WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

48 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
BIBLICAL FREEDOM
The missionary and the group believe they have Scriptural support for
this type of ministry. The Psalms abound with commands to praise the Lord
with vocal and instrumental music. 11 David exemplifies the use of the arts to
glorify God. He composed psalms which were lyrics for hymns. Psalm 57 for
example was sung to the Hebrew tune “Altaschith”. He also danced before the
Lord and, with all the people, shouted with joy and the sound of trumpets was
heard (2 Samuel 6:14,15).
A warning, however, is implied in Genesis 4:21. God destroyed the
Canaanite civilisation because, among other reasons, they used their cultural
achievements to defy God instead of being dedicated to God’s glory.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul was willing to adapt, and
expressed his freedom to experiment in reaching specific people groups
(1 Corinthians 9:19-23). As mentioned earlier, he also quoted a Cretan and a
Cilician poet (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12).
AN ASSESSMENT OF JAVANESE CONTEXTUALISATION
In Java’s history, some missionaries to the Javanese have freely utilised
Javanese cultural forms to spread their faith.
Christian missionaries in general have almost unanimously rejected the
use of cultural forms. The few notable exceptions that did succeed in penetrating
Javanese culture with the Gospel have been largely ignored. 12
One obvious danger of a contextualised ministry is syncretism. The
Javanese tendency to assimilate mutually contradictory beliefs is seen in their
history. To their ancient animism, they added Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam
before Christianity arrived.
The questions are: how can new believers in Christ be kept from adding
just “one more layer” to their syncretistic beliefs, especially when music and
drama forms from these other layers are being used to present the Gospel? Is it
right to use Aji Saka to represent Christ since he was probably a Hindu Brahmin?
The answers lie in guarding themselves from this danger by being saturated in
God’s Word. Every concept must be evaluated in the light of Scripture.
Another danger is Satanic influence. Javanese arts are heavily influenced
by evil spirits. Many actors, dancers and musicians make pilgrimages to seek
supernatural assistance at the graves of famous performers. They also ask dukun13 11 Psalm 33:1-3; 92:1-3; 98:4-6; 149:1-5
12 Avery T. Willis (1977), “Indonesian Revival - Wh y Two Million Came to Christ”, William Carey Library. C. Guillot, Kiai Sadrach
(1981), “Riwayat Kristenisasi di Jawa”, Jakarta: Grafiti Pers..For failure to contextualise, see Dr Hendrick Kraemer (1958), “From
Mission Field to Independent Church”, The Hague: Boekencentrum.
13 Animist witch doctor, capable of performing most of the practices forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10,11.