What is Syncretism? Examples of Christian syncretism

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What is syncretism?

I walked into a Buddhist Temple one day in the humid surroundings of the Sri Lankan hills, and I found myself uncomfortable. Was I compromising my beliefs? Should I have stood at the entrance and shouted the words of the gospel of Jesus? Was it ok to be silent and be in awe of the architecture? What was Jesus expecting of me? Was he expecting anything of me at all?

Especially in times of cross-cultural ministry, Christians are faced with difficult questions related to syncretism. Harold Turner says, 'Syncretism arises in the course of presenting Jesus Christ as the sole Lord and Saviour to men of other religions [dare I say women too - my note] living in cultures not moulded by the biblical revelation. By translating the gospel into local languages, and adapting or accommodating to local ideas and customs, these are absorbed into the life of the church. Many such elements have, however, been intimately related to another religion, and it is often difficult to incorporate them without also absorbing their previous religious associations and meanings' (Cited in International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Oct 2009).

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Lets put it in context. You enter a party full of goths, dressed in their black clothing, tattoos, consuming drugs, ear piercings, etc, etc. What extent would you go to reach these people with the life transforming message of Jesus. Now, take away the fact that personally I'm a bald headed geek who shouldn't be seen anywhere remotely close to a place where I'll just embarrass myself... What extent could I go to to interact with this community? Tattoos? Maybe - Christians are divided on this one. Black clothing? Why not? Some conservatives might argue that Jesus is light and therefore we should wear a light purple sweater... What about consuming drugs? Hmm... have we just become syncretistic? I think so.

What about reaching our Islamic friends in an Islamic country? Could I wear the burqa? Is this syncretistic? Does wearing a burqa symbolise that I hold the Islamic faith and therefore undermine my Christian beliefs, or not? Difficult questions. Let me say, wearing a Ned Flanders sweater to Church doesn't make me a Christian. Can I attend a mosque, with the hope 'that I might win some' (as the Apostle Paul puts it), and when everyone bows, I simply pray to Jesus and let them pray to Allah? Is this syncretistic or a radical incarnational model of ministry in order to reach a Muslim brother with the gospel? I'm not intending to prescribe answers here, I just want to get people thinking about their beliefs and how far they would/would not go for Jesus' sake.

Syncretism - A concept the cross-cultural missionary is faced with on a day to day basis.

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Reclaiming the Humanity of Jesus

A new book from Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost is called ReJesus. It is talking about the need to Re-Jesus the church; to reclaim a clear understanding of who Jesus is, and what his role in creation is. Its really a book on Christology, which they say is, 'the study and examination of the entire phenomenon of Jesus, including his person and work and teachings, for the purpose of determining in what ways the various elements of his life and activity can be emulated by sinful human beings'.

They argue about reclaiming the humanity of Jesus. Salvation Army Doctrine number 4 says, 'We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.' Like many theological discussions, it is about balance. When we overemphasise the divinity of Jesus, we find it harder to relate to a Jesus that ate, was tempted, got tired, and wept. The preacher's cry then to become like Jesus seems too high to ever reach. When we over emphasise the humanity of Jesus we down play the salvific act of the death and resurrection of Jesus, which by grace, through faith will give us life eternal. It's about balance.

Jesus is someone who we can follow after, who we can emulate with our life (even now), and someone we can relate to. He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus was no less than a revolutionary, who turned the world upside down, and had 20,000,000 followers in three hundred years. Not bad. I could only hope a couple more people read this blog :)

Christology is exciting and adventurous, as you explore the radical Jesus of the Gospels and delve deeper into the truth of who he really is... Share

The Age: Australians not so sceptical about Jesus

Australians not so sceptical about Jesus, survey finds
Barney Zwartz - The Age - April 7, 2009

MORE than four in 10 Australians who don't consider themselves "born again" nevertheless believe Jesus rose from the dead, while one in 10 doesn't believe he even existed.
These are two of the surprising results from an independent survey of 2500 Australians, according to noted author and church historian John Dickson, co-director of the Centre for Public Christianity in Sydney.

The survey, to be released today, showed that 42 per cent of Australians believe Jesus had divine powers and 54 per cent believe he rose from the dead.

But even among those who do not identify as born again, 45 per cent believe in the resurrection. Dr Dickson said this certainly included agnostics and secularists because the total was far higher than the remaining Christians surveyed.

"We are staggered. We thought the survey would show the profound scepticism of Australians," he said.

"Instead it shows there is a base-level assumption among the Australian public that accepts the Jesus story even if it has no relevance to their lives."

He said the survey wanted to explore the understanding of non-churchgoers, so the results were produced from those who were non-religious, or from another religion, or who loosely identified with Christianity.

Other odd findings included that 31 per cent of Australians believe Jesus lived BC (that is, "before Christ", or before he was born) and that 57 per cent knew Easter was connected with the death of Jesus but a far higher 87 per cent of Australians knew it concerned the resurrection. What the missing 30 per cent thought the resurrection meant, if not rising from the dead, was not explored. Another 4 per cent confused Easter with Christmas (and Jesus' birth).

Reassuringly, 90 per cent of non-born-agains identified Jesus with Christianity rather than other religions, and 60 per cent knew his life was recorded in the New Testament.

Asked was Jesus a real figure, 11 per cent of non-born-agains said no, 39 per cent said yes but without divine powers, and 50 per cent said yes and he had divine powers. Share

Fix your thoughts on Jesus

'In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?' (From Alan Hirsch and Mike Frost's new book - 'ReJesus', p.5)
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From Philip Yancey, 'One day miracles seemed to flow out of Jesus; the next day his power was blocked by people's lack of faith. One day he talked in detail of the Second Coming; another, he knew neither the day nor hour. He fled from arrest at one point and marched inexorably toward it at another. He spoke eloquently about peacemaking, then told his disciples to procure swords. His extravagant claims about himself kept him at the center of controversy, but when he did something truly miraculous he tended to hush it up.' (The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 23). This idea of Christology - understanding who Jesus is, his actions, how it affects us, etc, is simple yet complex. Start with the Gospels.
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"He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me, along life's narrow way. He lives, he lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know he lives? He lives... within my heart" (SASB 334).
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'Therefore, holy people, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess' (Heb 3:1). Share