Rev. Liangkhaia: A Model in Pastoral Leadership

                   

Rev. Liangkhaia (1884-1979), named Hrangchina at birth, was one of the most influential church leaders of Mizoram. A pioneer Christian, he received baptism in 1909 and ordination in 1921. A preacher of the highest rank, he was also a hymn writer, historian, theologian and evangelist. He baptized 7587 persons, and solemnized the marriages of 1236 couples. The author of more than 45 books, he wrote or translated about 50 hymns, and published more than 100 articles. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award of the Mizo Academy of Letters in 1979.

            He served as the Moderator of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod for 5 terms (1933,’43, ‘51,’56, and’57). In the poll conducted by the Zolentu Magazine in 1999, he was elected as the Greatest Christian Worker of the Century.

A Model in Pastoral Leadership

            Rev. Liangkhaia was a man of many shades. One could view from different angles to see this man’s greatness. I would like to look at him from what he exactly is, ‘a great church leader’ and try to unveil his value, for future leaders, as a model of pastoral leadership in the church.

1.      Preacher par Excellence

If I were to name the most important task facing a pastor, I would choose ‘preaching’ with no hesitation. He is to nurture, exhort and warn the congregation with the pure Word of God. In the beginning was ‘The Word’—not even books, not TV, not the Internet. If the pastor is successful in preaching ‘The Word’, it may not be outlandish to say that half of his task is done. The great Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “To me the work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” This is the task in which Liangkhaia excelled so well.

He began working as an evangelist in 1916. He was the main and most popular preacher with the Christian Endeavour Group (Kristian Beihram Pawl) which he helped establish the next year. After three years, in 1919, a revival broke out. His preaching at Lungrang village is worthy of note. One Sunday afternoon, he preached on the love of God from the text of John 3:16. Blessings poured down from the heavens. People were so moved that they started to weep while he was preaching. After the message, the Chairman of the meeting Pu Buanga (Rev. J.H. Lorrain) stood up and said, “I have seen the mount of Calvary with my own eyes, have set my foot on its very soil, yet I have never seen it clearer than I do this time.” Such was the impact of his message.

On another occasion, in 1920, choosing the text of Luke 23:48, he preached on the theme ‘The Spectacle of Calvary’ (Kalvary Ennawm) at Ngopa. Some started to sob already even as he announced the theme of the sermon. As he entered into the message, saying “Those who have witnessed the spectacle of Calvary, the death of the Son of God could no longer look at anything else…nothing else could satisfy their eyes…” people broke out crying. One man from Zote village even lost his mind as he went on chanting, “Liangkhai, Liangkhai,” to himself.

Evangelist Liangkhaia may be regarded as the first evangelistic preacher to minister in large scale. Wherever he went, there were always large followers. Singers, dancers, revival enthusiasts, and those who were hungry for the Gospels were his loyal supporters. His preaching itinerary covered beyond Mizoram, even to Myanmar. How much he was loved and admired is shown by the surprising kisses he received on his cheek on three occasions by three different men. Man kissing fellow man is an extra-cultural practice unimaginable among the Mizos. People, out of admiration, even went beyond common practice to show their affection for him. His messages were marked with clarity and power to draw and move audiences, and touch them emotionally—elements of preaching that every preacher needs to manifest.

The measure of the quality of sermons is not basically in the beauty of the language, the power of the voice or the ability to sway people, but in the extent to which the hearers remember. If this standard is to be applied, Liangkhaia would be at the very top among preachers. After many years after his death, Rev. Z.T. Sangkhuma is able to recall and neatly give the gist of 10 sermons preached by Liangkhai, which he had heard before he himself studied theology. Such was the greatness of this man of God.

2.      Revivalist of the highest stature

It is a well-known fact that revival is the hallmark of the Mizo church. Many a scholar attributed revivals as the major cause of the wholesale conversion to Christianity within a span of just 50 years. It is safe to say that Mizo Christians are, as in the words of Liangkhaia himself, ‘children of revivals’. Till today, the Mizo church life feeds on, cherishes and continues to seek revivals. For this reason, a Mizo pastor whose ministerial and theological orientation is out of place with the phenomenon of revivals would soon be detached from the people.

Liangkhaia never suffered from this malady. In fact, he rode on the revivals. He was one of the leaders, promoters, and users of the revival that broke out in 1919. His role as a revival leader was crucially significant for the life of the church. Liangkhaia was the most prominent leader and preacher of the third wave of revival in Mizoram. He might be regarded as a contributing factor to the Church’s openness towards the revival which became greatly instrumental for the church’s evangelization work. He was both an evangelist and evangelist-trainer, his gifts and influence made him a trouble-shooter wherever the church was disturbed.

In the third wave of revival in Mizoram, he was the main speaker in different churches of the northern and southern  parts of Mizoram and his songs were sung by people without ceasing. He was considered a carrier of the revival movement. Wherever he put up would be filled with people who would enjoy verbal intercourse with him deep into the night, and would invariably leave their beddings before they leave for him to use. 40-50 beddings would be there each night. He received all these with patience and fatherly warmth, a highly commendable gesture. Even in those days of low literacy and bad communication, he received plenty of letters, sometimes, as many as 17 in a day.

He was a good singer who made good use of this talent in the revival meetings. Apart from singing and preaching, he composed songs and wrote books. His songs became revival songs and most of them are being sung to this day. They not only inspire revivals, but also brought about linguistic harmony among the Mizo clans of different dialects. He also made the first record of the origin and development of revival movement of the region in his book, Mizoram Harhna Thu (Revival in Mizoram) first published in 1972. This book became the first publication ever on revival in Mizoram.

3.      Theologian to the core

 Revivalists with no strong theological backing more often than not dawdle or break up the church. In the search for continuous exhilaration and emotional inspiration, one could easily go overboard. This tendency needs to be checked by a firm system of theology that oversees the phenomenon. In this regard, Liangkhaia provided the much needed leadership during the crucial period faced by the young Mizo church.

Liangkhaia was one of the key factors for the implantation of western Calvinistic theology in Mizoram. Other areas of influence are seen in the strong conservative view of the Bible. Revivals which undeniably combine the elements of Biblical Christianity and Mizo culture in their expressions and emphases still continue to take place in Mizo churches, the credit for which goes to the work of the Holy Spirit and the strong leadership of persons like him. His theology is basically a Mizo adaptation of the western protestant theology, with no liberational or little contextual touch.

Like all other theologians worth the name, he borrowed some of the thoughts and methods of those who had gone before. But his creativity would not let him stop at that. With all his experiences and the materials including the methods he acquired, he developed a theology in view of the need of the people and also in relation to his historical context. In doing this, he proved that he was not just a copycat theologian. One could also say that Liangkhaia was a biblical theologian of the strictest type. The authority of the Bible is paramount in all his theological teachings and conclusions. While saying this, it must be noted that Liangkhaia should not simply be identified as a fundamentalist. As a moderate Calvinist, he was always open to academic and critical approaches to theology. Such being the case, Liangkhaia proved to be a theologian of our time. It is apt to mention the tribute of a prominent Mizo theologian Rev. Dr. Lalsawma at this point: “Honestly, Rev. Liangkhaia is the only Mizo who can truly be called a theologian, who had a theology all on his own.”

He had a number of publications in the form of articles, essays and books. Out of which Pathian Thu Tluantling (The Exhaustive Word of God) published in 1972 may be considered his most important book on theology. He had also written a good number of Bible Commentaries and other relevant theological books such as Chhandamna Thu (The Story of Salvation), Pathian Chatuan Remruat (God’s Eternal Purpose) Baibul: Pathian Thu (Bible: The Word of God), Kohhran leh A Rawngbawl Hna (The Church and Her Mission).

4.      Enricher of culture and society

From the beginning of his career, Liangkhaia’s heart burned with evangelistic fervour, i.e., he always possessed a fiery desire to change others for the better. Right after he finished his theological education in 1915, he immediately started a movement called ‘Kristian Beihram Pawl’ (Christian Endeavour Group). As the President of the group, he travelled widely in and around Mizoram, preaching the Gospel and the relevance of Christianity for the upliftment of the people at the grass-root. As successful as he is as a pastor in educating his parishioners in sound Christian theology and doctrines, and in social development, he often functioned as an adviser to the village chief in matters of community health, animal husbandry, distribution of village land, and sundry public affairs.

He was, undeniably, one of the outstanding pioneer native church leaders in Mizoram, yet his legacy to the Mizo people is not confined within the four walls of the church. Music, literature, and research were the areas where he excelled and left lasting impact. Before he was converted, he had already been an initiator of Puma Zai (a strong secular phenomenon of singing and dancing). He had about 50 songs and poems which he wrote since his student days at Cherra Theological College. A little more than a dozen of his songs remain the most sung worship service songs. As a singer, he may be considered the first soloist-preacher of Mizoram. He was one of those who laid the foundation of the written Mizo literature in the earlier part of the last century. Writing was a constant engagement till his death in 1979.

Way back in 1926, he wrote Mizo Chanchin (History of the Mizos) which was the first of its kind, which is still widely read and continues to command authority on the subject even today. He was the first to claim, in contradistinction to his contemporaries, that worship of evil spirits was not basic to Mizo primal religion. There were people in his days who looked at him as all-knowing. They may be wrong, but it is true that his mind was encyclopedic. He even wrote a book on the subject of astronomy (which was once again the first of its kind in Mizo), Arsi Chanchin where he examined the traditional astronomy of the people of Mizoram. His travels and itineraries turned out to be rich research endeavours, where he interacted with senior members, witnessed various cultural practices and found valuable artifacts of the people. These became greatly useful in understanding and learning the values, beliefs and past and contemporary culture of the Mizos.

Conclusion: A Man for the Glory of God

            Commenting on the life of Mother Teresa, former President of the US Bill Clinton said, “It is difficult to argue against a life well-lived.” In similar vein, it is difficult not to admire and esteem a life poured out for the glory of God, which we find in the life of this great servant. His whole life could be summed up in this, that he was a man fully dedicated to the glory of God. He suffered and stepped out physically, he exercised his mind hard intellectually, he researched scholarly, he composed and fancified artistically. He was all these solely to glorify God and to strengthen His church.

            I dare assert that the phrase ‘A man for the Glory of God’ best captures his whole life and motive for ministry. This is compounded by his last wish at the age of 91. He told Z.T. Sangkhuma: “If I could get well again, my wish is to perform what we call Pathian Chawimawi (Glorifying God). I would specifically like three animals slayed for a big feast—an ox, a young bull and a heifer, respectively representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of the Trinity. We’ll have a big open space where on one side dancers, revivalists and enthusiasts would sing Mizo traditional songs in Lengkhawm Zai style (Mizo tune singing) with Mizo traditional drums. On the other side, groups of people would praise God with the 4-part western choral singing. In between these two groups of praisers, Mizo traditional musical instruments like gongs, horns, etc., would be continuously played with people dancing Khuallam (Welcome Dance for Guests). Lengkhawm Zai would signify what God has done for us as indigenous Mizos, the tonic sol-fa style choral singing is to show our openness and oneness with the outside world, and the Khuallam would manifest my deep desire for our nation to praise and glorify God in the way we can do best, and in the highest form we have.” Such was the last wishes of this great man at his death-bed. There appears no other form of exaltation higher than this in the Mizo mind. What is most prominent in him was always the Glorification of God.

            God, in his sovereign grace, had raised the like of this great servant for the young and maturing Mizo church in the first part of the 20^th century. Future historians would continue to appreciate his contributions to the Mizo society and to the Mizo church, as we also do now thank God for his gift of a worthy role model in pastoral leadership, who happened to be our very own.

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