Bangsar Lutheran Church Through The Eyes of Others

 

April 10, 2008

Unto Him shall the gathering of the freakish be

I read The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness via ChangeThis today, and suddenly realised what it is that I love about my congregation, BLC.
I was asked to share a few words about why I attend the church during our anniversary last year–with the bishop visiting.

I said that what I liked about BLC is the fact that freaks and outcasts are welcome there.
I mean that in a good sense. the place may be full of freaks and outcasts, but they’re my fellow freaks and outcasts.

am I proud that my church is simply full of misfits? not precisely. what I am proud of is that misfits are welcomed and allowed to misfit. not that we don’t want people to change. we want them to change, but by growth, not behaviour modification.
this paradigm speaks more to an internal divine DNA rather than any external standards document.

I guess that’s what "The Freak Factor" PDF helped me to realise today. it’s not just about accepting the freaks, but it’s also about allowing the freaks to be freaks.

there are churches where freaks are accepted for a trial period during which they need to enrol in the defreaking process–or else. (the defreaking process is sometimes mislabeled "discipleship.")

ever notice how the original twelve disciples were a real motley crew? they were not like a military squad. they were perhaps more like the Village People. or the X-Men, if the first imagery bothers you. James could be Wolverine and Thomas could be Cyclops.
my wife could be Storm, but that’s another story for another post.
and who will be Professor X?

thank God for places (yes, there are others) like BLC where freaks are welcomed, otherwise where would I be?

here are two song dedications to my posse:
– Jesus Freak by dc Talk to celebrate your freakiness.
– I Want to Be a Clone by Steve Taylor to celebrate what you don’t do.

tell me if you like ’em

* * *

BLC not BLT

Today, Hap and I both took a break from our respective churches to visit Bangsar Lutheran Church (BLC).

I sms-ed Sivin yesterday to tell him I was visiting the church and asked for the time.
So today we showed up.

I realised that there were so many people whom I had been associated with in the past were there.

There was the Reverend’s wife–May Chin–who was my ex-schoolmate and CF veep; with whom I also sms-ed about my visit although she had cancelled her previous number, but thank God Sivin received it.

There was also Janice, who was a member of Bangsar Gospel, who is currently serving there.

And then there was also Moh Foong whom I got to know through my first ex’s sister during my time at Australia and with whom I had the opportunity to travel south of Western Australia (Albany and regions) with.

And there was also Keat Lim with whom I got to know during the days when he came to speak for the Bangsar YF during my time serving there.

As I was telling May Chin, in BLC, I know someone from my school days (her!), someone from my uni days (MF), someone from my BGC days (Janice)… all I need now is someone from my primary school days, FGA days and my current church and I would have my complete life in BLC. Of course, I was kidding.

It was my first service to BLC and I liked the church a lot. It’s very warm, homely, and a very close-knitted, family-oriented church. Catching up with old friends were part of the fun, but most importantly, I really admire and respect what Sivin and the rest of the council had done with the church, inside and out. I really liked the casual setting, the openness to share and communicate, the warmth generated, and I especially liked the sermon by Sivin. This was really my first time hearing him speak although he had spoken in our YF couple of times during my time at the Bangsar YF. Almost every occasion when he spoke I was never around. So this was my first experience of hearing him as a teacher of the Word. We learnt on the story of the Good Shepherd today in relation to the whole Easter season.