Life Imitating Life
I am one of those people who likes going into rabbit holes … if I can’t find an answer to something I just keep going.
Viv Cheung | Youthworks College Lecturer
About eight years ago while translating 1 Corinthians from the original Greek, Youthworks’ Viv Cheung kept seeing the word “call” appear at the beginning of this letter. She was puzzled. What is the meaning of “calling” in Paul’s writings?
She decided to do a master's thesis to find the answer. Yet, despite completing the project in 2019, the question remained. So, she embarked on a PhD journey to continue the research. Now, four years and 100,000 words later, the mum-of-two believes that she has found the answer … in Romans.
“My thesis is titled Called My People by God's Sovereign Grace,” she says. She finds that, “In Romans Paul uses the language of calling to denote God’s naming of those he has chosen as His people, which is in fulfilment of his promises in the Old Testament.”
Having submitted her thesis in 2023, Viv is able to incorporate her findings into her teaching. “I’m presently teaching Corinthians,” she says. “Now that I've actually figured out the answer, I'm able to put it back into the work I did in 1 Corinthians.”
Indeed, this is not ‘art imitating life’ as a thespian might invoke. Rather, for Viv, it’s life imitating life. “Having a better understanding of Paul and his theology is fantastic,” she says. “I can give depth where deeper thinking is required.”
Viv’s key message is that our calling is God's identity formation of us as his children — it’s the core of our being. Further, she says that God has named you His child. The question then becomes how does this impact your everyday decisions? How does it affect your life now? “Calling and decision-making are important aspects of young people’s lives,” she says. “I'm lecturing to those who work with kids and youth. Not only does this message apply to the college students themselves but also to the young people whom the students serve.”
Viv believes that although her PhD is technical and academic, delving into Paul’s theology inevitably affects our lives and practice. “That's the next area I'm aiming to explore,” she reveals.
There were challenges in writing her PhD. One was analysing the Book of Romans and engaging in the extensive research available. Another was starting during COVID lockdowns while juggling work and homeschooling. “I sacrificed my own study during lockdown,” she says. “It was hard because when you start a PhD it’s all consuming — you need momentum for a major piece of work.”
She is thankful to God for sustaining her and the many others who supported her, mentioning that, “Of course my husband Eric was wonderful.” She also highlights the contribution of her supervisor, Bill Salier, for his tireless work and encouragement.
Viv holds a permanent part-time lecturing position at Youthworks College and says she absolutely loves her job. “Teaching is such an incredible privilege. I love lecturing Greek, taking students from not knowing a single word or even the alphabet, to the point where they are translating the Bible from the original language within a year,” she says. The New Testament is her area of expertise; she wants to see others share her passion for reading and understanding the Bible deeply.
“Studying the Bible is great. I’m always marvelling at God's work in Christ,” she says. “God’s grace to us is simply amazing.”