Hypocrite Churches - Restore The Criminal But Forget The Victim

BUT WHAT ABOUT ROLAND POON SWEE KAY?

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1. Of Pastor Kong Hee And His Defenders
2. Guilty CHC Six - Jail Sentences
3. Guilty!! Howso The Judge Saith It
4. Of Corrupted Churches And The Power Of Mind Control

5. CHC - Christian Loan Sharking

   
   

Conviction Confirmed, Now What?

Poon was forced to put up half page apology!

Pastor Kong Hee and Gang has now been found guilty of fraud by the Singapore court. Churches rush in to pour out their sympathies and understanding for their "plight".  A few vocal Christians ( like me ) who publicize their wrong doings following their conviction are villainized as exhibiting  "unchristian-like" behavior, supposedly gloating over their conviction, and for rubbing in more salt into their wounds.  We are told to be more "christiany" like them, and we are told off in no uncertain terms that we ourselves are going to be judged, so watch out!!  Hey! I am not one to exhibit Christianish behavior for the sake of appearing Christiany and to get handclaps from you! I know for a fact I am going to be judged by the standards of the Lord, and I fail and will fail and will be found guilty by the Lord, to be forgiven and be saved by His incomparable grace and gift of life to me.  So let's get down to the facts about scriptural teachings, and let us not forget about Roland Poon Swee Kay!

What About Roland Poon Swee Kay?

Sometime in 2003, 12 years ago Roland Poon Swee Kay, a member of the City Harvest Church of Singapore first raised this issue up for attention. He apparently had written to the Singapore national newspaper The Straits Times about it, calling the church's financial support for Sun Ho as unethical.  For doing that, what did he get? Support from church members? Support from other churches? NO!! The City Harvest Church leadership threatened to sue him for his allegations.  Poon, knowing that he probably cannot afford the lawyer fees, and not having solid evidence required would likely lose his case in court, and will be unable to pay the damages, had to withdraw his allegations. This he had to do so publicly in four newspapers, The Straits Times,The New Paper, the Shin Min Daily News, Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao. This must have cost Roland Poon a bomb. And I hope no one who reads this is going to tell me that Roland Poon chose to spend those tons of money apologizing in public to the Kong Hee, his wife, and the City Harvest Church, and that he was not forced by them to do so. Would not a simple apology in church have sufficed if Roland had slandered them? Why were they, being the powerful leaders of a rich church so mean  ( a church, mind you!) to demand apologies in 5 newspapers? Why could they not have been be more churchilly gracious?
 

Not apology in church.  1 public apology did not sufffice. They asked him for 5.

 Now that the whole gingbang bunch of them are found guilty, where is the decency of City Harvest Church and its members ( yes, AND ITS MEMBERS ) to think about the pain, humiliation and torment that Roland had to endure those long, long, long 12 years......the sense of injustice borne for 12 years for having to apologize for what he did right, and made into a slanderer in the eyes of many by the apology in so many papers!!  Has any member stood up to demand that now is the time for the church to apologize to Roland Poon in the same newspapers? Where is your sense of decency and justice, O City Harvest Church? And I am not even calling for Christian sense of decency or Christian level of justice!

So what about Roland Poon, you ask? Go apologize to him. Publish your apology to him. Make calls and demands that the church elders do so. So what about Roland Poon, you ask?

Hypocrisy and Whitewashing Instead of Decency

Now, let us look at how churches try their level best to whitewash and gloss over the matter for the gang as much as they can, while none of these people bothered to remember the upholder of truth who was victimized so badly.  In italics below is a full replication of "Response to CHC Verdict " Whatsapped to me, which was purportedly expressed by a high profile church leader in Singapore. My comments to it are in red.


                              Response to CHC Verdict purportedly written by a
                                 well respected Pastor from Overseas

The verdict for the case against the 6 key leaders of City Harvest Church including my personal friend, Pastor Kong Hee,is finally out.   The law of the land has spoken and they have all been found guilty of all charges.  Regardless of our personal opinion, we must respect and honour the decision that the judiciary has made ( i.e. "some of you think the court is wrong, and some will agree with the court decision" ). The outcome is something that we cannot control but our response is. ( You are to control  your emotions according to what I am going to tell you to do  )

How then should FCC respond to this heart-rending episode? ( heart rending to who? which part of the episose? The part of Poon being forced to apologize only to be vindicated? The part that all 6 are found guilty instead of being let off? The part of the church being confirmed as having been misled by crooks? ) I believe that Galatians 6: 1, 2 is a source of biblical guidance to us.   Galatians 6: 1 - 2 - "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.( The truth of this piece - feeling only for the guilty being found guilty. Let us restore him gently, minimize his feeling of guilt as much as we can. No! Scripture does not say do not make him feel guilty. Scripture says when elders sin, rebuke them public that others may fear. But restore gently. Rebuke first. )   But watch yourself or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other's burden and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ." First of all, we must admit that there is a level of wrong-doing involved ( This is a very decent admission, but did you see why the words "a level" has been added before the "of wrong doing involved" ?  To make the wrong dong look less serious, i.e. not totally wrong! up to a level only! ).  I believe with all my heart that this whole episode started with the best of intention ( which is most likely the truth ).

Knowing Pastor Kong and Sun personally, I know that they had it on their heart to reach out to the  younger generation through music that are culturally relevant.  Unfortunately, what was started in the  Spirit could have ended in the flesh.   At the start of the Crossover Project, it was targeted at Asian  youths in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong; using wholesome music and lyrics to impart good values to the young but it ended in Hollywood. ( I don't know about all those intentions but I must think that you are right since you are so close to him, and for a fact it did end up in Hollywood ) The climate in Asia and USA is completely different and to seek to navigate the complex music industry in the USA is extremely challenging ( don't we all know that!) .   As the cost to penetrate the industry gets higher and higher, the leadership took greater liberty with their resources to meet the need.  They allowed their purpose which is good to justify their approach which is deemed contentious in the eyes of the law of the land (Wow! It is only a "contentious" issue, i.e. only debatable, not fully wrong, controversial and subjective.  And according to eyes the law of the land only! See how whitewashing is being done?  And of course, the good pastor chose not to mention that the "Hollywood" part also included worldy seductive hips and bottom gyrations in half naked form, since this heart-rending episode is only about the court finding ).  They ended up paying a price for it ( Not THE price, but 'A' price ).  The end does not justify the means.  Good purpose does not justify bad practice. ( Agreed! So too your good intentions in writing this does not justify the way you whitewash the whole affair, and forget about Roland Poon ) So what can we learn from this?  How should we respond to this? 


1.  Resolve to Act and Speak Kindly Towards the Leaders and Members of City Harvest Church  Galatians 6: 1 - "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." ( See how selectively scriptures are used? and how the word restore is used to bait and switch with rebuke?  What scripture is conveniently not raised by this pastor on the matter? THIS! 1Ti 5:20  Them {elders, leaders }  that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.  ) This is not a time to judge and criticise ( Why does this pastor not mention this verse? : "1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?"  Bible says JUDGE THOSE INSIDE THE CHURCH!   ) but this is a time to grieve and identify.  This is not a time for condemnation but a time for restoration .  This is not a time to speak harshly but it is time to speak kindly and gently to a precious part of the Body of Christ that is hurting and in pain. ( Why not REBUKE FIRST and then follow through with restoration?  Observe that Roland Poon was not and is not a precious part of the Body of Christ!  )

The Apostle Paul reminded us in 1Corinthians 12: 26 - "If one part suffers, every part suffers with  it..." It is disconcerting to see the response on social media especially from fellow Christians who are moralising, criticising and almost gloating over this situation.  It is tantamount to kicking a wounded soldier who is on the ground.  This is unkind and definitely not Christ-like.  I would like to request for all members of FCC to refrain from this. ( But Paul called Peter a hypocrite See Gal 2:11-21 ! and even worse,  Paul put that rebuke into his letters for all the churches to read, this must have got Peter fully embarrassed!  Why did Paul act in such an unkind, "definitely not Christ-like" thing? Why does this good pastor not consider the scriptures fully first? And worse yet, the Holy Spirit allowed for this rebuke to be recorded for all eternity into the bible so that thousands of years after, we continue to know that Peter sinned and was rebuked. But observed how subtly we are reprimanded by the good pastor as being "Christians who are moralising, criticising and almost gloating over this situation". I rebuke you, O good pastor! I rebuke you for selective usage of scripture to cover for  your friend, not failing to emulate the apostle Paul. )

2.  Resolve to Learn Personally From This Incident Galatians 6: 1 - "...But watch yourself or you also may be tempted. ( i.e. "Judge not so that you will not be judged?" Scriptures say otherwise. Scriptures say "take out the big beam in your own eye and then go ahead and point to the small speck in his eyes." I am told by the bible to judge those that are within, and make sure that I do not do those same evil even as I am judging them.  )" What Paul was painting is a picture where Satan has thrown many banana peels on the floor waiting to see one of us slip and fall. And Paul was warning us that when we see someone slip;  we are to restore them.   But when we are doing so, we must be fully conscious that the next banana peel could be under our feet.  So we need approach this not pride-fully but watchfully. ( Careful there, O good pastor! Banana skins are not in the bible. Paul is only warning us to gently restore someone who has fallen. Paul did not say do not rebuke. Paul did not say do not judge.    )  Except for the  grace of God, we could be tempted too. ( Error! By the grace of God we are being tempted everyday. And by the grace of God we are not fallen.  )   The wise man also reminded us in Proverbs 16: 18 - "Pride  goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." ( Scripture does say that, but what has judging according to scriptures got to do with pride? Are you not over-eager to cover for your good friend?  )    So let's watch the posture of our own hearts when we comment on this matter. ( So we shall. You watch yours too for saying these things the way you have )  What lessons can we learn from this?  Here are some that comes to me:

A.  We must recognise that all of us can start in the spirit and end in the flesh.  No one is above  temptation so stay humble and learn to listen more.

B.  We must remember that the end does not  justify the means, good purpose does not justify bad  practice.  God's work must be done God's way.

C.  We must practice good governance because the Church is subjected to the law of the land.  We  must seek to be transparent, accountable and above reproach.  The world is not interested in our purpose but they are scrutinising our practice.

D.  We must surround ourselves with trusted leaders who will provide safety and counsel because we can all be wrong in our judgement and perspective.  We must move from the "one big man" leadership style to "team ministry" ( provided you, O pastor has not made efforts to ensure that only the people you trust are made into leaders, not made the team nothing more than your rubber stamp   )

3.  Resolve to Stand Together With Our Hurting Part of the Body Galatians 6: 2 - "Carry each other's burden and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ." This is the time for us to pray for Pastor Kong and CHC. ( Do, by all means. They need it, but do not forget to rebuke, and continue to use their example to rebuke others, that others may fear  ) This is the time for us to encourage them and let them know that we are hurting together with them ( why did you not feel hurt together with Roland Poon, O Pastor?) .  We share in their tragedy and we stand together with them in their pain ( But you fail to share in the pain of Roland Poon, not then, not now ) .  This is not a time to just reiterate all the wrong they have committed but also to remember all the good they have done, is doing  and will continue to do as a church. In this way we fulfil the law of Christ which is the law of love.

 B........... H..........
Senior Pastor of ............................... Church

Now this, I say

If Pastor BH did not write the above " Response to CHC Verdict", I owe him an apology and herewith apologize. If he did, it would do him good now to go and tell CHC to apologize to Roland Poon in return. I am sure Roland Poon has already forgiven them now that the Lord has used the pagan court of justice to vindicate  him, but that does not absolve the City Harvest Church and its present leadership from its obligation to make public amends with him.  If he has already told CHC to do so, my congratulations to him and may he forgive me for the accusations.

Do not the scriptures say, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You know the verse reference. I do not need to give it to you.

(Note: The name and church of the Pastor has been removed on the advice of a reader Rykel, pending confirmation that it was actually written by him )