Our Dear Friend Wenatchee The Hatchet has reminded me of an interesting story and an interesting theological point that, IMHO, all Christians need to seriously consider.
Once upon a time, I studied Missions in Higher Ed. There are two vocabulary words that I still use today:
- A good missionary will contextualize the gospel to people by explaining theology in terms that the indigenous people will understand. For example, Christ sacrificed his life for us. My friend who now teaches at a bible college in Japan explains that Christ was the Ultimate Samurai, who have his life for the honor of all people.A bad missionary will syncretize the gospel, compromising theology while communicating the gospel, miscommunicating the truth and, unfortunately, leading the indigenous people astray. For example, Catholic missionaries from Spain may not have explained the Saints very well to the tribal people of the Americas. So, the indigenous polytheistic theologies and the native traditions for magical objects & spell casting transferred into (or syncretized with) Catholic traditions. Hence we have some wicked death cults and voo-doo goin’ on. Oops.
Granted, the missionary cannot control how the observer will receive what is spoken. But, those who profess the gospel have a huge responsibility to try to determine whether the other person is understanding, internalizing, and living out that which is being taught. This responsibility is so stinkin’ huge, I try to avoid teaching the gospel with words altogether. Generally, I prefer to just live the gospel than to try and argue about it with people.
Anyway, the morale of the story is this:
Peace,
MrsQ
