Jun 04, 2010
Syncretism, Separatism and Being Missional
Posted by Mitch Sliwa in Mission | Comments (3)
In every situation or argument there is a pendulum that swings to the left and to the right. In most, if not all situations the center is the safest place to be. I am attempting to coin the phrase “ballanced theology” concerning this issue of being towards the center of issues. I would love it if I was in the center of every issue and I never got imballanced in my own beliefs. I know this is impossible, and that I will invariably be inconsistent in my own beliefs at one point or another but I am still striving to remain in the center. Allow me to explain with an example of what I mean.
Some people will argue that as Christians we should separate from the culture in every way possible. I will call this bunker Christianity. This takes form when Christians pull out of the world in every way. Avoiding public schools, bars, politics, non-christian people, listening to “non-christian” music (if there is such a thing) and even avoiding non-christian colleges. I am not arguing that a Christian must be involved in all of these areas but my point is that some will remove themselves from anything that doesn’t have the “Christian” banner over it. This ensures that we have no influence on non-Christians in any way because we have no contact with them. In short, these Christians live in a bunker hidden away and safe from the evil influence of the world and argue that holiness is synonymous with being seperate.
Another group of people will argue that Christians should not avoid non-christian things but also in addition should be tolerant enough to partake in sinful behavior. This group does not just look like the culture in outward appearance but also in the way they live their lives, the things they love and find their greatest joy and identity in such as money, prestige, sex, power and other various things. This group is syncing up with the culture in sinful ways. They are the stark contrast of the bunker Christians and have swung to the extreme opposite of separatism. This happened in Paul’s day when Jewish Christians were afraid of Roman persecution. Instead of remaining pure in their beliefs concerning Jesus they began to sync up with the theology of the Jewish religion which did not include Jesus. For fear of what people would do to them for identifying with Jesus, they abandoned their own beliefs concerning Jesus and began to sync up with the culture around them.
The third group of Christians we will call the missional group. This group does not remain separate from the non-Christians around them but embed into the culture much like Jesus did. In addition to being embedded, they are also careful to avoid being syncretistic in their theology and lifestyle. Jesus would go to to parties with the heathens, drunkards, tax collectors and sinners but would remain unstained by their sin. Jesus would go to parties and drink wine and eat food without being a glutton or a drunkard. Jesus struck the perfect balance between being a separatist concerning sin and a syncretist concerning the culture. Jesus was the perfect missionary because he lived in the culture and was a part of it while still maintaining sinless perfection.
The life of a Christian must be lived on mission as a missionary. The world missional simply means to adopt the posture of a missionary. Believe it or not, if you are a Christian you are a missionary already! You don’t need to hop on a plane and spend thousands of dollars to be a missionary, you can do it at a local coffee shop, bar, shopping mall or any place that people congregate that don’t believe the same thing you do. The most effective missionaries in foreign countries are the ones who speak the same language, dress in the same kinds of clothes, eat the same foods, live in the same kinds of houses and have the same understanding of culture as the people in which they intend to reach. American Christians already have all of these things in common with the people we live with! We are in a very advantageous position to be effective missionaries.
In order to be an effective missionary we must be careful to not avoid culture by living in a bunker of Christian subculture and also avoid syncing up with the beliefs and lifestyles of the culture that are contradictory to the Bible. To “be in the world but not of it” is to obey Jesus prayer in John 17. Jesus prays that the Father would not take them out the world (hiding in a Christian subculture) but to keep them from the world (syncing up with the culture) and its evil ways. Jesus does not wish for us to hide in seclusion but instead to let our light shine in the darkness of a broken and hurting world. How can we love people who don’t know Jesus if we hide in our Christian bunkers giving each other high fives?
Posted by Mitch Sliwa in Mission
