Opening: One Chinese person walks into a bar in America late one night, and he sees Steven Spielberg. As a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him and asks for his autograph. Instead, Spielberg slaps him and says, "You, Chinese people bombed our Pearl Harbor, get out of here." The astonished Chinese man replied: "It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbor, it was the Japanese!" "Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg. In return, the Chinese slap Spielberg and say, "You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship. "Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship, not me." The Chinese reply, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same!"
Since today is Chinese New Year, let's learn how we celebrate it as Christians. Chinese New Year is the most important traditional Chinese holiday and the oldest consecutive chronological calendar in secular human history. It dates back more than two thousand years before Christ when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first calendar. Like the Western calendar, the Chinese calendar is a yearly one. But unlike the Western calendar, the Chinese calendar is based on the moon's cycles. Whereas our Western calendar is based on the earth's cycles around the sun, the earth goes around the sun one time each year, producing summer, fall, winter, and spring seasons.
On the other hand, the Chinese calendar is based on the moon's cycles. The moon does not go around the earth precisely twelve times a year. That is why Chinese New Year is celebrated on different dates each year, like Passover in the Jewish religion and Easter in the Christian faith. Because of this way of dating, the beginning of the Chinese New Year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. Chinese New Year comes on Sunday, January 22, this year. But traditionally, the celebration goes on for several days. A complete lunar cycle takes sixty years and comprises five cycles of 12 years each. The Chinese lunar calendar names each of the 12 years after a mammal, reptile, or bird – including the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig. This year is the Year of the Rabbit.
As Christians, we can celebrate and wish Happy Chinese New Year to our family members and friends. But there are some traditions we shouldn't practice anymore because they relate to beliefs not according to the Christian faith or what God teaches us in the Bible. For example, on the night before Chinese New Year, in the middle of the night, fragrant incense is burned as part of the ceremony to worship the gods and please the ancestors' spirits. This is called the 'New Year Prayer,' usually done by bowing down ('Kui') in front of the prayer table where the ancestor's ashes are stored, or those who don't have it can make a temporary prayer table in front of the door. This prayer is also known as the 'Sam Seng' prayer or the sacrifice of 'three animals,' which is usually imitated by the blood sacrifice of three animals, namely pigs, chickens, and milkfish. In the 'Ngo Seng' prayer, duck and crab are added.
The worship of ancestor spirits is wrong in the Christian faith. In Christianity, there is no belief in the existence of gods, especially if people expect the figure of a 'dragon' as a symbol of a savior because there is only one savior, namely God himself, who incarnated as a human being, 'Jesus Christ.' Because of this, the dragon ('liong') show or its expression in the form of a 'barongsai' is nothing but an expression of 'worship of the spirits," which Christians need to face critically, especially when presenting a lion dance in a Christian environment because we know that the function of the lion dance is to 'drive out demons," the spirits of darkness. So, the lion dance performances are not just dancing or part of culture because, in Chinese tradition, culture and religion are one. That is why performing lion dances in a Christian environment (at home, church or school campuses, and Christian universities) is a denial of the essence of the Christian faith carried by families, congregations, and Christian campuses and can grieve the 'Holy Spirit of God.'
They do those things out of fear of calamity or disaster brought by the gods (cf. Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu). We do things because of LOVE. 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." They do those things to get good luck ('hockey'). We expect blessings from God through working diligently (See Proverbs 10:22 – "The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it" and Proverbs 10:4 – "Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth").
Another thing that we see is that on a typical Chinese New Year, much of the focus of our celebration is on acquiring blessings for ourselves and our families. The decorations, the songs, the Ang Pao, the Yi Sang, and even the greeting "Gong Xi Fa Chai" all revolve around this theme of receiving a blessing. But the Bible teaches us to be a blessing to others through giving, helping, and serving others. "It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). Deuteronomy 15:11 – "For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.'." Proverbs 3:27 – "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do so." Matthew 5:42 – "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." 1 Timothy 6:18 – "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." Romans 12:13 – "Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."
Some Chinese traditions are good, but some are contrary to the Christian faith. Therefore, as Christians, we must be wise in dealing with cultural practices or traditions. The Apostle Paul gives this advice to the people who have accepted Christ: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." (Col. 2:8). Likewise, Jesus, in Mark 7:8, criticized the Jews because they ".... have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions." Therefore, we should use biblical guidance and discernment to understand traditions we can fully accept, modify, give new meaning to, or reject. We can practice good Chinese traditions that align with biblical teachings, such as honoring and caring for parents, respecting older people, and working hard.
Closing: As we celebrate Chinese New Year this year, remember to pray for the nation with the most number in the world. We are grateful that China is currently experiencing a spiritual revival. According to Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr., 1500 years before Buddhism and Confucian beliefs were born, China was "a land of one God" or a nation that believed in one God. After that, China became "a land of many gods" or a nation that worshiped many gods. And since Mao Tse Tung and his communist party came to power on October 1, 1949, China has become "a land with no God" or a godless nation. But praise God; now China is "returning to the one true God." It is estimated that about 1,000 people become Christians every hour in China, night and day! Think of it! About 24,000 people become Christians every day in China in our time. We are witnessing millions of people in China coming to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
May more Chinese people worldwide know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Happy Chinese New Year!
