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| Chinese New Year Mass at the Church of the Holy Family, Kajang. |
How Should the Church Engage with Our Local Culture?
Taking a swift glance around, I find that there are two main reactions:
- A knee-jerk reaction where the church withdraws from all secular contact into its own sub-culture where things are safer, or
- The church goes with the flow, assimilating with culture, convincing itself that it's simply toning down on the culturally offensive parts so that people don't get turned off.
Both these reactions have cost the church too much, yet, it still leaves us with no apparent solution to the issue.
What does the Bible have to Say About how We as Christians Should Engage with the Culture Around Us?
Most of us would be quite relieved to know that the Bible, as much as it has to say about how we should be living life in response to God's grace, it doesn't give you a list of things to follow on what you can do and cannot do, and leave it at that. Instead, what you find is that the Bible provides parameters within which we actually have quite a surprising amount of freedom!
I think Jesus sums up the parameters really nicely when he answers the scribes in Mark 12:28-34.
Why do We Have to Defer?
Well, Paul in his letter to the church in Rome, reminded them that although those who realised their freedom in the gospel were right in their understanding that they could eat anything (14:1-2), as compared to those who were still unable to shake free from the shackles of the law, who were called 'weak' (v1), they (the strong) should refrain from eating un-kosher meat, or drinking wine, or to do anything which causes the weak to stumble (v21). In the meantime, the strong are also called to give up our rights, to bear with the weak, and to build them up, not to please ourselves, because of our obligation - to be imitators of Christ (15:1-7). What this does NOT mean, is that we allow them to continue in their current understanding of the gospel, since the nuance of 'building up' indicates an increasing development in understanding.
Going back to our original question, how should the Church engage local culture then?
In light of the parameters the Bible clearly sets out for us, I think it would be safe to conclude that it is definitely not a problem for a church to adapt to the local culture. In fact, I think this would be extremely helpful in making the Gospel accessible to the local people, and it would be a great act of love on the part of the church. You can clearly see evidence of such adaptation even here in Malaysia - services in local languages, Bible translations into local languages; becoming a Christian definitely does not equate to having to lose your ethnic background.
BUT! As much as we are thinking of how we are to be loving our local brothers and sisters, we also must remember to '... love the Lord [y]our God with all your heart and with all [y]our soul and with all [y]our mind and with all [y]our strength.' To ensure that the church is rightly adapting to the local culture without losing its saltiness, the church not only has to understand local culture thoroughly, but even more so, understand scripture itself!
Looking back the the case of assimilating the offering of incense to the ancestors into church practice, let's try put into practice what we've just learnt.
Understanding local culture:
Ancestral veneration is a way for the living to continue showing respect to the dead, reinforcing the unity of family and lineage. This is based on the Confucian concept of 孝 (xiao4), which works on the idea that despite the death of the loved ones, the original relationship remains intact. This concept of course then assumes the notion of life after death, in which two of the three soul components, the 魂 (hun2) and the 魄(po4) need to be nourished through the offerings given, notably during 清明 (qing1ming2) and 鬼月 (gui3yue4) (Thompson, 1979; ReligionFacts, 2005). Although it has to be noted that the Plane Compertum, eventually released by the Holy See in 1939, implies that these rites were no longer considered religious in nature, but civil instead.
Let's not disregard the tradition so quickly, once we've discovered that it has a Confucian background, but rather, try understand where they are coming from, and why it is such a challenge for people from such a background when they become Christians.
Understanding Scripture:
In the context of telling how the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Christian life would look like, Paul reminds the Ephesian church that children are to obey their parents in the LORD, for it is right, echoing the words of Exodus 20:12 (Eph 6:1-2).
The Bible talks about life after death, ie. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), but it also reminds us that that's not the ultimate stop! The powerful imagery in the book of Revelation points towards a life after 'life after death' (Rev 21:1-4), a reality where the curse of Genesis 3 is completely overturned.
Putting Two and Two Together
Confucianism works off a vastly different framework of concepts from Christianity. There are many assumptions which underlie behavioural manifestations, and we cannot be to quick to take things at face value.
Confucianism takes on a concept where the dead are still dependent on the living for support and nourishment, while the Bible is loudly silent in regards to such a relationship. In fact, rather, the Bible stresses the dependency of all existence on the grace of God (Psalms 104)!
Since we believe that the souls of the deceased do not require sustenance from the living, then the act of ancestral veneration is unnecessary, and in fact should have no part in our Christian practices. What truly matters is how we express our cross-motivated love to our parents while they are still with us by honouring them in the LORD.
As a caveat, however, should there be brothers and sisters in your church who come from such backgrounds, please, do remember Romans 14-15, and work with them lovingly and patiently.
Summary
I think Jesus sums up the parameters really nicely when he answers the scribes in Mark 12:28-34.
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.As long as you don't cross either of these two parameters, as a Christian, I would believe you would be free to do anything. Yes, it means that you can get that tattoo of your favourite Bible verse, but you may have to defer to you brothers and sisters.
Why do We Have to Defer?
Well, Paul in his letter to the church in Rome, reminded them that although those who realised their freedom in the gospel were right in their understanding that they could eat anything (14:1-2), as compared to those who were still unable to shake free from the shackles of the law, who were called 'weak' (v1), they (the strong) should refrain from eating un-kosher meat, or drinking wine, or to do anything which causes the weak to stumble (v21). In the meantime, the strong are also called to give up our rights, to bear with the weak, and to build them up, not to please ourselves, because of our obligation - to be imitators of Christ (15:1-7). What this does NOT mean, is that we allow them to continue in their current understanding of the gospel, since the nuance of 'building up' indicates an increasing development in understanding.
Going back to our original question, how should the Church engage local culture then?
In light of the parameters the Bible clearly sets out for us, I think it would be safe to conclude that it is definitely not a problem for a church to adapt to the local culture. In fact, I think this would be extremely helpful in making the Gospel accessible to the local people, and it would be a great act of love on the part of the church. You can clearly see evidence of such adaptation even here in Malaysia - services in local languages, Bible translations into local languages; becoming a Christian definitely does not equate to having to lose your ethnic background.
BUT! As much as we are thinking of how we are to be loving our local brothers and sisters, we also must remember to '... love the Lord [y]our God with all your heart and with all [y]our soul and with all [y]our mind and with all [y]our strength.' To ensure that the church is rightly adapting to the local culture without losing its saltiness, the church not only has to understand local culture thoroughly, but even more so, understand scripture itself!
Practical Application
Looking back the the case of assimilating the offering of incense to the ancestors into church practice, let's try put into practice what we've just learnt.
Understanding local culture:
Ancestral veneration is a way for the living to continue showing respect to the dead, reinforcing the unity of family and lineage. This is based on the Confucian concept of 孝 (xiao4), which works on the idea that despite the death of the loved ones, the original relationship remains intact. This concept of course then assumes the notion of life after death, in which two of the three soul components, the 魂 (hun2) and the 魄(po4) need to be nourished through the offerings given, notably during 清明 (qing1ming2) and 鬼月 (gui3yue4) (Thompson, 1979; ReligionFacts, 2005). Although it has to be noted that the Plane Compertum, eventually released by the Holy See in 1939, implies that these rites were no longer considered religious in nature, but civil instead.
Let's not disregard the tradition so quickly, once we've discovered that it has a Confucian background, but rather, try understand where they are coming from, and why it is such a challenge for people from such a background when they become Christians.
Understanding Scripture:
In the context of telling how the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Christian life would look like, Paul reminds the Ephesian church that children are to obey their parents in the LORD, for it is right, echoing the words of Exodus 20:12 (Eph 6:1-2).
The Bible talks about life after death, ie. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), but it also reminds us that that's not the ultimate stop! The powerful imagery in the book of Revelation points towards a life after 'life after death' (Rev 21:1-4), a reality where the curse of Genesis 3 is completely overturned.
Putting Two and Two Together
Confucianism works off a vastly different framework of concepts from Christianity. There are many assumptions which underlie behavioural manifestations, and we cannot be to quick to take things at face value.
Confucianism takes on a concept where the dead are still dependent on the living for support and nourishment, while the Bible is loudly silent in regards to such a relationship. In fact, rather, the Bible stresses the dependency of all existence on the grace of God (Psalms 104)!
Since we believe that the souls of the deceased do not require sustenance from the living, then the act of ancestral veneration is unnecessary, and in fact should have no part in our Christian practices. What truly matters is how we express our cross-motivated love to our parents while they are still with us by honouring them in the LORD.
As a caveat, however, should there be brothers and sisters in your church who come from such backgrounds, please, do remember Romans 14-15, and work with them lovingly and patiently.
Summary
Engaging culture as a church has always been a wisdom issue, and will continue to be. It's the same in regards to the usage of wealth, the kinds of career you want to join, and even the kinds of instruments you want to have in your church band. For the clear cut issues, we have been reminded to proceed with patience and love, for the issues which flop around in the grey area, God has given us ample wisdom accompanied by the ever perspicuous Scripture to guide us in our decisions, proceed with deliberate caution. All in all, we move away from asking 'what can't a Christian do' to 'how can we best glorify God in what we do'.
References
ReligionFacts. (2005). Ancestor Veneration. Retrieved from www.religionfacts.com/chinese_religion/practices/ancestor_worship.htm.
Thompson, L.G. (1979). Chinese religion: An introduction. 3rd Edition, Belmont: Wadsworth.
5 comments:
When contextualization is taken too far and the goal of the church is to please men and not God, it fails to be the church according to Scripture.
I couldn't have put it better!
Was in a conversation (today) with my friends about whether christians can hold joss sticks or go to a temple for a visit. They said that Christians somewhat defile themselves by going to a buddist temple or by simply holding joss sticks. That reminded me about this article/ blog which you requested to leave a comment a while ago.
I'll agree with what you wrote. Didnt go through the whole blog thoroughly, but I am glad that you constantly referred to bible verses in your argument/ explanations. I didn't know confucianism was a culture, always thought it was a religion! :P
anyway, I told my friends that Christians CAN use joss sticks to light a candle and have lunch at a temple at the same time. XD
Strangely enough, I had the same conversation with my friend right after I had posted this! She was just quite puzzled as to why her Christian uncle refused to offer incense at her grandmother's funeral.
Confucianism is actually a religion. The Roman Catholic Church defined the act of ancestor veneration as civil (as opposed to religious) to justify Chinese converts taking part in the rites.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I, on the other hand, was listening to a sermon related to culture.
8 out of 10, I would think it's true, scripture is going to collide with culture
1. One is transcedent, one is not
2. One change it's mind constantly, one does not
3. Scripture can deliver what they promise, culture never has been able to do that
Taking the last point, if culture never deliver what they promise, why follow culture?
It is my stand that I'm with scripture, but usually not against culture.
Take the culture of 'facebooking' for example, a persons'friend list can go up to hundreds
and thousands. How many of them are real friends in life? Yes. You may have met them.
Yes. You may have talked to them. I think the term acquitance would suit them more than
'friends'. How many of them are you really in touch with? Not only that, the amount of
time we waste on facebook? and that's just a fraction of the culture we're in right now.
I don't mean all those above as pointing to anyone specific, I meant it in the general,
to what I think is culture.
It is my opinion that most of the time, culture contradicts scripture, though not always.
But then again, my conviction has not been extended to others. It's nice, in some sort of way, having various opinion...
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