In my post “To be or not to be…” I talked about being a student/follower of Jesus without being a Christian (or at least our common Western/European understanding of Christian). There is train of thought right now in emergent/next generation/postmodern Christian thought that takes that idea even a step further.
The idea that is batted about by those who think and write postmodern Christian thought is: a person can become a follower of Jesus and yet remain true to their culture. The meaning is that a person could chose to become a student of Jesus and still remain culturally Buddhist or Muslim or Navajo. It can be confusing and extremely challenging to allow yourself to travel to those kinds of thoughts. We’re trained to think that becoming a Christian, a follower of Jesus, means giving up all our “past” life to become a new creation, even giving up part of their culture. Virtually all of our culture, however, has been influenced or out right created in a Christian context. So it’s difficult for us to imagine giving up all of our culture and yet we ask others to? If a person becomes a follower of Jesus and still hangs Buddhist prayer flags, is that o.k.? What if someone chooses to become a student of Jesus, yet still teaches that idea in the context of the Great Spirit? More challenging… what if a new follower of Jesus from Syria, still honors Mohammed by quoting selected sections of his writing to draw people back to God? As I said these are difficult thoughts but I believe acceptable to God.
It’s very arrogant of us as Western Christians to think that “true” Christianity is our version. Our style. Our form of public worship. Our structure of organization. Our tradition. And yet that is exactly what much of our missionary heritage is. Those of us from a European heritage have the horror of the “missionaries” to the new world. The message was essentially “choose our form of religion (Christianity (often Catholic or Lutheran or Anglican) and our King, or else”. From the depths of South America to the wilderness of Canada, we subjected native peoples to virtually the same amount of horror as stories of redemption. We (Americans) in turn became to missionaries to the much of the rest of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. But what we often brought was an American version of Christianity and tried to implement it wherever we were (and we wonder why many of these endeavors failed?).
We do not have the corner on the market of what it means to follow Jesus. People all over the world geographically and historically have been following Jesus for about 2,000 years in many different cultures and many different contexts. Believe it or not it’s not always looked like this. The oldest rituals we have a Christians today (be it Catholic or Orthodox) are not the same as they were even 500 years ago. At different times Christianity has been contemplative, apostolic, private, flamboyant, quiet, exciting. All good and perfectly applicable in their context. Even our most cutting edge ideas today will one day be replaced by newer ideas.
So why can’t a Christian in India or Thailand come to understand the saving grace of God through Jesus and yet remain culturally relevant as a Buddhist. Please understand, I don’t believe you can follow Buddha and find the truth that will lead to eternity with God. I believe that Jesus is the way to salvation, the only true way. But I don’t want someone to be turned away from pursuing Jesus because they think that he is an American or European idea. Jesus is beyond and above all of that. He is God. And as God he can transform any culture just like he can ours.
So I say again. I want all people (of the whole world) to become student followers of Jesus. Even if that means (maybe especially if) they never claim the name “Christian”.
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I would agree with you in part. I myself am sometimes ashamed to take/carry the name of Christian. Not because in any way am I ashamed of Christ, but because I am sometimes ashamed of what it has meant and symbolized in our culture. The worldly view of a 'Christian' is often a prejudiced, judgmental, and unloving description. Many of us christians deserve that description. However, if we say that, aren't we too, judging?
I believe that Jesus is a part of all cultures, whether they know it or not. Some of the people of the old testament were turned toward God by being introduced to him as someone they were already worshipping, but hadn't recognized him for the God of the universe. Do I believe that someone can be a Christ-follower and still have the same culture traditions of their past? Yes! However, this is a line that needs to be watched and guarded. Can you follow your traditions for example, that believe your spirit can not move on to heaven unless your ashes are sprinkled outside - and still be a follower of Christ? I don't think so. If we believe the bible as God's word and instruction, then we need to make sure that what we are practicing does not go against these beliefs. Traditions, history, past, culture can all play a vital role of who we are. However, when we become a Christ follower, He asks us to follow Him. That means we are to leave some of our life behind. The early disciples that knew Jesus on earch were called to leave what they knew behind to follow a new path. When holding on to anything in our lives can be a dangerous foot hold for evil. We need to be careful and examine what is truly needed when we follow Christ - it is defintely a process. My image of Jesus calling me is this. I am standing on the beach and Jesus is standing in front of me, calling me. I am gripping in my hands the things in my life...my husband, children, home, church, work, food, stuff. I am kneeling and crying as I see him coming near. So glad he is here with me, but can't move because I don't know how. He moves gently in front and takes my arms. He gently moved down to my hands and softly releases my grip and gently fills my now empty hands with his. He tells me not to worry, as he is taking care of all those things that were in my hands better than I was or could. He says he will leave them in my care and reminds me to keep holding his hands so I can't fill them with anything else.
If we study the new testament and the life of Christ, what do you find? I have found a friend that calls me as I am and asks me that I follow him and not look back.
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