a period of suffering and also because of my own suffering. The thing about suffering is that it doesn’t matter if it is major or minor – suffering is suffering, it just affects people in different ways. So I think when I was going through a certain period of failure in my teens, I questioned God’s existence; I think we all go through that. I know a lot of Christians who tend to say, “Avoid all these philosophies because they’re bad for your faith,” but it was the so-called atheistic philosophies that actually stirred me back to God. That’s where I realized that I have to live a life of questioning. If I didn’t question myself about my faith, I couldn’t deepen it. That’s where I got into art because it inspired me to delve deeper – art forced me to question things and humbled me.

MP: There is a certain way of engaging that is a responsibility of the Christian, in that we cannot affirm everything. You cannot just say, “Hey the status quo is OK,” and whatever I receive I just accept blindly. Some things that we see and understand in the world, we have to say, “This is not good.” And at some level that kind of questioning, that wrestling, is a posture that is more Christian. Yes, maybe that has more affinity with a postmodern worldview but it is more Christian to sometimes affirm “Praise God; look at the amazing world we live in” but at other times confront “This isn’t right, this suffering or injustice is really bad.” We have to stop pretending and ask “Why is it like this?”

KT: That’s one of the reasons why I tend to go totally against the grain of theologians who talk about postmodernism as being a very bad thing. I look at it as a very good thing. Because what these philosophers were trying to say is not that God doesn’t exist but that do we really know who God is, and the only way to do it is to plow deeper into the consciousness, so you have to strip the layers. Maybe the postmodernist philosophers do not have a belief in God. I don’t think that’s important. What is important for me is what the philosophy is teaching me about my faith.

MP: How would you characterize an artistic mode of engagement with the world, an artistic epistemology? What makes it different from an empirical or objectifying way of looking at the world?

KT: The great pleasure I take from an artistic epistemology is that I can be myself. I feel that all this follows the tenets of our Lord. He was always Himself. And He had profundity of knowledge. And through the connection with people, He created this spiritual realm and I feel that can be done by us. We have to first become real with ourselves. I find that when you do that people tend to open up and you create a certain realm, a space. For me, art gives me that freedom to create that space to say and do what I want.

I always feel that a lot of people think that mysticism has died. I kind of disagree as I think it just takes a different form. I think there is a spiritual realm still somewhere but just because people don’t acknowledge it, it doesn’t mean that it’s not there. I think I’ve learnt a lot about that as a lecturer at LASALLE because I deal with mostly non-Christians, students, and all. And I realized that if I were to talk to them, connect with them as friends, learn humility, and learn from them as much as they are learning from me, I’m creating a certain spiritual realm there which we don’t understand. It’s something that is bigger than us. And for me, that is in a way to live by example.

MP: It seems like in contrast with an epistemology of empiricism, of objectifying things and others, that art is more relational. You know the world in the same way you get to know another person, and this way of knowing is very biblical. So it’s no surprise that we can come to know something qualitatively different about the world if we approach it that way. The concepts you emphasize in the artistic engagement with the world are: humility, awe, suffering, authenticity, complexity, creating a space; it is actually very spiritual. It’s interesting because the world will tell you that this is important information and this is the way to get truth, furthermore, that this kind of truth is important; meaning mostly that it is economically valuable – in today’s world, truth is very pragmatic. What kinds of truth are you able to uncover with this epistemology of art?

KT: I really appreciate your question because I don’t even get that from the press. Well, what our Lord did in a profound way was to confront the darkness and then embrace it. As Nietzche described it, knowing the truth causes you fear, but you have to confront it. You have to deal with the deepest layer of truth. You have to see it. You have to connect to the world and then let your life be an evidence of that truth. And I think that is really challenging for us all to do, and I realized the only way I could do that was to confront the darkness. So a lot of what I do as a musician or writer is very dark to a lot of people. I’ve got very nasty criticisms thrown at me, “Your music is depressing, your work is depressing.” I’ve heard this all my life in Singapore. But I feel that it is important to bring those things out because I think that is what life is.

I’m trying to use art to reach out to people far away from Christian communities like at LASALLE. Truth is hard to explain so you sort of put it in your music. The whole idea for me is that my art is a means for me to realize my own identity, my relationship with God. It is also my means of embracing the darkness and understanding it. And I think that is useful in LASALLE because I see a lot of students there and they are suffering. I feel that at least I can understand and maybe I can make a difference.

MP: That’s the whole idea of Christ’s vine branching through all of us and reaching different people…with different people.

KT: I am also very inspired by St Paul. He had wisdom and knew how to speak very well and how to inspire people. So sometimes I see that’s what I do here. I preserve a certain strong fierce individuality, which some people consider radical, but I think the Lord was radical too. There is a need for individuality that says, “I don’t have to go this way,” I guess I’m doing that by living my life and just doing my art. I’m very inspired by true individualists who do music, that’s why Johnny Cash is a total individual. He is like Paul to me. Paul used to torture and crucify Christians, and Cash went through this dark drugs period and then he became a better person yet, he was still very humble. That guy is an inspiration to me. He was one of the few people in the rock and roll tradition who had a devout Christian upbringing – stuck to it no matter what. You can also feel the suffering in his singing.

MP: I think that there is something pretty flawed in the way of thinking of the message as something different from the person as medium anyway. It is amazing that God chose us; we are His medium of choice. He chose to put the fullness of the expression of Himself in human form in Christ. And then He chose to send His mission, His embrace of the world through humans. It is not accidental that He has chosen the medium that is messed up, work in progress as we are, just to say something. What do you think He is trying to say by choosing humans to relate with humans rather than propositional truths?

KT: For me the most important challenge is to follow Christ’s example because I feel that what Christ has done in His parables and teachings is so incredibly profound. He has this great complexity of thought, but He processed that into simple parables that everyone can understand. How do you listen to classical music; how do you read philosophy and have it make sense to someone who doesn’t go to school? If you go to LASALLE, most of them are secondary school dropouts and they say, “Why should I read this?” and they are right. If I could tell them, “This is what the author is trying to say” it excites them. A lot of academics and theologians can’t do this. It comes out very convoluted and I stay away from that. That is why rock & roll and blues is so important to me, as they have a simple sense of refrain.

MP: The western notion of the artist is like the academic. It is removed, distant. But you are trying to put the artist in the middle as a bridge – a translator in between.

KT: Exactly; the medium, I think that’s what all the great prophets were, that’s what St Paul was. He translated the intellectualism of God’s wisdom and tried to make them see and that’s such a great thing. I’m not worthy but that’s what I’m trying to do in art in the same way.

When people look at me they have this impression of what kind of a person I am and it’s probably not who I am at all. They think I’m a total atheist but when they find out that not only am I a theist but I go to church every Sunday, it just screws their mind up. So that’s the challenge. It’s like a blessing and a burden. It’s a blessing because God made you different but it’s a burden. I just look at God and say, “Ok, I’m just a messenger and if you want me to do this, fine, that’s your problem, not mine.” I realized it freed me. I could do what I wanted and I’m really happy about that. But I just have to have faith that God will give me the strength and survivability to keep on doing what I’m doing. I believe if He is making me for this, it must be for some purpose I do not understand.

MP: I think there is a good reason why the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter because we are living in a world that is painful to experience authentically. We can put in a lot of false idols that will comfort temporarily. We frequently see the great artists who are closest to the edge of reality and existence getting comfort from their suffering in all the wrong ways – escaping through sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Should it surprise us that it is proportional that the closer artists are to the raw experience of life that their pull toward false comforts intensifies and amplifies?

KT: In my case it’s also about standing in the gap because you could always move in front. That has been my challenge. One wrong move and you can go the other way. You see that world but you are not part of it. You are just skirting around the edge, but it’s also quite dangerous. So I try everyday to focus on God and what I’m doing because it can affect you, just like that. The madness of the great artists and thinkers is actually quite disturbing. This is what they went through, and I could go through it, and I tell myself not to step in there. Basically it’s like Jonah trying to get out of the whale. Stay long enough in it to learn humility and get the hell out of there.

MP: All the things that we find to judge people is to separate them from us – their poverty, race, culture, and religion. It’s more about protecting me than it is about trying to engage them in love. I think it’s an essential part of the artistic space that you talked about earlier – to create a space that drops the guard, that allows an opportunity for a new kind of encounter without the lines, without the definitions. It’s a little bit more like play and less like judgment. This kind of humility invites a renewal of engagement.

KT: We talk down to people because of fear. We look at a youth and say he has not eaten enough salt. We are always talking down to people without knowing it. There is this poison that Satan has put in us that we feel that we are better than someone else. It robs us of encountering truth in the other person and the world. I feel that we live in a very condescending world. I hope that God will help me not do that. Humility is the antidote and people sense that. The thing I find very exciting is the way God molds us. His fingerprints are all over us but it’s invisible. I don’t even dare to assume that I’m doing a good job. I can only say that I’m doing my best. God is working and hopefully they will see something in me.

Dr Michael Pucci is part of the Eagles VantagePoint editorial team. He is currently the International Director of Academic Programs for FH (Food for the Hungry).

What is the newest?

The “newest” could have made its appearance as recent as just the minute prior to the statement being made, or it could have been around from as far back as a month.

So, “new” is a relative term. In the media world, printing led to an information explosion that was accelerated by radio, followed by television. With the arrival of digital computers in the 1980s, the Internet and other digital applications like computer games ushered in an age where such media evolved into “new” media like podcasts (a newer form of radio), online publications (the newer form of print media) and digital videos (an Internet form of TV). Accompanying these has been an explosion of personal online communication platforms like blogs and vodcasts. Businesses have been quick to adopt these new marketing tools on an international scale through the use of websites and business/industry portals. Hardware has become increasingly miniaturized for convenience in tandem with the ease of communication facilitated by new media. Today’s mobile phone, an engineering and marketing marvel, is equivalent (almost) to a little customized computer in one’s hand!

New media has accelerated globalization so that the battle for hearts and minds is now fought on the virtual front as evidenced by Barack Obama’s Presidential victory being celebrated in even a little Japanese town named Obama. The reach of the public into our private lives is so insidious that we hardly notice it. In fact, local film producer Jason Lai made the point that today’s young are so “plugged in” to their electronic toys, that they might as well be born with it! 3 Feet Apart is an animation set in the near future, where a boy, Han, is born with a phone inside his head. He falls in love with Pepper, a girl who is born with two small speakers inside her head and a small TV inside her right palm. Han and Pepper are a pair of star crossed lovers – for they always have to be three feet apart because of static interference! The point about the inability to relate on a personal level because of the over-dependence on new media is charmingly and pointedly made. Hence, there is a dark side to these technological boons.

Literary works have been warning about some of these dangers that will confront our future generations. Aldous Huxley’s The Machine Stops, portrays the humans, who had survived a holocaust and were living underground in individual cells, as isolated beings who can barely walk since all that they need is provided by pressing buttons on a screen before them. The machine that provides their limited needs, is their God. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury also paints a deterministic world where the duty of firemen is, ironically, to start fires to destroy books because knowledge is dangerous – it gives ideas to people, a thought that is also present in the previous story. George Orwell’s 1984 suggests that globalization can bring about a mindless acceptance of whatever reality is presented as “truth” by “Big Brother”. The red flag has been raised about new media being a useful tool for spreading a pervasive philosophy that may be harmful if there is no self-regulation or self-reflection on the user’s part.

Hence, the young need to be warned. Youth today are so comfortable with technology that they are dependent on it. The increase in social networking platforms like Facebook and My Space capitalize on this preference for a virtual community where “like-minded” individuals have the opportunity to “meet.” Second Life is another platform that has increasingly taken on its own form of life and taken over the real lives of some individuals. This virtual world mimics the real world, allowing individuals to assume an alternative identity or “avatar” and act out a desired life and lifestyle. This escapist “hobby” can soon become the only meaning in life. Online “relationships” have been reported, ironically, as a cause for divorce and even suicide where these failed. In the same vein, it has also become increasingly easy to fall prey to cyber pornography, sex, and crime. Sociologists and educators have noted that the tendency to prefer personal space and privacy has bred socially inept individuals who lack the ability to work in teams with others, expressing their frustrations in various degrees of maladjusted behavior.

Internet compulsion and game addiction are further ills that may afflict our young. Parents who are IT-dinosaurs run the risk of unknowingly allowing their children to fall prey to some internet snares like pedophiles masquerading as online “secret friends” because they do not monitor their IT-savvy children’s online activities. Visits to video sites like YouTube should be chaperoned as young children may unwittingly stumble onto sexually explicit material and learn inappropriate behaviour without understanding that these may be socially unacceptable. A simple rule that parents should enforce is that personal computers must be placed only in common family areas rather than in the bedrooms of the children. Family members can then be vigilant over the sites that the children are visiting and monitor the amount of time being spent on the computer.

The need to be vigilant and true to oneself has never been more essential. As the Preacher succinctly expressed it, …all is vanity” (Ecc 12:8) and really “there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc 1:9).” The only truth we need to hold on to in a world of relativity is in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments…”

Elaine Lim is a high school teacher whose Bible remains the bound copy with real pages to leaf through and savor God’s wisdom. She worships with her family at the Salvation Army Central Corps.

The New American Standard Version of the Bible has been referenced.

Leaders amplify their message through the media. Sound bites have the potential of conveying a message that can speak to the latent needs of an audience and mobilize support for the leader. Frequently, a charismatic leader’s message is reduced to a slogan or truncated to a rallying call. I remember when Jesse Jackson announced his candidacy for the President of the United States with the catchphrase, “We’re going from the poor house to the White House”. In the historic election of Barack Obama, his watchword that stirred a whole nation was “Change We Can Believe In.” His answer to all the doubts and cynicism was a confident “Yes We Can,” a well repeated battle cry. When the nation believed Obama with their votes, the newly elected President responded in his acceptance speech, “Change has come to America.” All the sound bites were but signatures of a message meaningful to voters who believed and responded in action.

Winston Churchill asserted that the difference between mere management and leadership is communication. Effective communication is the ability to exert influence through social media. More often than not, the message is encapsulated in attention grabbing phrases. These sound bites are short, catchy sayings that are developed as headlines or fleeting news clips. Like advertising, sound bites are disdained in certain quarters as “symptomatic of a superficial approach to life, wanting information like fast food, taking it in quickly without substance… Truncated communication is not authentic; it is devoid of any evidence of reflection or consideration of its impact on the listener.” Unfortunately, that is to underestimate the persuasive power of sound bites. Just because bad messages are communicated does not make the vehicle of communication evil. We must not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Sound bites can provide an instant recall of a set of ideas or feelings. What makes sound bites effective is a shared context. When the contexts of the speaker and the audience are shared, the most effective communication takes place. In such situations, sound bites work best by creating a link to the shared meaning without the need to repeat the context. It becomes a signature, or a representation of a bigger, meaningful message, a larger context, and a purposeful cause. The catchy phrases carry the power of meaningful symbols.

Symbols contain both cognitive and emotive components. Both are required for action, which is what leaders hope to achieve. Leaders recognize that while ideas are critical, we can be slaves to ideas when they do not change reality for the better. Agreement with information does not make life any different, no matter how committed we are to the ideas. Changing reality requires a passion that leads to action. Ideas have consequences only when those notions are translated into deeds. When both the cognitive and emotive come together in a powerful symbol, they inspire revolutionary actions that lead to the transformation of societies. While the mind looks for evidence, the heart looks for passion. While the mind weighs the facts, the heart acts on faith and takes risks. While the mind looks for purpose, the heart seeks meaning. Symbolic sound bites that arise from a shared context of a deep desire for something different and better are powerfully persuasive in changing reality.

Jesus was a master of symbolic catchphrases. In a discussion on miracles, when the people pointed to God’s provision of manna in the desert to their forefathers, Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life”. The context made His declaration clear. Jesus meant to focus on Himself when He underscored: I, even I, can satisfy the deepest human hungers. If people acted on His promise, “he who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” – the consequence of acting on a sound bite promise based on a shared context is exponentially fulfilling! At the funeral of Lazarus, Jesus told the deceased’s sister, Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus spells out the result if a person believes His promise: “He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” His challenge to Martha was “Do you believe this?” This was not just a pretty idea, or an oratorical ornamentation. This was an actionable proposition with real consequences.

Sound bites are powerful vehicles that befit only potent and critical messages. We denigrate sound bites because there are very few worthy messages whose contexts are vital and shared. Truth, especially eternal truth, is a message worthy of a powerful vehicle. Because truth liberates and transforms life, we need the urgency of a slogan that captures our attention and imagination. Because truth urges responsive action, we need clear and terse instructions that do not perform verbal gymnastics. Because the difference is between life and death, we need the compulsion of urgency. All of those can be captured in the symbol and signature of sound bites.

Now that Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States, the world waits with bated breath to see if he can deliver on all he has promised. There is no guarantee he has the ability to deliver. In any case, there will be those who will be disappointed. We hope there will not be too many of them. But with Jesus, there is absolute certainty He will fulfill all He has promised. Should God’s people then not be even more creative in coding His message in sound bites that grab attention, stab the conscience, spell the consequence, and compel action?

References:
Moore, Thomas. Care of the Soul. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.
John 6:35
John 11:25
John 11:25-26

Peter Chao is the Founder-President of Eagles Communications.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.

Theoechnology is a term that was coined to describe the blending of ideas in theology and technology. While the truths of our faith are eternal and absolute, our understanding of the faith is contextualized by the world in which we live. Our environment provides the language, metaphors, and images by which we think about and contemplate our relationship towards God, others, and His creation. Today, we are immersed in a world of technology. We communicate via email, the Internet, and digital mobile networks. Our commerce, industry, and media are mostly electronic in nature. We work on computer desktops and notebooks. All of this creates new ways in which we interact with others.

The Internet began with a comic science-fiction story in 1946, A Logic Named Joe, by Murray Leinster. The story is particularly noteworthy as a prediction of massively networked personal computers and their drawbacks, written at a time when computing was in its infancy. However, it took more than a decade before reality began to catch up with this vision. By 1996, usage of the word Internet had become commonplace, and so had its use in reference to the World Wide Web.

Evangelist Billy Graham understands the value of this technology. In his autobiography, Just As I Am, Graham recalls his first chat room experience on AOL (America Online). He characterizes it as “only an extension of what we had been doing throughout much of our ministry: seeking to use every means possible to extend the reach of the Gospel.”

Internet evangelism increases in importance as the availability, speed, and quality of Internet content grows. In the early 1990s, a group of Christian organizations came together at the Billy Graham Center to discuss the “emerging” technology called the Internet. The meeting was called by Dr Robert Coleman, an evangelist and professor who saw the early potential and danger of this communication revolution. Out of these meetings came the Internet Evangelism Coalition. More than twenty denominations and missions organizations work together to share the best practices to reach the 24/7 world.

Among other organizations, Campus Crusade for Christ in both the USA and Canada are doing groundbreaking work in this area. Campus Crusade for Christ Singapore has formalized a staff team early this year to explore the Internet ministry and they call this ministry “CLiCK!”

Do people make decisions for Christ over the Internet? Brown Governance Inc., an international consultant firm which provides governance expertise to organizations reported in their 2007 survey noted that: “Fifteen organizations reported a total of 732,469 decisions made in the last twelve months as a direct result of their Internet evangelism efforts!”

Lay Kuan, a member of “CLiCK!” affirms the use of this media in evangelism. She relates, “G* wrote in on May 18, 2008: ?’I am still quite clueless about what it means to be a Christian.’? We corresponded online and within a couple of weeks, she came to my church, even though it was a long way to travel. I found out that she became interested in Christianity after a schoolmate said a prayer of blessing for her when she was stressed out. She went online to do her own research and actually received Christ on her own through a prayer she found on a church website.”

If we visit ied.gospelcom.net, we can read many testimonies of how netizens (an Internet user who is trying to contribute to the Internet’s use and growth) come to know God.

One interesting story is that of Kasia, a Polish student who was looking for meaning in life when she contacted a web evangelist based in US. He suggested she visit Polish websites including VitaNovis. As a result of visiting the site, she began to correspond with a young Polish Baptist woman, who played a role in leading her to Christ.

It has been reported that in America, there are 88 million members of the Net Generation. These “N-Geners” are people who have been manipulating the mouse since an early age. While past generations made do with the telephone and television, today’s generation has access to those devices and super-realistic video games, the Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, online communities, and videos and music that can be downloaded over a computer.

A net culture has evolved and is still evolving. But central to this net culture is a libertarian, relativistic, and pantheistic philosophy. Dennis McCallum, a senior pastor of Xenos Christian Fellowship observed, “A huge shift is rocking every corner of western thought and culture like an earthquake.”

Should we, as Christians, feel threatened by this prevailing anti-Christian attitude? Probably not. Such an environment can also be an advantage for Christianity, if we recognize and seize the opportunities that are out there. If we read our church history books, Roman-occupied Judea was a seething cauldron of ideas, sects, and cultures, and from such a mix, Christianity was born.

April 26, 2009 has been designated Internet Evangelism Day. The purpose of this day is to communicate the outreach potential of the Web to the worldwide church. The official site ied.gospelcom.net has a twin-track purpose:

Firstly, to explain the strategies needed for evangelism, along with showcase examples, and demonstrate the many ways one could be involved. One surprising fact: you do not need to be technically gifted to do web evangelism!

Secondly, to enable one to communicate these truths to others, by providing free downloads: PowerPoint, video clips, drama scripts, handouts, etc. These enable churches and other groups to build a web evangelism focus program into a service or other activities.

In New Testament times, the Roman road system was strategic in God’s plan. It enabled the spread of the Gospel throughout the then-known world. In the same way, the Internet today is a worldwide network which can facilitate effective Gospel communication.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus instructed His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The main question is whether there are interested people on the Internet? If there are people connected, then we need to go, via the Internet. Today, after nearly 2,000 years of Christian outreach, we have a chance to share that same message in a new way, through a new medium – the Net, the first mass medium to come along since television.

Jesus’ plan to reach the entire world with the message of salvation is based on the efforts of ordinary Christians. Each of us is called to build relationships with pre-Christians, work to develop those relationships into friendships, create a level of trust, and then present the Gospel message to them at an appropriate time. It is a method that works on the job, in the home, with family members, friends, and acquaintances. It also works in the world of cyberspace through chat room sessions, participating in electronic forums, newsgroups, creating personal websites/blogs or engaging in social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace.

I believe that theology and technology, in particular the Internet technology, are inseparably linked. Theology provides a value structure for developing appropriate technologies. Technology provides the means for communicating the Good News and its theology to inhabitants of the world and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation of the Church.

* Undisclosed identity

Billy Chan is a graduate from Trinity Theological College and also holds a MSc in Information Technology from University of Sheffield. He is currently the IT Manager and also serves in the evangelism ministry at Eagles Communications.