Friendships of the Heart and Spirit on Christian Pilgrimages

Friends on a Pilgrimage

During the Spring Opening Convocation on January 19, 2022, I mentioned the idea of going on pilgrimages to our teachers and students, sharing with them the text of Hebrews 11:8-16, which gives an account of a famous pilgrimage started by Abraham and Sarah. They knew they were “foreigners” and “strangers” by nature and earnestly longed for the heavenly Jerusalem.

Abraham’s story is actually our story because we are also foreigners and strangers, who have to face the insecurities of the current circumstances. On our pilgrimages, we need to become God’s faithful people, remaining focused on Him and facing sudden challenges and difficulties together. Like the soul of the poet in the stories told in Psalms 42 and 43, our “souls” yearn for the presence of God, just as the deer that pants for streams of water in the parched land. We should focus our minds on seeking His help.

If our enemies mock us, saying, “Where is your God?,” we can run to the waterfall, where “deep calls to deep in the roar of (His) waterfalls.” The raging wild river may pour down and hit the hard rocks below, making a sound like thunder. However, even when oppressed by overwhelming experiences, our hearts and minds can become clear and be able to hear God’s voice. We have to focus our minds on seeking His help.

In addition, on our pilgrimages, we need friends to face difficulties alongside us. A pilgrimage is more than a lone journey of an individual or the discipline of solitude; it is also a journey with other pilgrims. Take the story described in Daniel 3 as an example. The three friends of Daniel stood together before King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon: they were not alone, but supported one another, refusing to fall down and worship the image of a god set up by the king (vv.16-18). The result was: the three of them were thrown into a blazing furnace together (vv. 19-20). At this moment, the king saw a fourth man in the furnace and said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego…” (v. 28). The only true God was also the friend of the three men, which accounted for their courage.

Paul’s List of Fellow Pilgrims

On his pilgrimage, Paul once said that he was already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for his departure was near (2 Tm 4:6). In fact, Paul had every reason to lose all hope because Alexander the metalworker had harmed him (v.14); at his trial, no one came to his defense (v.16); Demas loved this world and deserted him (v.10); Paul did not have a cloak in the freezing jail (v.13)…. But Paul did not despair, nor did he hold any grudges. He said, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength…. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (vv. 17-18).

Paul’s faith and hope came from his memories. Paul remembered the names of all those who loved him in his life. The list included Luke, Mark, Priscilla and Aquila, Onesiphorus and his family, and Erastus. All these friends walked with him on his pilgrimage. For example, Luke went on missions to many places with Paul and was not ashamed of him when he was put in jail. Luke never abandoned him. Mark was also Paul’s missionary partner and he was on Paul’s mind even when Paul was in jail (v. 11). Paul once thought that Mark, at his young age, was neither mature nor trustworthy (Acts 15:37-39); however, they mended their fences afterward. Such reconciliation was uncommon yet exciting. Moreover, there were Priscilla and Aquila, who had once lived with Paul, preached with him and even put their own lives at risk for him (Rom 16:4). Paul was filled with hope because of these friends.

When Paul meditated on this list, he saw that God had left His mark through these people. What about you? Who is on your list? Your list is the soil to nurture your own courage and hope.

My List of Fellow Pilgrims

I have my own list of fellow pilgrims as well. When I first started my church ministry, I came across a very nice predecessor. More than thirty years older than me, he was the volunteer pastor of our church. After ministering to the church for about six months, I was appointed the associate pastor of the church. At that time, the interim pastor was also the principal of a language school and could deliver a sermon at our church only once a month. As the associate pastor, I also had to take up the chairmanship of the Personnel Committee, Church Affairs Committee, and the Board of Pastors and Deacons. Such arrangements were made and designed by the interim pastor.

Once a week, I went to meet him at his school. He always encouraged me by giving me the thumbs up for what I had done. During that period, I enjoyed having evening chats with brothers and sisters in Christ. He said, “Their meetings with you were better than those with a number of counselors.” By so doing, he boosted my spirit and it was because of this that I managed to start my church ministry very smoothly. I am a blessed person. How blessed I am to have met such a good predecessor!

Another name that appeared on my list was that of a pastor coming from Singapore. The years 2007-2008 became a turning point in my life, and God changed me. In July 2007, I presented an academic paper at an international conference in Thailand. After the symposium, a pastor from Singapore came to chat with me. Sitting down somewhere for a coffee, we chatted over what we had learned from our studies. Unexpectedly, our chat lasted for over four hours! Although we had been talking about our knowledge, we also had an exchange of thoughts and feelings, and our mutual understanding deepened. In just a short while, we became very good friends. We even kidded that we must be blood brothers who had lost touch with each other. Later when he was on an official trip to Hong Kong, he found time to meet me late in the evening despite his very tight schedule. We did not have frequent gatherings; in terms of time, we had only met for a dozen hours but we had built a very deep relationship.

In 2008, I faced a major difficulty. Without the faintest idea of what to do, I could not but seek help from this pastor from Singapore. To my surprise, he promised to help right away. That was why I always said I owed him a big favor; he had helped me as well as the seminary. Every time we met, we talked about everything under the sun and shared our knowledge and our friendship became very strong. The grace he had given me was a kind of goodness difficult to find in humankind. It was a gift from God. When I assumed the presidency of the seminary, he gave me a metal bamboo sheet engraved with the pattern of bamboo leaves as a gift for the occasion. It was in such an amazing way that our friendship became rooted and grew deep.

A Shocking Spiritual Journey

2009 was the first year of my presidency at the seminary. After the first six months, seeing that the seminary was moving forward under God’s gracious guidance, I went to Los Angeles and San Francisco in June to visit churches and alumni there. Meanwhile, I experienced a spiritual journey and the joy of friendship. On the day of departure from Los Angeles, I visited Rev. Timothy Lin, who was almost a hundred (he had been the president of the China Evangelical Seminary, Taiwan, for a decade), and asked him to pray for me and share with me in person some tips on being a seminary president. At the beginning of our chat, I expected him to tell me some stories about how to be a president; however, he talked about nothing other than the Bible. He encouraged me with three verses (Gn 1:26; Rv 3:21; Mt 7:21), reminding me to pay serious attention to voices from God’s heart. Thinking that I was familiar with those verses, I felt disappointed at first. But when I humbled myself and listened to him carefully, I was deeply moved, feeling the presence of God’s Spirit. After that, he laid his hand on me and prayed for the sound health of my spiritual life. I felt shocked at this point, my whole body quivering. To me, he was just a stranger but he had become a messenger from God, acting as my spiritual “abba,” teaching and inspiring me. When I said goodbye to him, he stood at his door and watched me go in my car with a smile, which made me see the smile of my Heavenly Father.

Indeed, Rev. Lin knew more clearly who I was working hard to become. He had helped me to become myself and taught me what kind of president I was to become because he had faced God more wholeheartedly than I. As a result, I came closer to God through this friendship with my predecessor.

Continuation of the Friendship of Heart and Spirit

In 2022, which was the beginning of another stage of my service to God, I put aside a lot of administrative work and focused my mind on teaching and research as well as personnel matters, working hard to nurture the pastors of the next generation. I had planned to meet two groups of young alumni per month in January and February this year, which means a total of four groups, or about 50 people altogether. Unfortunately, owing to the pandemic, so far I have met and talked with only one of the groups.

On January 3, Rev. Brian Lam, Ms. Michelle Chan, and I had a chat with seven alumni about what they had learned from pastoring and listened to the stories of their ministries. They gave detailed accounts of their basketball ministries, football ministries, large-scale preaching ministries, and the process of growth through Bible teaching. On my part, I shared with them some theological thoughts, covering those of great masters like Andrew Root, Paul Tillich, Deborah Hunsinger, and Douglas Hall. I enjoyed the sweet fellowship among us, which was also a “waiting room” (a platform for people of different generations to share their life stories). After that, I called them “the Blessed Seven.” They are all my young friends, my fellow pilgrims.

I strongly hope that I can walk with them, teach them, and encourage them. Just as Paul said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith…. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Tm 1:5-7). I hope they will become even stronger. In fact, I also need their company. I hope we can fight a good fight and finish the race that is set before us together, holding fast to our faith and beliefs. As the world needs hope, and the church is where the greatest hope can be found so far as I know, we have to become companions with God and with you.

On our pilgrimages, we do not move forward alone but with companions. I rejoice over the friendships in my life because we can laugh heartily amidst our friendships with God and with others. Happiness is the fruit of life borne by those who have the joy of experiencing God; it is the fruit reaped by disciples who practice the spiritual discipline of “friendship of the heart and spirit.”

* All Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.

May 2022