An Open Letter to the Singapore Church Leadership (I’m writing in my personal capacity) – By Rev George Ong
Dr Simon Chong’s article was published on this website on 4 Sep 2021, last Saturday and the following are amongst the many things he said:
“How much more then the countless souls at risk of hell? In Joseph Prince, the Church is faced with a perpetrator of falsehoods and twisted doctrines, with many of the flocks drawn to it, as well as non-believers being seduced into a completely new brand of Christianity that is totally unlike what the Church preaches. For years, what has the Church done? Our response…Silence.”
“Hence to say one is ignorant and lacks information, that is totally inexcusable. But to have the inertia within to do or say anything, then that is disobedience, a spiritual malaise to a task or responsibility placed on every Christian and even more so Church Leaders & Pastors! For church leaders to continue to treat a heretic like Joseph Prince as a fellow shepherd is just unthinkable!”
“Will you continue to allow falsehood and lies to reign in your midst? Particularly as spiritual leaders, you must take responsibility and do what’s right!”
(If you have missed reading Dr Simon Chong’s article and my response, please click here)
Upon reading Dr Simon Chong’s article, a friend of mine (who is willing to be identified by name if it becomes necessary) wrote the following to me on 4 Sep 2021:
“Hi George, just to let you know that I have written to the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) about 2-3 times about 1-2 years ago on what are they going to do with Joseph Prince and his teachings. I was met with silence.”
The Singapore Church leadership cannot remain silent anymore. If leaders choose to stay cowardly silent against the onslaught of Joseph Prince’s heresies, the Church is in dire straits. Silence is not an option. “To stay silent against the onslaught of false teachings is to acquiesce.” (George Ong)
They must demonstrate the courage that is expected of Christian leaders. They must come up front and state their stand. Is Joseph Prince a fellow shepherd or a heretic? They must examine what he said in his sermons and wrote in his books throughout his last 25 years of ministry.
If they can prove that he is teaching sound doctrine according to the scriptures and the church fathers, I will publicly apologise not only to Joseph Prince but also to the entire Christian Community – not only in Singapore but the whole world for falsely accusing him. If need be, I will make amends with concrete works or deeds of repentance.
But if they can’t, they must disfellowship and expel Joseph Prince from the Christian Community if he still chooses to remain unrepentant.
Allowing a heretic to operate under the official umbrella of the Singapore Church and preaching the false gospel for so many years leading many to their destruction is totally intolerable, unimaginable and starkly going against the scriptures.
Because of the inaction (irresponsibility to be exact) of the Singapore Church leadership (not just the present council but also the past councils throughout all these years; not just the council but also every pastor in the Singapore Church, including myself) to deal with Joseph Prince, it has somewhat caused his heresies to spread to the nations worldwide.
Do we, as leaders of the Singapore Church even feel responsible to start with? Are we going to remain apathetic and pretend that everything is as per normal? Are we so afraid of rocking the boat that we have become paralysed to what needs to be put right? Can we be true to our conscience for failing to act for all these past 25 years and still refusing to act? Have we forgotten that Joseph Prince hails from our own nation of Singapore? So cleaning up the heretical dirt in our own backyard is our basic duty and obligatory responsibility. Period!
All Bishops, Pastors, Elders and Leaders in Singapore (including myself) must bear the responsibility of not acting and not doing enough to stop the onslaught of Joseph Prince’s heresies throughout all these years.
Because of our indecision, many nations are infected and flooded with his heresies that are leading many to hell. We owe the Christian communities in the many nations of the world an apology. They are waiting for a response from the Singapore Church leadership. Speak now and act please!
As you would know by now, I’ve already stepped on too many toes. I have to bear with the hate mails of Joseph Prince’s supporters and criticisms of unenlightened and even ignorant Pastors and believers. With this letter, plenty more (especially those in high places) are going to be offended. Even my supporters who cannot take the heat may leave me (so be it if they choose to). If I were to be political, this would be utterly suicidal and bring a death knell to my own ministry! But playing politics is not part of my DNA. The crucial truths to the welfare of the Church have to be told no matter how much it costs. Even though I have to stand alone (and I hope not, and I don’t have a martyr’s complex), here I stand!
Since 2017, I have been given the unenviable call of exposing the false teachings of Joseph Prince
– a call which I didn’t ask for
– a call I wanted to run away from
– a call for which I am the least to be chosen
– a call that is thankless and unappreciated
– a call that nobody would have wanted
– a call that would result in plenty of closed doors to my ministry
– a call that would result in friends becoming strangers and even estranged
– a call that would leave me ‘alone’
“…like Martin Luther, who contended alone against the whole church,
like Jeremiah, who prophesied alone against the whole nation,
like Noah, who stood alone against the whole world.”
(George Ong)
Will you dare to be so radical that you are willing to be the one and only person to follow God and go against the tide, criticisms and opinions of the whole world?
Well, Noah did.
One man was right; the whole world was wrong.
One man saved his whole family of eight; the whole world perished in the judgement of the flood.
Let me share a quotation from John Maxwell. In his Book, “Be all you can be,” he said these words:
“The greatest days of your life are the days when you sense your commitment to its highest degree. Your greatest days are not your days of leisure. Your greatest days are not even times when you have your closest friends around you. When something has seized you and caused you to have a high level of commitment to it, those are your greatest days. They may be your days of struggle, they may be your days of suffering, and they may be the days of your greatest battles in life, but they will be your greatest days. If I could choose only one word to describe what it’s like to be committed, I think I would choose the word alone. If you become a person who is deeply committed to a cause, the world won’t understand you; you will be alone. It’s human to stand with the crowd; it’s divine to stand alone.”
Alone? Yes indeed! What price to pay for the conviction of such an unenviable call? Heavy price! I have paid for it from the start, and I will continue to pay!
And yet, not really alone from another perspective – when you have God on your side. Remember the oft-quoted saying, “One and God is a majority.”
When you are in the majority, what is there really to fear? Besides, just as many others shared in the same cause as Prophet Elijah’s, I do have them too – though ‘few’ in number, nonetheless, I greatly value their prayers, moral and concrete support.
“Only with God can so much be accomplished by so few for so many.” (Jn 6:9; Matt 14:17-21; Acts 2:41; 1 Sam 17 especially V51-53; Jud 7:1-8, 16-22; 2 Sam 23:8-12, 18-21; Est 4:12-16; 7:1-10, Jonah 3:1-10; Lev 26:7-8; Jos 23:9-11; Jud 14:5-6, 19; 15:14-16; 16:27-31) (George Ong)
“To tolerate the spread of heresy without doing anything to curb it is to be a quiet accomplice to the treacherous evil.” (George Ong)
Don’t miss reading two related articles:
An Article Against the New Grace Theology of the New Antinomians, of which Joseph Prince is Identified as One – By Dr Roland Chia (Dated 1 Dec 2020) (Click to Read)
Refuting False Teachings & Rebuking False Teachers – The Neglected Half – By Rev George Ong (Dated 5 Jan 2021) (Click to Read)