I went to an indigenous Japanese church this morning...meaning it was started by Japanese(about 60 years ago) and not by Western missionaries. There were about 200 people (men & women) in the main room where I was, and the children were in a room next door. We met in a office building in the financial section of Tokyo. Of course, it was not in English, but they were nice and had someone there to give me brief interpretations of what was being said.
To enter the room, you took off your shoes and put them in a bag to carry them with you. Most folks had nice cloth bags they brought, but they had some extra plastic bags. In the room, everyone sat on the floor, with the exception of some elderly folks and me in the back. The men sat on the left and the women on the right. At the front was a podium, with a large Japanese flag on the wall behind it with scripture and things to the left, right, and above it. Next to the podium was a menorah.
There was a time of singing, testimonies, and bible teaching. Still, the songs were mainly western hymns with Japanese lyrics. The teaching today was on Christ being the light of the world. The meeting lasted about 2.5-3 hours.
After church I went to lunch with a few guys who spoke English pretty well and we had a long talk. They have some weird beliefs...or at least some of them do. They do seem to agree that Christ is the only way to God and that He died as a sacrifice for our sins and that what really matters is our relationship with Him.
So I'm back to the question of the church and our beliefs. What 'facts' that we have in our head can disqualify us from being in the body of Christ? As long as we have a *true* relationship with Him, He should be able to guide us into all truth in due time. So do these folks have a true relationship with Christ? It seemed that way, but I'm not sure. Communication is an issue...even with English speakers as their culture makes communication hard. (That's a long story...maybe another post.) They have strange views on some things, but they seemed to be experiencing God. I hope to communicate with them further in email. I was able to share how Christ was working in my life, and I encouraged them in their walk and got them thinking about some things.
I don't want to fall into the trap of not pointing out or disagreeing with blatantly wrong doctrines and sin. I don't want to tolerate things that Christ Himself wouldn't tolerate. But I don't want to judge folks initially out of self-righteousness or pride and not be able to guide them into what is right. As my (and Jon's) earlier posts discussed, we can't just run around telling everyone how wrong they are without having a relationship with them first. Maybe there are those who are called to do that...and maybe that's the apostolic calling.
Anyway, if these folks are indeed in Christ, my initial impression is that they are babes, but again it is hard to tell. They would choke on meat...they need milk first, but then again you can't stand by and let them eat poison either.
We'll see how God leads me as I chat with them via email or visit again.
--David
3 comments:
I was just talking with someone today about the apostolic calling. I agree with your assessment. There is no doubt that the apostolic ministry carries with it an authority to set things in order. That is what Paul was constantly doing and what he was instructing Timothy and Titus to do. I was also looking this week at the cost of that calling in 1 Corinthians 4:8-21. Very sobering. I wonder how many out there who have taken the title 'apostle' have considered this part...
Recently our church has had some people complaining about some things that the preacher has been addressing. I have heard people saying “I don’t believe in that.” Sometimes I agree, but it’s not what “we believe” it’s what the bible says. I think a lot of churches need to look at what the Bible “says’ closer than they do. Don’t change your message to suit the times or your congregation. I guess the question is how do you get this message out? From my experience if someone tries to ram it down my throat I won’t listen, but if they give me little pieces at a time I have more of a tendency to pray, meditate about what they have said and put that practice into play in my life. (is that a run-un sentence?)
In my classroom, if a student gets a small part of a question right and screws up on rest of it I focus on the correct part. I praise them first and try to make them feel “smart” or helpful to our lesson. Then I point out, sometimes by an example on the board without singling them out, what it is they did wrong and how it should be done.
On a few occasions I have seen a person/preacher in Hickory preaching on a street corner yelling into people’s cars that they are “going to hell.” He doesn’t know that they are going to hell simply because they are headed to the mall. That man’s heart is in the right place, but I feel that he is turning more people off than he is turning on to God.
My fear would be taking a person that believes in Christ; John 3-16 and turning them “off” to God or by being too critical, too fast. It’s like taking that eager learner and expecting them to do everything right on the first day of school. A little bit at a time?
Well said Doug.
Post a Comment