I’ve been on a bit of a quest of late. After almost twenty years of missionary service in Japan, I’m rethinking about contexulization. This journey began when I started getting more opportunities to preach, and found myself falling back on the same old explanations and illustrations for the Gospel, stuff that, on reflection, is very much a product of Western Christianity and may not resonate with Japanese listeners, especially those not already familiar with Christianity.
So I’ve been doing a lot of reading, looking for fresh ways to express the Gospel in a Japanese context. I thought I’d share some of what I’m reading about here on the blog, as I way to be more intentional about processing and retaining what I’m learning, not just reading.
First up: The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures, by Jayson Georges.
The 3D Gospel was on my Amazon wish list for a long time, having been recommended to me by a fellow missionary a few years ago. I finally bought it last year, and read it twice because it was a such a short but impactful book. I wish I’d read it a long time ago, and would highly recommend it for Western Christians ministering in non-Western contexts. In fact, if I have any say, it will be required reading for new members of our team at GP Japan.
Actually, even if you’re not doing cross-cultural missions work, I think The 3D Gospel is worth reading, because it will expand your understanding and deepen your appreciation of what Jesus accomplished through his incarnation, death and resurrection. It’s literally changed how I read Scripture, making me see things that were there all along but I hadn’t noticed or thought about before.
So what’s it about? I’ll let Amazon’s description tell you:
To enhance your ministry among the nations, learn how the Bible speaks to cultures of guilt, shame, and fear. Western theology emphasizes forgiveness of sins, but people in the Majority World seek honor or spiritual power. In today’s globalized world, Christians need a three-dimensional gospel of God’s innocence, honor, and power. Is your gospel 3D?
Japan is widely known to be a honour-shame culture. But I can also see power-fear dynamics at play in the Shinto-Buddhist traditions of Japan. This book has been helpful in understanding more clearly what these cultural characteristics mean, while also showing me how the Bible speaks to them.
Here’s some of what the author has to say about these different kinds of cultures (emphasis mine):
“Removing shame requires more than forgiveness. Shame produces feelings of humiliation, disapproval, and abandonment. Shame means inadequacy of the entire person. While guilt says, ‘I made a mistake’; shame says, ‘I am a mistake.’ (p. 23)
“Also, cultural expressions of honor and shame can appear contradictory. For example, Middle Eastern cultures aggressively compete for honor. Conflict is viewed as win-lose or lose-win. So they may resort to honor killings or even terrorism to avoid shame and restore honor. But far Eastern cultures, such as Japan and Korea, strive for harmony. Conflict is a win-win or lose-lose game. So East Asians respond to shame by withdrawing or even committing suicide. Though the outward expressions contrast, both cultural blocs are deeply rooted in shame-honor values.” (p. 24)
“In fear-based cultures, it is not important to genuinely believe in certain truths or follow ethical standards. Rather, methods that placate the spiritual powers define acceptable human behavior.” (p. 25)
“The moral logic of fear-power cultures says: do something in the seen world to manipulate the unseen world into helping you.” (p. 26)
And a word about how the Word, especially the Gospel, speaks to ALL of these cultures:
“In Acts 26:18, Paul describes his mission to the Gentiles in 3D terms—‘to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God (power), so that they might receive the forgiveness of sins (innocence) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith (honor) in Jesus.’” (p. 60)
I could go on, but you should just read the book for yourself. Seriously.
I’m still looking for the perfect Gospel presentation for the Japanese context. But in closing let me leave you with a video Georges recommends, that shows what a contextualized “plan of salvation” might look like in some honour-shame cultures: