FIRECRACKER THEOLOGY?[1]
C. Philip Slate
My wife and I were in Taiwan for the 1980 Far East Mission Workshop, guests of Enoch and Janneane Thweatt. By then they had already worked in the country several years. At one point Enoch informed me that he did an analysis of the literature that had been produced by our people for use in Taiwan. “Between 80% and 90% of it was addressed our issues with Protestants and Roman Catholics,” he said. In terms of world religions, literature was intramural in nature.
This is what I mean. In the later 1970s Taiwan was 48.5% Folk religion and 43 % Buddhist. The combined total of the motley Christian groups formed only 7.4% of the population. The remaining 1.1% was made up of Muslims, atheists, Baha’is, Jews, secularists, and all others.[2] Although the majority of the national population was not receptive, some groups and individuals were. David Liao had pointed out that historically the Hakka Chinese people had been receptive to the gospel.[3] He argued that in Taiwan they had been just neglected.
Firecrackers. Meanwhile, when I walked through residential areas of Taipei, especially earlier in the day, I noticed on the sidewalks fluffy paper left from spent firecrackers. I inquired what that meant. I learned that often people light a pack of small firecrackers and toss them out the front door to scare away the evil spirits before residents leave the house for work, perhaps to work in sophisticated technology. Evil spirits? Yes, and it was likely that over half of the national population regarded them as real and active.
Along another route I noticed a small box-like structure, not more than 24 inches high. “What is that?” I asked. I was told it was the dwelling place of some spirit or minor deity. Such structures can be seen at the edge of rice fields and other places where the people felt the need of some kind of power or force to help them with life.
“The Old Man in the sky.” One night, just past midnight, we heard horrific explosions, much like one hears in the USA around New Year’s Eve and the 4th of July. The following morning, we inquired what that noise meant. The Thweatts asked a local Chinese girl about it. She thought for a moment and said, “Oh, it’s the birthday of the Old Man in the Sky.”
Over and over one could see evidence of traditional religions and Buddhism, but our literature dealt with the proper form of baptism, the right church, and appropriate worship—all important for people who want to follow the New Testament order of things, but hardly appropriate as beginning points with pagans. Later, at Harding School of Theology Edward Short wrote a fine M.A. thesis on an evaluation of the pai pai feasts in Taiwan in view of the New Testament teaching about eating meat sacrificed to idols. Short had worked many years in Taiwan and learned Chinese. The purpose of his thesis research was eventually to help Chinese Christians determine to what extent they could participate in that feature of their society without being idolaters. That thesis was a useful encounter with the local culture at a valid point of tension, but it was exceptional.
It seemed to me that somewhere along the line someone should have developed what might be called “firecracker theology” addressed to a society that fears evil spirits. There would have been much material for it in the Gospels, and even Ephesians 6:10-20, on the availability to the Christian of means of dealing with whatever active evil forces there might be in their lives. There is nothing “Pentecostal” about the items of Christian armor in Ephesians 6:10-20, nor does that armor look like even the gifts seen in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Those items in Ephesians 6 are available to every child of God, with the promise that through them one may wage a winning warfare. Paul’s letter addressed some of the pressing concerns in first century Ephesus. As surely as that was a “principalities-and-powers” theology, there is place for various beginning points in contemporary evangelism and post-baptismal nurturing. What form should that take in your area?
The Purpose Here
The purpose of this article is not to analyze the past work in Taiwan by our workers. Rather, it is to raise the question in our own country about where to begin in our evangelistic efforts and nurturing work in a changing culture. No matter how biblical a point might be, if it does not initially “scratch people where they itch,” to quote B. C. Goodpasture, it is unlikely to lead to a useful engagement between Christians and non-Christians.
To illustrate this point, I refer to efforts at a meeting of the minds with Buddhists and Hindus. Historically, both religions have yielded many converts to one form or another of Christianity. The initial contact, however, is very important. A Scottish teacher in a seminary in India was once asked to speak to the students in an Ashram (Hindu “seminary”) on the meaning of Christmas. After the missionary’s presentation, the Hindu Headmaster asked, “Sir, is it not true that for you Christians forgiveness of sins is primary, whereas to us Hindus that action is not possible, and if it were it would be immoral?” In their worldview sins of all sorts are to be punished, not forgiven. There is a way of making meaningful initial encounters with Buddhists and Hindus who hold such views, but the promise of forgiveness of sins is not that point! Forgiveness is, of course, good theology to us but not good news to them.
A Japanese missionary to Thailand, Kosuke Koyama, has written engagingly about how he tried to make sense to rural farmers among whom he worked. He remarked, “I decided to subordinate great theological thoughts, like those of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth,[4] to intellectual and spiritual needs of the farmers. . . . I also decided that I have not really understood Summa Theologiae and Church Dogmatics until I am able to use them for the benefit of the farmers.”[5] His theology apart—I do not know what his basic message was—one should think the same way about using solid biblical teaching (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19-22). Did not Paul begin his preaching at different points with Gentiles and Jews? Check out book of Acts and notice the differences between sermons to Jews and those to Gentiles.
Timothy Tennent has provided a good, general overview of the varying wordviews and assumptions found in various regions and religions of the world and suggested points of engagement.[6] Reading that work helps one to ask the right questions about one’s own culture.
A big question for would-be bearers of good news is, where do I begin in my zip code? All the surveys in recent years indicate a slight increase in the number of atheists but a large increase of the “Nones.” Among those who call themselves “spiritual,” even “Christian,” when asked with which church they identify or are a member, they answer, “None.” Finding the right church is not a big priority with them, or if it is, they think in terms of what a church can do for them, regardless of its name or theological stance.
People who think that way grant the spiritual category of life, but they are very straightforward about what does or does not make sense to them. They seem to be attracted initially to behavior more than to belief. Yes, we know that behavior without the underpinning of biblical meaning is in the long run mere humanism and futile, about like being baptized as an act of magic or to please a girlfriend. The Nones seem to be attracted to the compassionate work of churches and to the consistently lived Christian life of individuals.[7] The question is, What are the pressing concerns in various regions of North America?
Once people become Christians today, they bring with them baggage that is different from the common baggage of fifty years ago, and this has a bearing on the content of our post-baptismal nurturing of new converts. There is no single path to disciple-making and nurturing in our pluralistic society. It is important to note people’s background as we work to teach and re-educate them in the Christian worldview. We can gain insight from nationwide surveys like Thom Rainer’s Surprising Insight from the Unchurched, but it is still necessary to think in terms of our own zip codes.
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[1] A slightly different version of this article appeared in PreacherStuff a year or so ago. Joel Stephen Williams suggested I submit it to Christian Ministry and Missions.
[2] David Barrett, ed., World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982): 235.
[3] David H.C. Liao, The Unresponsive: Resistant or Neglected? (2nd ed.; Chicago: Moody Press, 1972).
[4] A product of his Western/USA education at Drew and Princeton.
[5] Kosuke Koyama, Water Buffalo Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1974): viii.
[6] Timothy C. Tennent, Theology in the context of World Christianity: how the global church is influencing the way we think about and discuss theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007).
[7] See Art Lindsley, Love, The Ultimate Apologetic, The Heart of Christian Witness (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008); Thom S. Rainer, Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008).
