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2006/7/31 Culture: East and West1. Differences between East and West
And this time I thought we could look at some of the key differences that people often notice between Eastern and Western cultures.
Now these things are generalisations, but they generally hold true for a lot of Eastern and Western cultures, and can be helpful in understanding differences between the cultures. But they can also help us see what an ABC is...
Here are some of the key differences between East and West.
1. Individualism vs. collectivism
2. Confrontation vs. consensus
3. Friends vs. family
4. Guilt/innocence vs. shame/honour
5. Theory vs. pragmatism
6. Independence vs. responsibility
7. Young vs. old
Again, these are generalisations. You will almost certainly find counter-examples for each area! But for the most part you'll find that these differences hold true.
2. Baptising the differences A danger that Christians can sometimes fall into is to baptise their cultural preferences in the gospel - and to automatically assume that what their culture does is simply the Christian thing to do. This is called ethnocentrism (see previous post) - and can lead to great hurt in bi-cultural situations.
The thing is that Eastern and Western cultures both tend to be informed by non-Christian philosophies, whether it be Western Individualism, or Confucianism. When people become Christians they see things in the Bible that seem to resonate with their culture - and these are the things they highlight.
For instance an Eastern Christian might see Paul's call for unity in Ephesians 4 and assume it is the uniformity that he has been trained to appreciate. Or a Western Christian might see Jesus' warnings in Matthew 10 that he would even divide families - and assume this is the the individualism that he has been trained to appreciate. And so in a bi-cultural setting, each group can end up seeing their culturally-preffered approach as being the Christian thing to do - and the other group as acting wickedly!
What both groups need to do is to allow the gospel to critique their culture. To hear the things that they find pleasant and expected, as well as to hear the unpleasant and the unexpected. To be alert as to whether they are merely acting selfishly and in line with what comes naturally for their culture - or whether they are doing the loving thing for the sake of the gospel.
3. What about the ABC?
You'll find that the ABC is not entirely Eastern or Western. They have been partially influenced by their school education and the things they watch on TV, and from these pick up Western values. And they have also been partially influenced by their parents and relatives, and from these pick up Eastern values. In their cultural makeup they have actually collected things from both sides!
A lot of this influencing happens early on in life, particularly before and during primary school. This is why people who migrate to Australia after primary school still seem fairly 'honky' (like OBCs), while those who came earlier in primary school (or in fact were born here) have a blend of East and West in them (the ABC).
And sometimes, they will even have contradictory elements in their worldview. Things that seem to tear them in two different directions! An ABC will feel the desire to argue things out in a meeting (from the western individualism they learn at school and in the media) - yet at the same time feel uneasy about moving forward without consesnsus (from the collectivisim they learnt in the family home)!
Both of these values can somehow coexist together in the one person, though sometimes they can lead to great internal tension and turmoil about things that those from a mono-cultural background can't understand.
This is what makes the ABC such a unique creature: able to function in different cultures, yet not entirely at home in either, and full of tension within!
[ PS: can you suggest other facets of Eastern/Western culture? ] 2006/7/15 Culture: the pith helmet syndromeThe job of AQIS is to make sure that when people arrive in Australia they don't inadvertantly bring bugs and other nasties into Australia, and therefore damage Australia's ecosystem, or threaten its agricultural industry. A harmless trinket from overerseas could hold a bug that might decimate grape stocks. A plant cutting could hide yet another bug that might do irreperable damage to wilderness.
You've probably heard about some of the bad news introduced species from Australia's history - the cane toad, the prickly pear, rabbits and foxes to name a few!
2. Guarding the gospel
When it comes to gospel ministry we have to be careful that we don't confuse gospel and culture. This is particularly the case when one culture relates to another. If gospel and culture get confused, this can lead to disasterous results...
You've probably seen embarrassing group photos from Christian missions from years back - black and white photos of "Christianised" natives being trussed up in Western clothing, holding parasols, and sittinig demurely on pews. Today we cringe at such photos. How could they have been so blind as to think that Christianity means wearing long dresses? or that Christianity has to mean sitting on pews? This is a result of something called ethnocentrism. This is when one culture thinks of their culture as being inherently Christian in its totality. And as a result other cultures should become just as they are - in their eating habits, their dress, everything! And so evangelism means making a native culture just the same as the missionary's home culture.
This is a terrible thing, as the missionary culture has attached some elements of their own culture to the gospel. And then they demand that the locals accept the missionary's culture as gospel. As you can imagine, this is an important issue, as it amounts to adding to the gospel! We need to carefully distinguish gospel and culture.
However we can do the same things today. This happens when OBCs tell ABCs that they need to be silent and meditative at the start of a service. Or when OBCs tell ABCs that they should dress in a more respectable way when they come to church. What is happening is that they are importing things that may be culturally relevant for OBCs, but are culturally inappropriate for ABCs.
But ABCs can be guilty of the same things too... and this happens with ABCs looking down on OBCs because of the kind of songs they sing. Or ABCs looking down on OBCs because they aren't as casual and relaxed in the service as we are.
We attatch gospel significance to things that aren't gospel - and so end up creating animosity and suspicion between congregations. Each thinking the other is soft on discipleship. As you can see there is also the danger of tearing apart the true unity forged by the gospel when we judge others on criteria other than the gospel! A related problem is called culture blindness. This is when people from one culture can't see that what they are doing is actually cultural. Instead they think that they are culturally neutral, whereas it is other people who have cultures. And this in itself can lead to ethnocentrism.
Think of snow blindness - you're up in the mountains skiing. And the sun is shining bright in the sky above, and the sun is reflected on the glittering snow below. Everywhere you look you see brightness - and this ends up blinding you. Culture blindness comes as a natural consequence of being used to seeing your own culture everywhere. And as a result you think that this is the normal thing that all peoples ought to do. A good example is local churches, most of which are essentially Anglo-Saxon HUP churches. It's just that they don't realise that this is what they are. They are set up to be culturally relevant for Anglos, and this is exactly what the majority of them are great at reaching at. However culturally-blind leadership can't see that they are a culture group - and they think that they are a not an ethnic group, but a 'general' local church. However you cannot erase culture!
What they need to do is rejoice in what they can do exceptionally well (reaching Anglos) and work hard at that, while leaving Chinese churches to do what they do exceptionally well (reaching the Chinese). Both kinds of churches working in partnership to reach the world - instead of one church thinking that they have to do everything. That would be culture blindness!
[ PS: I'll be away for over a week at the CCCOWE conference in Macau ... stay tuned for more afterwards! ] 2006/7/13 Culture: criticisms of the HUPBut there are certainly people who don't like the HUP for all sorts of reasons, and who think that HUP churches are a sell-out of the gospel!
So what are the criticisms that are levelled at the HUP? And how do I answer them?
1. "The HUP is racist!"
A major criticism about the Homogeneous Unit Principle (HUP) is that it's racist. That we're cutting ourselves off from other churches, and turning people away from our doors.
But actually the HUP is driven by a love of all nations, and a desire to be truly effective in communicating the gospel to people from different nations. And to communicate it in such a way that it's not encrusted with cultural baggage from a foreign culture!
There is more than evangelism, too, that makes HUP churches worthwhile. It's hard enough applying the Bible to one people group, but to do so to a mixed people group is super hard! It means that a preacher can't spend the time to really hone in on those particular cultural issues that need to be dealt with - and this makes making disciples that much harder.
Sure, sometimes you see churches actively excluding people from other nations (eg. during the era of Apartheit in South Africa, and in some Southern churches in the United States). When one ethnic group thinks it is superior to others, that's a problem. When an ethnic church isn't interested in the salvation of other people groups, that's got to be dealt with. But that's not what the HUP is about. A more serious criticism levelled at the Homogeneous Unit Principle (HUP) is that it seems to tear apart the unity forged in the gospel. After all, hasn't Jesus come to form one new man out of the two (Eph 2:15)? Isn't it the case that in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian slave or free (Col 3:11)? Yet here we have ethnic churches! And so it appears to be an unbiblical ministry philosophy.
But this is a straw-man argument. No one is saying that HUP means that Chinese churches isolate themselves from those of other cultures! No one is suggestion that we turn away people from our doors and don't explain the gospel to them!
If you think about the now-and-not-yet diagram (below), you can see that we currently live in the 'now' as well as the 'not yet'. In God's will, we are to exist both in the current old age, as well as in the new age of the future. We belong to both realities! And this actually has practical implications for a whole range of different areas.
An example: we are still sinful, so we press on in growing in our own personal godliness (the 'now') as well as being sure of our standing before God because of the finished work of Christ (the 'not yet').
Aother example: it's appropriate for people to be good workers and managers of resources (because we live in the 'now'), as well as proclaiming the gospel widely and loudly (because we will one day live on in the 'not yet').
And not surprisingly, this now-and-not-yet reality is also important when we do church! We do church in a way that reflects the reality of having to reach and disciple the different cultures that exist in the 'now' (hence HUP churches), as well as trying to reflect the radical unity of the 'not yet' that is forged in the gospel (hence praying for others, supporting other ministries).
It betrays an overrealised eschatology to think that we can force the all-nations gathering to happen right now (because we think it's already completely arrived)! And similarly, it betrays a lack of eschatology to ignore the plight of other people groups (because we are ignoring the end to which God is bringing all things).
No, God has designed for us to live in the present age, as well as the future age. And the way we do church has to reflect both realities. And this is what HUP churches are on about!
[ PS: are there other criticisms of the HUP you can think of? ] 2006/7/11 Culture: the Homogeneous Unit Principle1. What is the Homogeneous Unit Principle?
In the last post we talked about the contribution of missiologist Donald McGavaran to the third wave of modern missions (see previous post).
In his classic book Understanding Church Growth, Donald McGavaran makes the observation that people don't like to have to cross cultural barriers in order to come to Christ. And this makes a lot of sense - it's hard enough for people to come to grips with the gospel. But if you're asking them to believe in the gospel when it's presented through a foreign culture and language, that is certainly a lot!
A Qechuan person shouldn't have to learn Spanish and go to a Spanish-speaking Mestizo church to have the gospel explained in a foreign tongue, in a culturally foreign environment. No, the thing to do is to establish ministries for the Qechuan people group, to explain the gospel in Qechuan and relate to them in culturally appropriate ways!
But not only that, McGavaran also makes the observation that the gospel travels fastest along people groups. You might meet many people from different people groups during a week, but you will generally spend most of your time with people from your own people group, and you will tend to be able to share deeper with people who share your culture. And so it's along these natural relationships that the gospel tends to travel the fastest.
A Qechuan believer will get along quite well with Mestizo Bolivians, and may have quite a number of Mestizo Bolivian friends. But they will tend to find most of their gospel opportunities with fellow Qechuans. And so it only makes sense to make use of these naturally-occurring relationships to reach the Qechuans!
And so McGavaran concludes that the thing to do is identify people groups, and establish churches and ministries among those people groups, so as to best reach that group with the gospel. This approach makes the most of the natural social connections that people have with others in their people group, and means that the gospel is explained in their own language and in culturally appropriate ways for each people group.
A town in Bolivia may already have a vibrant Spanish speaking Mestizo church in it, but in order to reach the Qechuans in that town, the best thing to do is to establish a Qechuan church to better reach the Qechuans with the gospel!
2. What makes a Homogeneous Unit?
What are those naturally occuring people groups around which we are to build gospel ministries? McGavaran admits that this is difficult to define, and in fact can be elastic. Sometimes it'll be based around a political unit. Sometimes it'll be a common culture or language. Or it'll be a tribe or caste.
It's not necessarily going to be language (because vastly different culture groups may share a common language), nor will it necessarily be race (the classic example being the ethnically western missionary kid raised in a foreign culture, who adopts that culture). Remember, culture is deeper than we think, and stretches beyond behaviours to include beliefs, values and worldview!
But whatever it is based around, a homogeneous unit (or 'people group') is a group of people who will have a natural cultural affinity with one another. They tend to congregate together, marry others within their group, and recognise others as being of the same group. And so it's around these groups that we want to establish gospel ministries!
And it's because of these things that I think that the ABC is actually homogeneous unit, distinct from both the OBC and Aussie culture... a homogeneous unit that calls for specific ministries to be set up amongst them! 3. What about those international churches?
Chinese churches are generally established with the homogeneous unit principle as their ministry philosophy - and it's actually a great thing for the gospel. At the 2001 ABS survey, a huge 10.4% of Sydney residents traced their ancestry to either North or South Asia (see graph). And many of these have yet to come to Christ! The best way for this significant part of the population to be reached with the gospel is through HUP churches that present the gospel in culturally appropriate ways, and who then disciple these Christians through the pastoral issues that are particular to that culture.
An alternative approach that some churches have tried is to set up International Churches - churches that are meant for people of all cultures to come and join. After all, this seems to make sense - people from different ethnic groups can come together and feel welcome and included in this one place.
But generally such churches actually end up as failures! The reason? In trying to reach all cultures, they have had to make certain decisions (eg. what language, how formal, how punctual, etc.). And in doing so they end up creating a new and artificial culture that no one has! A service that no one is really comfortable with! In trying to erase culture, they have ended up creating yet another cultural barrier for non Christians to cross!
This is because culture cannot be erased - a culture will naturally arise when two or more people get together. All they have done is create a culture with which no one is familiar!
No, the answer is HUP churches. We do our bit to reach the Chinese, other churches are doing their bit to reach Caucasians, and still others are doing their bit to reach the Greeks. All of us united in gospel partnership to reach our city!
[ PS: there are some criticisms that are often levelled at the HUP - we'll deal with that next time! ] 2006/7/9 Three waves of modern missionsWhen we talk about 'modern missions', we are generally talking about the 19th century onwards. Of course Christians have been involved in missions ever since the book of Acts, and in the intervening period the church has not been idle. However a ton of stuff has happened since the 19th century.
But during this period of modern missions, there have been at least three different phases. And so missiologists talk about three waves of modern missions...
The first wave was started by William Carey (1761-1834), a humble shoemaker, who wrote the pamphlet An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (1791). In this pamphlet he challenged the popular idea that if God wanted to save the heathen, he would do it himself. He encouraged Christians to get out of their comfortable cities and go overseas to reach the heathen.
William Carey himself served as a pioneering missionary to India for around forty years. This first wave saw missions agencies such as the BMS sending missionaries to key cities and trading ports along the coast of foreign countries. These missionaries also compiled dictionaries and grammars that would be in use for many years to come.
The second wave included people like James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), who realised that while coastal cities were being reached, there were still vast areas in the interior regions of countries that had not yet been reached with the gospel.
And so organisations such as OMF and SIM were started up with the purpose of reaching these inland areas. For instance, today's OMF was originally the China Inland Mission, and SIM originally stood for the Sudan Interior Mission. These brave missionaries gave up the relative security of colonial law and barracks full of British soldiers in order to go where no missionaries had gone before.
The third wave was begun by the realisation of missionary Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), and missiologist Donald McGavaran (1897-1990), that while there may be many thriving churches set up within a country, there may still be whole minorities within that country who have still missed out on hearing the gospel.
Minority people groups, such as the Uighur or the Qechua... Perhaps they don't speak the official language. or perhaps they are seen as non-persons by the majority of the population. For whatever reason, they aren't being served by other gospel ministries. And so this had led to a focus not so much on reaching countries, but on identifying and reaching people groups.
This is the ministry philosophy on which agencies such as Wycliffe and Pioneers were founded. These agencies target specific people groups for evangelism and Bible translation.
Joshua Project is a Christian ministry involved in identifying the different people groups in the world and categorising the level of need (because Joshua surveyed Canaan in Numbers). They list 142 different people groups living in Australia, 10 of which are unreached (see their listing here). However in India there are 2333 people groups, and 2084 of them are still to be reached (listing here)! By their estimates, a huge 39.2% of the world's population (or 2.5 billion people) fall into their unreached/least-reached categories.
In Matthew 9 Jesus tells his disciples that "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
There is still a lot of harvesting to do!
[ PS: a good project for your Bible study group is to research and adopt an unreached people group, regularly praying for the work of the gospel amongst them... ] 2006/7/7 Culture: what is an ABC?There are some terms that people use, that you need to be familiar with. ABC means "Australian Born Chinese," those who are ethnically Chinese but who were born and grew up right here in Australia. OBC means "Overseas Born Chinese," those who were born elsewhere and migrated to Australia when they were much older.
Now from last time you'll remember that culture is not just common behaviours, but also includes common beliefs, values and worldview. Some of these things are more obvious to us (such as behaviours and beliefs) - but some things we can almost be blind to (such as values and worldview).
Now it's fairly obvious that the OBC and the Aussie culture are two entirely different cultures. Their behaviours are very different from one another (one is most comfortable speaking Cantonese, the other English). Their values are very different from one another (one values family, the other values friends). And so are their beliefs and worldview - there's no big surprise there (I'll list some of the major differences between 'East' and 'West' annother day).
But what about the ABC? Where does the ABC fit when you consider Aussie and the OBC culture?
ABCs find themselves mixing freely with Aussies at school and uni and in the workplace. We seem to have a lot in common with them - we speak English just as well as they do, we listen to the same kind of music, and we seem to have a similar outlook on life. This makes us feel as though ABCs are really only Chinese people who have an Aussie culture.
And this is the approach to ABCs that is taken by some non ethnic local churches. "You speak English really well", they say. "So come and be part of our regular anglo service." And when we're at a Chinese church we feel a great yawning gulf between the Cantonese services, and ourselves: the language is so different, the way people behave is so different!
The problem here is that people are equating culture with language. And so if you can speak English well, then you must be essentially Australian in culture. However language is just one of the things that sit on the outside ring of culture. Language is one of the most obvious things, but it's really only at the level of behaviours - and as we've seen, there is much more to culture than just behaviours! The mistake that many churches have made is to fix on the obvious (language) and assume that culture is all about that.
I myself thought I was fairly Australian. Some of my best mates at school were Australian - in fact, I was best man at the wedding of one of my Aussie mates, and he was also best man at my wedding. At school I played rugby and cricket. And I've been in Australia so long that people generally can't pick up any hint of an accent from me. And when I was at church (WSCCC) I felt a big gulf between myself and the Chinese side.
But then when I went to Bible college, I found myself spending a lot of time living day and night with Aussies. And then I realised just how different I was from them. Sure, I could speak and write English just as well as my college buddies! But their interests, the way they related, the values they had - I began to realise that these less obvious things actually constitute a large cultural gap between us.
And it's not just my expeience! I have found that several other ABCs who thought that they were pretty Aussie, and who then spent significant time with Anglos, were surprised to find that they were actually a lot more Chinese than they expected.
This is because culture is much deeper than just behaviours. We think that's all there is to it - but then we discover there are significant gaps in terms of values and worldview.
Mistake 2: equating race with culture
Another mistake committed by churches when it comes to culture is to think that culture is all about race. And so OBCs will think that just becasue an ABC person is racially Chinese, they will have an essentially OBC culture. Just because they have black hair and glasses, they will want to sing the same sorts of songs, worship in the same sort of way, use the same sorts of resources.
I have seen OBCs produce magazines that they think will be suitable for ABCs - but are really quite inappropraite. All they had done was translate everything into English - but the look and feel of the design was still essentially 'honky'. This shows that they think the culture of OBCs and ABCs is essentially the same, except for the language. But it's not! Culture is deeper than that!
This also comes out the combined services and camps that Chinese churches like to hold. While people think this is about unity, it is actually about a pursuit for uniformity - and this is not true gospel unity. It usually ends up with the OBC congregations making ABCs do things in ways that may be appropriate for OBCs, but inappropriate for ABCs. At best this is due to ignorance that ABC are a separate culture, but at worse it's an attempt to force inappropriate things on people of another culture (more on this later).
The problem here is equating race with culture. Just because you look Asian, you must therefore be the same culture as them. And so sometimes OBCs expect, or even force ABCs to do things that may be culturally appropriate for an OBC, but are inappropriate for an ABC. All this does is create a stark polarisation in the minds of ABCs, driving them further away from the OBCs. "So this is what means to be in a Chinese church," they think. "Well, I want nothing of it."
ABCs - an entirely separte culture
What then is an ABC? It's not just a Chinese-looking Aussie, nor is it just an English-speaking Chinese. An ABC is a separate culture entirely.
Yes, it does share things in common with Australian culture. You notice affinities when you spend some time with them, and you notice how different the ABCs are from OBCs when you spend lots of time with them. But equally, it shares things in common with OBC culture. And again, you notice how differnet ABCs are from Aussies when you spend lots of time with them, and you notice surprising affinities when you spend some time with them.
There are elements of ABC culture borrowed from both cultures - but the ABC is not entirely one or the other culture! The ABC is a unique culture, derived from a blend of OBC and Aussie culture. Like Aussies we tend to be individualistic. But like OBCs we tend to prefer consensus. Like Aussies we love our friends. But like OBCs, we also feel a certain duty towards our family. Because it's borrowed from two very different cultures, the ABC culture is not necessarily always going to be consistent with itself, and sometimes you can feel that tension betwteen East and West inside of us as we try to make decisions! But that is what an ABC is.
This means that Aussie churches that encourage ABCs to simply become part of them are working on a superficial view of ABC culture (thinking it's only about langauge). And those in Chinese churches that force ABCs to be just like the OBCs are also working on a superficial view of ABC culture (thinking it's only about race). They both need to realise that the ABC culture is a separte culture! And to allow ABCs to thrive in congregations that are appropritae for the ABC culture.
[ PS: apart from ABC and OBC, there is actually also the ARC ("Australian Raised Chinese") - those born overseas but brought up here in Australia. However they are almost identical to the ABC, since what's important isn't necessarily where you were born, but where you did you primary schooling. ] 2006/7/5 Culture: what is it?These are questions that all Christians need to think about carefully, but it becomes a much more obvious issue in a church such as ours: a Chinese church set in an Australian culture. It's more obvious for us because we see the cultural gaps when we relate to people around us - and we wonder how to think Christian-ly about it.
1. What makes up culture?
Culture is quite a complex thing to define, because it's made up of a number of different elements. Some of these elements are very obvious (such as language, or foods), and some are hidden and can only be discerned through careful observation (such as values and worldview).
Missionaries have thought longest and hardest about culture, since they have been forced to deal with it when bringing the gospel to other peoples. Here is a diagram showing the different components of culture:
From this diagram you can see that culture is made up of:
While behaviours are the most obvious, culture actually goes much deeper than mere behaviours. At the hidden heart of a culture is its values and worldview. A people group may even shed some of its old behaviours as time changes and they mix with people from other cultures, but the values and worldview that remain at its heart do not often change.
Furthermore, while a people group may talk about how things are done, and openly discuss their beliefs, the values and worldview of a culture are often held without being questioned. They are simply assumed by everyone in that people group as the structure of reality in which they operate.
2. Is culture good? bad? or neutral?
Culture is something that naturally arises when groups of people come and live together. As they do so, they begin to do things the same way, refer to things using the same words, and think about things the same way. Not everything will be the same, mind you! But there will be enough similarities across all the people in that group that will, after enough time has passed, make them distinct from other groups of people.
They will adopt behaviours, beliefs, values and a worldview that is similar to one another - it just makes living together easier if everyone speaks the same language, has the same view of time, and knows how to treat one another!
Is culture good, bad, or neutral? In Genesis there doesn't seem to be enough time between the creation of the first couple, and the fall for culture to develop, so it's really hard to answer this question with any certainty (Gen 2-3)! However, there are some clues in the Bible about culture...
In all of this I'm trying to highlight that there may be some ambivalence in the Bible about culture... Yes, human cultures can be used as an expression of people's independence from God. You can think of some elements of culture as being how a group of tend to express their rejection God's rule (eg. building idols). However there are some parts of human culture that I think are neutral (eg. farming). And yet other parts of human cultures (eg. language) can also be used to express people's love to God.
Think of human culture as being like a magnifying glass. A magnifying glass can be used by a humble student of God's creation to examine the intricate structure of leaves and beetles. Yet a magnifyinig glass can also be used by a snotty-nosed kid to focus the sun's rays to a point, and burn ants on a path! And just like a magnifying glass, human culture can be used to express our independence of God, or our devotion to God.
3. What to do with culture
There will be things that need to be critiqued and challenged about the behaviours, beliefs, values and worldviews of all cultures. When a Chinese person comes to Christ, they must start to live under God's rule. This means testing their behaviour, beliefs, values and worldview to God, and submitting it to God. And this Chinese person will discover that some behaviours will need to change (eg. no longer stealing MP3s) - but others will likely not (eg. speaking Cantonese, eating chicken feet). And the same too for beliefs, values and worldview.
The good thing about a Chinese church in an Aussie culture (such as ours) is that we are prompted to think about culture, and so have to think carefully what aspects of our behaviours, beliefs, values and worldview we need to transform. It's a lot harder for Aussie churches in an Aussie culture to do this, because the tendency is for culture to go unquestioned (especially one's values and worldview). But all Christians need to do this.
There's more to say about culture (particularly ABC culture). But here are three conclusions so far:
[ PS: is there such a thing as a Christian culture that all Christians everywhere should adopt? ] 2006/7/3 NSCCCS independence!Five years ago NDCCCS started up a branch church in Gordon with 30 people - and the Cantonese congregation has now grown to about 90 people. An English Bible study that started with 10 people has now grown to the English congregation with about 40 people. The NSCCCS currently has a full-time pastor (Stanley Ng) and a part-time pastoral assistant (Jonathan Ho).
Church planting goes against the desire for wanting more people for ourself, more numbers for our own church, more resources for our own community. Church planting is one of those ministry activities that call on churches to be generous for the sake of the gospel, because it involves sending people and resources elsewhere.
But this is the best way to grow the church. The growth isn't as obvious as if you were trying to build a mega-church. You can't see all the people together all in once place, and the resources are distributed across the different congregations. But the vast bulk of God's church on earth is built up not of mega churches, but the smaller ones that are faithfully pressing on in their ministry.
Gospel generosity comes out in other ways as well - it can involve praying for other churches. Training up people in ministry apprenticeship programmes whom we know will end up serving elsewhere. Helping out churches of other denominations. Inviting other churches to be part of our training events... These things show our belief that this congregation of ours here isn't The Church - but part of God's church!
I'm sure one of Satan's devices is to trick people into wanting to build up their own little church - as long as that involves competition with other churches. Sheep stealing. Ignoring the work of other denominations. Not praying for the work of other churches... Whatever it takes, as long as people elevate their own local church to the status of The Church!
[ PS: also check out the discussion on Trinitarian membership back on 11 May, and also the set of three on unity back on 05, 09 and 13 January. ] 2006/7/1 Unconditional love?We are the only Christians in our group. But what was surprising to me was the first thing that came up when we were listing what's so good about having a baby: "unconditional love." Here at last is a person who is delighted to see them, and loves them no matter what they're like.
I suppose when, in the rest of life, you are loved because of your great looks, or respected because of your ability, then yes, a baby's delight in seeing you might seem like unconditional love.
More likely though, the baby's hungry, or is happy to see a familiar face!
The Bible's picture of unconditional love is actually quite different. Instead of a baby's need for her own mother, instead of even a parent's care for their own child, in Ezekiel 16 God says that he is like a man who comes across an abandoned baby left out to die, and yet who decides to care for it himself.
An abandoned baby with no redeeming features of its own - unwashed, unclothed (16:4), still covered in its own blood (16:6). A baby that's despised, and has simply been discarded (16:5)! That is what Israel was like when the Lord came to her.
And this is true of all Christians - we have been loved even though we are unlovely. Paul says that we are God's chosen people. We are holy and dearly loved (Col 3:12).
The Bible makes use of a lot of legal language to describe what Christ has done for us. For instance, we have been 'justified', we have been 'redeemed', we have even been 'sanctified'. These have to do with our legal standing, our status as slaves or free men, our status in terms of holiness.
But the Bible also unashamedly uses a lot of intensely relational language... We have been 'loved' by God, we have received 'reconciliation' (Rom 5:11), we will 'receive a rich welcome' into his eternal kingdom (2 Pet 1:11). All these are drawn from the realm of personal relationships - and these are used to describe our relationship with God! And all this, not because we have proved worthy, but given freely to those who were, at one time, 'enemies' of God (Col 1:21, another relational word).
Maybe sometimes you get the feeling that God is very distant from you. That Christianity has shrunk to a philosophy on life, or a list of do's and dont's. That's a pity, and it can lead to a very dry and grim Christianity. But the Bible unashamedly proclaims that we have truly received unconditional love from God himself. And this is the privilege of all who are Christians!
[ PS: an over-emphasis on the relational languge, though, can lead to the "Jesus is my boyfriend" syndrome... ] |
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