Title Matthew 16:16 Jesus Christ
Contents
The biggest issue in missions today is Jesus Christ. In the encounter with other religions, Jesus Christ becomes a stumbling stone. The precious name of Jesus Christ is being highlighted as a name that is sometimes not understood and rejected by other religions. Because of the nature of the gospel, it sometimes caused conflicts and confrontations in culture, but the gospel is still Jesus Christ.
christ over culture
The nature of the gospel requires time and patience to be together in a culture because it requires a way of life that is “either or that” (Either or Not). However, in the history of Christianity, the gospel has not been able to bring about the act of becoming the gospel, but rather it has appeared in other cultures through force or oppression, and this has come to appear as the domination of other cultures.
Ironically, the gospel came to be lifted on one side and the sword on the other side, and while abandoning the 'time and patience' to make the gospel the gospel, while pursuing change and transformation in a hurry, the gospel could be spread in the culture. The soil itself was lost.
This pattern is also happening in the church today. Even though it is a large church, there are churches that ignore the community and aggressively evangelize or mission, do not respect the culture of the community, or ignore weak neighbors and churches, neglecting norms, order, and service with the rudeness of all-belief. will be
Christ in culture
Unfortunately, the power and mystery of the gospel that Christianity has has been caught up in a worldview in which reason and rationality rule the world while turning to the Renaissance and pragmatism. So it was mechanized here and there, and as I was thirsty, I fell into neurosis and depression of the soul.
This late modernism of chaos and nihilism gave birth to the secularity and hybridity of the gospel, and through dialogue with other religions, the gospel lost its 'mystery and power' and was reduced to a religion within religion. . The revival of primitive religions, the New Age movement, and the revitalization of mixed religions and heretical religions are religions that are replacing human thirst in opposition to Christianity, which has become institutionalized, degenerate and secularized.
Christ with Culture
The gospel is living together and is an element of relationship Love of God and love of neighbor are found in the same context, and to fear and serve God means to love and respect our neighbor. It takes time and patience for the gospel to become the gospel. The number one priority in spreading the gospel is to “learn other cultures first and wait.” Only then will a point of contact be established and the gospel will be communicated in other cultures.
We didn't have much time experience in the training of contact or encounter with other cultures. There were many good things in the Spanish, Portuguese, British and American missions in the 16th and 19th centuries, but because there was a lot of arrogance and rudeness in the culture, the gospel was misunderstood as a 'Yankee religion' and rejected, unfortunately. We are now on this path. Of course, there are many dedicated people who love and respect other cultures and make the Gospel the Gospel with time and patience.
Jesus Christ came as a servant, and he lived his life with patience and waiting in that culture, and the shed blood of his cross is what the Holy Spirit testifies in the culture and pours out on us as a spirit of new hope. You are the Christ, making us the Son of God. Because Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.