the beginning
Hi there, lovely human. The idea for this project was birthed on September 2018 when a close non-Christian friend of mine, whom at one point in her life was exposed to the fundamentals of Christianity, told me that some people approached her to “talk about some Bible”. I had a conversation with the same bunch of people once, and while we had a pleasant and amicable exchange of ideas, it appeared to me that they were spreading a false Gospel, one that did not point to Jesus Christ as Lord.
I remember explaining to them why I did not agree with their beliefs (i.e., the Bible passages they used to justify their cause were taken severely out of context), but to no avail. Their minds were made up. It really saddened me that they could believe in such a warped version of who God is, and even more so, pained me that they were trying to convince others of it. I parted ways with the group, taking one particular woman’s name and e-mail address along with me (I am sad and ashamed to say that I have lost that sheet of paper since), realising that all I could do was pray that all of them would one day come to know the true Gospel.
The counter-narrative
In my daily job, I do research on violent extremism – and one aspect of it, which my other colleagues would be more familiar with, would be the construction of counter-narratives. Radical Islamic groups had been using Quranic verses out of its original context to fuel their violent tendencies. As such, to fight the spread of these false messages, international governmental agencies and Islamic religious groups alike have been working on videos or messages that aim to present the Quran in its right form (i.e., counter-narratives).
One day, on my daily commute home from work, I read 2 Corinthians 4. It suddenly struck me that the best way to fight against the seed of falsehood was to present the Gospel faithfully and truthfully. In His mercy, I recognised that the Gospel could definitely defeat any power, or authority, or stronghold that was going against it. It was a counter-narrative in itself. The most powerful one.
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
2 Corinthians 4:1-12 NIV
The Treasure
The treasure that Paul, the writer of 2 Corinthians, refers to is Jesus Christ. The Gospel proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord, reveals His glory and displays God’s glory.
This is exactly what this project aims to put fourth – the Gospel, simply and truthfully. With God’s help, we do not use deception, nor distort His Word, but we hope to set fourth the truth – of the life and death of Jesus Christ plainly for all to hear.
The Jars of Clay
As for jars of clay, Paul is referring to Christians. John Piper of desiringgod.org puts it very neatly. He writes, “Jars of clay is a reference to us [i.e., Christians]. We are the jars of clay. That is, compared to the treasure that is in us, we are clay. We are not gold. The Gospel is gold. (…) God’s aim is that his own power through the gospel be honored, not us. (…) Be encouraged, ordinary Christian. You are appointed, precisely in your ordinariness, for the greatest work in the world: showing the Treasure of Christ.”
This is exactly what God’s Word convicted me of – that in my ordinariness, in Siyue’s pride, in Josh’s brokenness, in Shan’s depression, in Wesley’s blinded heart – God still works powerfully and personally to demonstrate His power and His glorious name.
We are clay pots. But Christ is our treasure. And therefore, we can be hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. (-:
The Invitation
To my non-Christian friends who stumbled across this page and have persevered reading until this point, well, this is the hope of the gospel, and this is an open invitation for you to know Christ.
If you would like to chat more with me about the gospel or questions that you have about Christianity, do click here to find out how you can go about doing it! (-:
Christ, our treasure 