How Pure is my Gospel?
The longer I am here in the Congo, the more I'm thinking about syncretism. It's a huge problem. But it's nothing new.
Syncretism is a blending of Christian beliefs with other beliefs or practices into a new reality. The question of where contextualization ends and syncretism begins is not always an easy one to distinguish.
What we do see in God's Word is the zero tolerance He has for it! Today I read in Deut. 12:1-7 where God told His people that they, on the one hand, needed to "diligently observe" his "statutes and ordinances". Then He went on to say "You must demolish completely all the places where the nations...served their gods...break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places." God left nothing to their imagination; He was 100% explicit that it must be Him and nothing else. Nothing less is acceptable.
It's true that here syncretism can be seen in fetisches, in tribalism, in jealousy, poisonings and curses - all sometimes practised by those called Christians. But it is no less true that in our Western culture we sometimes gladly allow the gospel and greed, prosperity, workaholism, pornography, slander, gossip and gluttony and somehow think we're still ok.
God, open our eyes to see clearly the pure gospel of your Kingdom where you reign supreme in our lives, churches and cultures.
Syncretism is a blending of Christian beliefs with other beliefs or practices into a new reality. The question of where contextualization ends and syncretism begins is not always an easy one to distinguish.
What we do see in God's Word is the zero tolerance He has for it! Today I read in Deut. 12:1-7 where God told His people that they, on the one hand, needed to "diligently observe" his "statutes and ordinances". Then He went on to say "You must demolish completely all the places where the nations...served their gods...break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places." God left nothing to their imagination; He was 100% explicit that it must be Him and nothing else. Nothing less is acceptable.
It's true that here syncretism can be seen in fetisches, in tribalism, in jealousy, poisonings and curses - all sometimes practised by those called Christians. But it is no less true that in our Western culture we sometimes gladly allow the gospel and greed, prosperity, workaholism, pornography, slander, gossip and gluttony and somehow think we're still ok.
God, open our eyes to see clearly the pure gospel of your Kingdom where you reign supreme in our lives, churches and cultures.
So true. We Western Christians have our own type of willful "blind spots." I never realized it so much until we worked in Africa. The experience was humbling but good in that I recognized some things I needed to change. Thanks for the reminder today.
ReplyDeleteBless you in your work there!
Linda