牧者心聲
轉化生命的查經
陳劍雲牧師
2025 年 1 月 25 日 / 26 日
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去年7月的晨更祈禱會透過大衛貝納（David G. Benner）所著的《天父給我的禮物》，叫我們得到提醒：基督徒必須進深地認識神和認識自我，才可在靈程上出現神所喜悅的自我轉化。貝納也提到「自我接納往往先於真正的自我降服和自我改變」（頁 63），然而，基於成長過程中被拒絕的經驗，人們會為了逃避這種痛苦和為了取悅他人而逐漸習慣偽裝，有隱藏自己真實感受的傾向。此外，基督徒群體容易用聖經教導來壓抑感受，誤以為只要意志上認定這些教導就夠了，因而疏忽了對處境的剖析和處理，也漠視了情緒向我們發出的信號。尤有甚者，這種情況往往構成不健康的文化，令我們不為意自己也在壓抑別人的情緒。
北宣家今年的成長方向是「聖言在心，真摯同行」。翻開聖經，可以看見到處都訴說著不同人物在各種處境裡與神與人互動的敘事，也有詩篇、禱文表達出當事人的情感、渴想、疑問、掙扎、認信、祈求與感謝讚美。就以約拿書這卷舊約先知書為例，我們在其中要學習到的，遠遠多於「神的憐憫比公義更重要」、或者「我們要順服和體貼神愛人的心腸」。在經文中，先知約拿顯露出怎樣的思想和情感呢？對於逃避和憤怒中的約拿，上主的行動怎樣影響約拿的思想和內心？當我們將聖經讀得真，就會發現，神的話很多時都不是硬道理的灌輸，而是進入人的處境和心境，帶動轉化。
今年北宣家的年度查經手冊《當你／我遇上⋯⋯ 》採取主題式查經的形式，牧者們從聖經中選取與各種生命情境和感受相關的經文，盼望聖靈透過當中的短文和引導問題，幫助弟兄姊妹與聖經人物和故事結連，看看上主怎樣幫助人理解自己的處境（例如：失去所愛和苦難）和感受（例如：憂慮、孤單感），並怎樣賜下恩典與出路。我們透過小組查經，可以學習聆聽自己和明白他人，在重視真理原則的同時，亦留空間去檢視處境、疏理感受，進而為自己和肢體向上主求恩，邁步與神與人真摯同行。
教會已舉行了今年的「明道行道查經講座」，主題是「在聖言中聆聽」。在講座中，我們根據上述的角度重點讀約拿書的敘事與詩歌，並認識如何預備自己去聆聽、更新聆聽的態度。鼓勵大家在北宣網頁或北宣 Connect 1952 重溫。
願主賜福北宣家眾弟兄姊妹，在聖言中經歷神更深、彼此造就。
During the Dawn Prayer Meetings in July last year, the book The Gift of Being Yourself by David G. Benner reminded us of this: Christians must deepen their knowledge of God and self in order to experience self-transformation that pleases God on their spiritual journey. Benner also mentions, "Self-acceptance always precedes genuine self-surrender and self-transformation" (p.55). However, due to experiences of being rejected when they grow up, people tend to mask themselves to avoid such pain and to please others. It is easy for the Christian community to suppress their feelings with biblical teachings, mistakenly thinking that accepting these teachings with willpower suffices, thereby neglecting the need to analyze and address their circumstances or the signals emotions convey to us. Such tendencies can even foster an unhealthy culture, wherein we unconsciously suppress the emotions of others.
This year, the direction of growth of the NPAC family is "Cherish God's Word in Our Hearts, Journey Together in Genuine Fellowship." Open the Bible and we will see narratives depicting individuals' interactions with God and others in various circumstances everywhere, as well as psalms and prayers of people expressing their emotions, desires, doubts, struggles, confessions, petitions, thanks and praises. Take the Old Testament prophetic book of Jonah as an example. It teaches far more than "God's mercy is greater than justice" or "we should obey and share God's love for people." In the text, what thoughts and emotions does the prophet Jonah reveal? To Jonah who was grappling with evasion and anger, how did the LORD's actions shape his thoughts and heart? When we study the Bible carefully, we will find that God's word is very often not the indoctrination of hard truths. Rather, it enters man’s situations and inner realities to bring about transformation.
This year, the NPAC family's Bible study guide, When You/I Encounter…, adopts a topical approach to study the Bible. Pastors have selected Bible passages addressing life situations and emotions. Through the respective short texts and guiding questions, we hope that the Holy Spirit would help brothers and sisters connect with the Bible characters and stories, and see how the LORD would help individuals understand their situations (e.g. the suffering of losing loved ones) and emotions (e.g. anxiety, loneliness) as well as bestow His grace and ways out. Through small group Bible study, we can learn to listen to ourselves and empathize with others. While cherishing principles of the truth, we also leave space to examine our circumstances and process our feelings. We will then seek the LORD’s grace for ourselves and our brothers and sisters, taking steps to journey with God and others in genuine fellowship.
Our church has already conducted this year's "Bible Study Seminar on Knowing and Practicing the Word" on the theme "Listening in the Holy Word." In the seminar, we focused on reading Jonah's narratives and psalms from this perspective, learning to prepare ourselves to listen and renewing our attitude towards it. You are encouraged to revisit the seminar on the NPAC website or NPAC Connect 1952.
May the Lord bless the brothers and sisters of the NPAC family in experiencing God more deeply and in building each other up in His holy word.
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