Who is farther from God ?

Who is farther from God, the Australian aborigine animist in the bush wearing a loincloth or the Parisian positivist on the Riviera wearing a monokini?



This is the introduction to the last set of entries in the series, “religious smoke, philosophical mirrors and cultural incandescence.” I have blogged on these subjects in order to:
Explain some of the dynamics of mission in Europe.
Question: “Why is evangelism and church planting slower in Europe than elsewhere?”

Answer: the Crusades, the Inquisition and atheistic philosophy have created a culture that conditions Europeans to have an allergic reaction to the gospel.

Explain contextualization.
Question: “Why don’t apostles (‘sent ones’ / cross-cultural missioners) to Europe just use proven American methods to share the gospel and plant churches?”
Answer: The role of the missioner in any culture is to share Jesus and his riches using local language, expressions, thought forms and behavior, not foreign ones (Eph. 3:8-9).

I therefore encourage the GBIM team to act and speak in a way that will cause Europeans to ask the question to which Jesus is the answer.

For example, Paul knew how to talk and behave as an “outlaw” (anomos — one without law 1 Cor. 9:21), while remaining scrupulously careful not to sin. And with unrighteous clergy, the apostle-as-chameleon became convincingly religious in order to win them to Christ.

Affirm that the need for missioners to Europe is real.
Question (a person in a Grace Brethren church asked me this): “Why are you a missionary to France, they are all Christians aren’t they?”

Answer: 1 out of 3 Americans claims to be evangelical. 1 out of 250 French people claims to be evangelical. Europe needs missioners who incarnate and articulate the good news of Christ.

Suggest that the lessons that apostles to Europe are learning could prove valuable to believers in the United States. I often receive the comment, “Yes, it is like that here (in the U.S.) too.” Well, not really, but there are similarities and we can practice cross-pollination, learning from one another.

Remind that prayer is utterly essential. I request your prayers for Europeans, that they would see the glorious light of the gospel of Christ and not be blinded by religious carnage, atheistic philosophy and the incandescence of their culture. More about that soon…

Question: So what about the aborigine and the Parisian?

Answer 1: Arguably the aborigine animist is farther from God if the light of the gospel has never reached him. Apostles need to take the gospel to him.

Answer 2: Arguably the Parisian positivist is farther from God because, unlike aborigine, s/he believes neither in God nor gods. Religious carnage, atheistic philosophy and high civilization have blinded her/him from sensing her/his need for Christ.
By the way, 22% of the detribalized aborigines of Australia are evangelical; only 0.4% of the French people group is evangelical. (see http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php).