In the wake of Kong Hee's release from prison on Thursday, Aug. 22, numerous parties appear to have resumed their critique of the City Harvest Church (CHC) founder-pastor with earnest.

Seemingly in response to this, at least two Christian blogs have published posts urging their Christian audiences to suspend their judgement of Kong's intentions in the misappropriation of some S$50.6 million in CHC building funds — then, or now — unless they have personally sought and possess full understanding of them.

Thir.st: Let's not punish him with a second sentence

Thir.st is a Singaporean Christian website that reaches and is targeted largely at Christian audiences in Singapore.

In a post titled "City Harvest's Pastor Kong Hee released from jail", its writer, Gracia Chiang, explains that while she can understand the critical comments and sentiment expressed about him, she couldn't help but feel bad for him in the state he checked out of prison in:

"I’m not going make light of what he did. Our actions have consequences, and we must be ready to be accountable for them.

But judgment has been passed and Pastor Kong has served his jail term — let’s not punish him with a second sentence and assume that we know his intentions.

There’s nothing smart about posting a snarky remark about a fellow brother who has accepted responsibility for his wrongs and asked for forgiveness.

I don’t know him, but his conviction was painful to read about. This news didn’t just hurt one church — the wider Church took a hit as well..."

Steve Cioccolanti: Why criticise pastors and not condemn apostates?

Steve Cioccolanti is an Australian pastor who doesn't appear to have any particular connection to CHC or Kong.

In fact, he wrote in "Mega Pastor Kong Hee Out of Prison, Reunites with Wife & Family | A Pastoral Response" that he tried connecting with him previously but failed, ending up speaking only with one of the six former CHC leaders Chew Eng Han.

That being said, Cioccolanti wrote that Christians seem to treat ministers whom they disagree with differently from how they react to "enemies of the cross" — by which he refers to apostates, or people who have renounced their faith in Christ.

 "Christians freely criticise Christian pastors like Kong Hee and Joseph Prince, who call Jesus their Lord, while they are careful not to condemn apostates. They would rather show love and pray for Joshua Harris and Marty Sampson, both of whom publicly recanted their faith in Jesus Christ."

He interpreted a line spoken by Jesus Christ in the bible that urged his disciples to "love one another" as Christ implying that "loving the world is easy, but loving fellow Christians is more difficult".

Citing examples from the bible, Cioccolanti voiced his belief that some Christians practise Christian teachings in reverse — loving their enemies "better than their families".

He made the argument that as long as

1. Kong has not blasphemed God or recanted his faith,
2. an individual has not themselves confirmed what it is exactly Kong believes or teaches by asking him personally (because believing hearsay or what one reads online is ungodly),
3. justice is served, because he completed his jail term,

Christians should refrain from condemning him.

Cioccolanti also said he hoped Singaporeans would be happy to have a "productive citizen" back in our midst:

"To be fair people, we have to be led by the Spirit.

On the occasion of Kong Hee’s release, I encourage Christians to love all Christian ministers and stop loving apostates. That is what (the biblical figure) Paul modelled for us. If you are tempted to spread gossip about a Christian brother, you’d better be sure to speak to him first. If you will not, then why not love?"

He concluded by saying that "loving God and neighbour, not stranger, is the highest command".

"You must love your brothers – even famous ones, rich ones, and fallen ones."

Top photo: screenshot from CNA video