Faith Ho

Editor’s notes:
In this inaugural issue of the new journal, Gospel! Culture! Kingdom!, we are honored to present the latest interview of Dr. James Houston.[1] Dr. Houston is the founding president of Regent College in Vancouver and a renowned theologian in Christian Spirituality. He was also a long-time friend and Kingdom partner of Dr. Jonathan Chao, the late founder of China Ministries International (CMI). Their ministry partnership started in the 1990s when Dr. Chao introduced Dr. Houston to the churches in Hong Kong and Taiwan to teach seminars on history of Christian Spirituality. Later, through publishing and distributing Dr. Houston’s books, such as The Transforming Friendship, CMI further introduced Christian spiritual theology and spiritual formation to the churches in mainland China. Through his works, Dr. Houston not only opened the eyes of many Chinese Christians to the broad and profound spiritual traditions in Church history, but also greatly impacted Chinese theological education. Today, more and more seminaries have incorporated spiritual formation into their curriculum.

Due to the special connection between Dr. Houston and CMI, we were blessed to interview him a few months ago. Though we were not able to visit him personally for various reasons, Dr. Houston generously accepted our interview invitation and patiently answered all our questions, first by emails, and then through a virtual meeting. It was amazing to see that at the age of 101, Dr. Houston remained sharp. His answers were loud and clear, with precise wording and no delay. In fact, he shared profound insights on the direction of church development as a forward-thinking historian. Yet, as a spiritual father, he also demonstrated to us younger generations the captivating and beautiful life that comes from a vibrant friendship with Jesus and with others. Indeed, Dr. Houston has lived out the message he has devoted his life to proclaim— cultivating a friendship with Jesus Christ! For this reason, we cannot stop giving thanks to God for Dr. Houston. Last, but certainly not least, we extend our gratitude to Dr. Houston’s daughter, Mrs. Claire Taylor. Without her assistance throughout the communication process, this interview would not have been possible.

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Ho: Dr. Houston, you have visited Hong Kong and Taiwan numerous times and taught many Chinese students at Regent College. What is your impression of Chinese people, Chinese culture, and Chinese churches in Asia?

Dr. Houston: As foreigners, we are awed by the long history of Chinese civilization which spans over thousands of years. Nevertheless, as far as culture is concerned, Chinese people are less emotionally expressive than Westerners. While the Chinese may be very kind people, many of them often conceal their emotions, which makes them appear deep and reserved, leaving others finding it difficult to understand them. The reason, I think, might be related to the fact that wars and uprisings happened periodically throughout the millennia of Chinese history, which was even drastically intensified in the last century. The ongoing upheavals and revolutions not only constantly kept Chinese people in a terrified state over a long period of time, but also forced them to suppress their emotions as a way of survival. Consequently, the Chinese people had limited opportunities to express their emotions, often oscillating between two black and white extremes— either extremely terrified or extremely in love.
Thankfully, the Chinese Church is a faith community that has been liberated by Jesus Christ. Christ sets you free, and you are free indeed. Therefore, Chinese Christians can express their emotions more freely, including the feeling of being vulnerable. They can also accept other people’s vulnerability. This type of freedom and sense of security were absent in Chinese culture for generations and ages, but they can be and should be experienced by people in the church of Jesus Christ.

Ho: Your understanding of the Chinese culture is profound. You are right that in Christ we can freely express all our emotions now. However, many Chinese Christians are unfamiliar with their inner emotional world, let alone with expressing their emotions. Could you please give some advice on how to make breakthroughs in this area?

Dr. Houston: Actually, Chinese Christians are no different from Western Christians in this area. Emotional closure is a quite common issue among contemporary Christians, and it is connected to the broader culture. When people meet, their usual greetings are: “How are you?”, and “I’m fine”, without expressing our real emotions at all. Growing up in this kind of “wilderness of language”, it is no wonder that many Christians lack emotions when they worship before God. To make things worse, today, we are living in perhaps the most dangerous cultural context ever in history — a postmodern civilization that is utterly disinterested in history. Without understanding or appreciation of history, human memory is just like a shallow saucer, instead of an overflowing cup. As a result, our brains are underutilized, and we fail to recognize the logical connections that are inherent between historical events. That is why so many people, including Christians, see no hope of life and thus fall into depression.

Moreover, I also think that the emotional lethargy among Christians very likely stems from the misunderstanding of the origin of our emotions. All authentic emotions originate from the “fountain of God’s love” (as the Puritans put it). Just as the sun is the source of all light, God’s love is the source of all our human emotions. This divine love should be the central focus of Christian experience. We were born in love and live out of love, as expressed in the hymn, “Love divine, all loves excelling” (Lyrics by Charles Wesley, music by William H. Draper, 1747): “Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n to earth come down.”

If the love of God becomes the primary emotion in our heart, it naturally leads to joy and peace. Therefore, as the Church in the sixteenth century required the Reformation to reform people’s thinking, Christians today require a further reformation of our feelings. That is, experiencing God’s love in the heart, will lead to the transformation of our emotions, especially to the deep gratitude from the heart. Without gratitude, there can be no true worship.

Ho: Thank you for your great insights. What do you think might have weakened Christians’ ability today to resist the secular culture, so that they, as much as the nonbelievers, become deeply trapped in “the wilderness of language ” and “the indifference to history”?

Dr. Houston: The history of Christianity and the history of world civilization are intertwined and cannot be separated. Since the industrial revolution, humanity has been uncontrollably obsessed with our intelligence. We think we have smart minds and that we are smart enough to figure out everything, including God. Once Christians also adopted such a purely rational approach to know God, theology has become abstract knowledge, completely unrelated to our real experiences in everyday life. But that is not what the Apostles understood. For Paul and James, “theology” is ethical behavior. To be exact, theology is about how to preach and worship in the right way as God’s prophets. It is very practical, and not abstract at all. Sadly, in the past three centuries, “theology” has been reduced to “pure theory”, and our faith is now misguided. Today, many Christians not only limit their knowledge of God to rational thoughts only, but also allow rationality to dominate worship, reducing worship to routine performance. That is not true worship! That is why it is imperative to renew our minds and emotions. We have to recover the true meaning of “theology”.

Ho: I cannot agree with you more. Some people have been Christians for many years, but they only know about the love of God intellectually. After some time, their faith may become weak. Yet, what amazes me is that you are not only a “professional scholar”, but also a respected spiritual mentor to thousands of students at Regent College. Could you please share how you successfully avoided “intellectualism” in your Christian faith?

Dr. Houston: For me, the key is to find the balance between scholarship and friendship, not just focusing on academics. God is always the center of gravity in our lives. Once we place Him as our prime and first direction of life, He will naturally direct our hearts and minds to generate love and compassion for others. We live with language, and our lives are made up of various nouns and verbs. Nouns are abstract concepts, but verbs are concrete actions. The life of a Christian is not static or abstract, but active and lively (for example, at Christmas we celebrate our rebirth, and Easter means that we resurrect to life with Christ, to start the new journey of life). In other words, the characteristics of our lives should be that we are actively living out our friendship with Jesus: first fixing our eyes on Him, then receiving from Him the love and compassion for other people.

I have noticed that pastors usually do not express emotions. Nevertheless, the word “pastor” in Latin means “father”, which means that pastors are spiritual fathers of the flock. Obviously, as a father, it is significant to express his affections to his children. On my table is a photo of my friend who shares the gospel with a group of young Buddhist monks in Tibet. Most of the monks left their families at a young age and grew up in the monastery. Like orphans, they had never tasted the love from parents, and neither did they know how to love themselves. Now, my friend came among them as a friend and loved them like a compassionate father, day after day. They started to receive his love, wanting to know him and to understand how he could love them as such. Eight of the monks accepted the love of Jesus and became friends of Him. Later, in the same way, they went to help and love others. This picture reminds me to not only have compassion for others, but also to feel their pains with empathy, and to become a Christian father to them in thick and thin. Even for non-Christians, we need to acknowledge their difficulties and to understand their struggles with sympathy. They are also human beings, just like us. It is fundamental in our Christian faith that we are all made in the image of God. Only the fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1; ESV) Once we see each other as God’s images, created by Him, we would realize that the purpose of our lives is indeed to be kind to each individual. In short, the main lesson of our lives is to establish a friendship with Jesus Christ. Through this intimate relationship, He will make our spiritual lives increasingly abundant and overflowing.

Ho: It is indeed crucial to build a relationship with Jesus and to revive our emotions. Through your experiences, what are some practical ways for Christians to cultivate and deepen our affections for God?

Dr. Houston: Love is not only important, but pivotal for being a Christian. Thus, first of all, experiencing God’s love is crucial to cultivating friendship with Jesus. For example, in 17th century Europe, there were repeated plagues — in just the 1640s, plagues destroyed two thirds of the population in Europe. Ironically, the most radical revival of emotions, and the greatest church worship in the history of Christianity, occurred in this seemingly impossible era. Every survivor was filled with immense gratitude to God: “Oh, thank God, I am still alive!” You see, our affection for God does not arise from being taught, but from being caught in our actual experience of God’s love.

Nevertheless, others’ love for God may also influence us and inspire the revival of our emotions. For example, during the Tudor period, there was great and passionate worship in the church. George Herbert (1593-1633) was one of the important figures who stirred up the love for God among people. He stated candidly: “I'm not preaching a sermon to you. But I'm offering you a poem that will arouse your emotions to worship the Lord.” We may also find inspiration to love God from the prayers of the Puritans. Piercing Heaven (Lexham Press, 2019) is a wonderful book edited by Robert Elmer. In this collection of Puritans’ prayers, you may find the greatest expressions of our true emotions, which would kindle the flames of your passion for God.

However, the work of the Holy Spirit is not limited to books, which are just an aid. God can work through any ways and means. For instance, The Orthodox Church has never tried to explore and explain God or His works, but embraces Him as mystery. They express love for God through icons. These icons are like holy paintings, communicating the whole gospel message. They acknowledge God’s mystical nature, and also showcase the complete manifestation of God through the incarnated Jesus Christ. Therefore, I found them very helpful for meditation and recommended them to my friends. Some of them have started to place them in their homes as aide to devotion.

(Dr. Houston showed an icon of Abraham sacrificing Isaac.)

Dr. Houston: This icon reminds me of the reflection on this story in Genesis 22 by the great Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). In Kierkegaard’s reflection, God came to Abraham in a dream and said to him, “Sacrifice your son!” Undoubtedly, Abraham was in shock: “What? O Lord, haven’t I carried out circumcision for him and dedicated him to you already? Is that not enough? Do you want to take him away from me completely?” We all know the rest of the story — God did not take Isaac away at all. However, as Abraham obeyed by faith, he was no longer the same person, but was born again and transformed. This event of sacrificing Isaac proved that God indeed is the God of love. What He did to us is love, and not terror to make us despair. Perhaps Christians need to nurture a new emotion — an aesthetic emotion. It is the emotion we experience when appreciating the great artwork in Paris or particularly those wonderful paintings in Amsterdam, created by the Puritans who pursued freedom of faith. In fact, worship is essentially a response to the beauty of holiness, as expressed in the hymn, “Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness” (Lyrics by J. S. B. Monsell, music by Henry W. Baker, 1863).

Of course, besides the above means, what we need the most is to sit at the feet of Jesus, like Mary, contemplating and adoring Him, until our whole person is filled by His love. In other words, we need to practice more meditation and less lecturing and dogmatic exegesis. We may follow Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892): only meditate on a single verse from the Scripture at a time, focusing on its beauty and richness like appreciating a multifaceted jewel. This meditative approach to worship allows deeper engagement with the essence of the Scripture.
Like all other Christians, I myself love to meditate on the Psalms, which serve as the prayer book of the Old Testament and thoroughly express the full range of human emotions: fear, anger, love, joy, and peace. The most powerful emotion expressed in the Psalms is found in Psalm 2: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 2:1; ESV) This is a scene about nations unsettled, situated in the historical background when David had established the unprecedented kingdom of Israel. Stretching between the Assyrian and Egyptian empires, Israel became a buffer state. In this precarious position, David expressed the fear and uncertainty he as well as the entire nation felt through Psalm 2. Without understanding the historical context of the Psalms, we cannot fully comprehend their emotional depth. It is precisely this understanding about the history and about the emotions that makes the Psalms more worshipful than many contemporary sermons or hymns. When singing hymns, we are often so focused on the act of singing that we fail to absorb the words fully. I suggest that congregations should spend time during the week meditating on the hymns they sang on Sunday. When we read the Psalms and hymns in solitude, we are no longer distracted by singing, but can meditate on the lyrics and savor the essence of the author’s emotions, allowing them to elevate our hearts with joy and worship.
For instance, when I was meditating on the following verse from Psalm 23, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”, I couldn’t help thinking about a comment from Apostle Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55; ESV) At the end of the meditation, I would go further and say: “Actually, death is a good friend that guides me into the eternal worship which fulfills the ultimate purpose of my life.” Because, when we die, God will welcome us with peace and love to His eternal Temple, where we will worship Him with all our hearts filled with joy.

Ho: Thank you for providing us all this concrete and wise guidance on the journey of deepening our love for God. Besides these personal spiritual exercises, what can the Church do to foster the communal transformation of emotions?

Dr. Houston: It is crucial to foster a family atmosphere within the church where individuals can express themselves freely. Church government is necessary for church governance. However, over time, the polity system may form bureaucracies, which may be suffocating and deprive the church of human kindness and interpersonal relations. What we truly need is the liberty to “be ourselves” before God and to one another. It is essential to remember that Jesus refers to us as friends, and our relationship with Him and with one another should manifest the essence of friendship. This brings to my mind the beautiful hymn, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” (Lyrics by Joseph M. Scriven, music by Charles Crozat Converse, 1855) — “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!”

In recent years, we have seen a new movement called “Being church”. It has the vision to set the church free from rigid polity in order to become a happy and free “family”. It emphasizes living out of worship instead of merely performing worship. A true prophet or preacher is someone who embodies his message. God did not merely promise salvation, but also fulfilled His promise through His Son. Jesus personified the divine love, instead of merely proclaiming it. Therefore, the church has great need for revival. The entire faith community needs to embody this love in daily living.

Ho: Thank you for introducing the movement of “Being church”, which is different from “doing church”. “Being church” focuses on the loving relationship between believers and God, and among the believers. In contrast, “doing church” often emphasizes activities and ministries, which may overlook these important relationships. However, to change from being activity-oriented to becoming relationship-oriented may not be easy. It may take a very long time for us to process. Last, but not least, for the Chinese churches who are undergoing severe persecution at the moment, do you have any encouraging words?

Dr. Houston: The persecution under which they are going through now may actually lead them to experience freedom. Despite the fact that the situations may worsen continually, we still have freedom in Christ, and the Spirit empowers us to live out this freedom. Therefore, we must first encourage ourselves to live a daily life for Christ. As Christians, whether in professional ministry or not, we need to rediscover the joy of the Lord as our strength. This joy is not contingent upon circumstances, but upon our relationship with God. Therefore, to brothers and sisters of churches in China, I would encourage all of you to focus on cultivating your personal relationship with Jesus, and allow His love to holistically transform every aspect of your life and ministry. The ultimate goal of our Christian faith is not to possess perfect theology or to perform religious duties flawlessly, but to know Jesus intimately as friend and to live out His love so that more people may know Him.

  1. Dr. James M. Houston was born in 1922 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He received his PhD in Geography from Oxford University in 1950, where he later served as a geography lecturer. He immigrated with his wife and four children to Canada in 1970, and became one of the founders of Regent College in Vancouver, the first Principal, and Professor of Spiritual Theology. He is one of the co-founders of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Washington, DC. He is a prolific author, editor, and Christian scholar, and is well-respected worldwide as a leader in education and laity training. His major areas of interest include the Christian classics, historical theology, and the traditions of Christian spirituality. Houston has published numerous books and articles. Those translated into Chinese include: The Developing History of Spiritual Theology (CMI Publisher, 1995), The Transforming Friendship (Shanghai Joint Publishing, 2015), Desires of Heart (Shanghai Joint Publishing, 2016), Joyful Exiles (Shanghai Joint Publishing, 2019), and The Mentored Life (Shanghai Joint Publishing, 2020). ↩︎