Assimulation: Advantage versus Angst

Assimilation can either be advantageous or of great angst to the Gospel. As ministers of the gospel, we are called to preach, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." (2 Timothy 4:1-2). There are avenues in which we can reveal the almighty Savior to different cultures. The process of assimilation is one way, in which a missionary learns the customs, culture, and civilization of a people. One path is what I call the Advantage, in which a minister takes a point of focus in the culture and uses it to point and focus on Christ Jesus. A great example of this is St. Patrick, the famous Irish priest. Patrick saw that the Irish had superstitions involving the water and believed it was connected to the supernatural realm. Patrick decided to share the Gospel through Baptism, telling the Irish that Immanuel, Jesus Christ was "After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17). The Irish were intrigued, Patrick was teaching them the Trinitarian True Gospel, but using the element of water to draw the attention of the Irish people. Cultures have little crossroads like this, where you can take a point of focus and make it point to Jesus Christ. There was an African tribe that believed betrayal and cunning was great, and when a missionary shared the Gospel, these tribe liked Judas the most, thinking he was cunning. The Missionary became dismayed until he learned the Tribe made peace with other tribes through what was called the "peace child." The minister made use of this to tell the Tribe about how Jesus came as Child who is prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6, Ephesians 2:13-14) through growing up and dying on the cross for our sins.

The Advantage approach does not create another gospel, it uses the focus and symbol or element of importance in the culture to draw people to the True Christ. The Angst approach on the other hand mingles the Gospel with other beliefs thus created apostasies and heresies. A man named Francis Xavier represents this type of approach. Xavier went to China, and he was successful in making inroads there, but the problem is that the Gospel he preached had adopted the pagan beliefs mixing them into one, evening combining Savior Christ with Shangdi. Xavier did this because he did not find a crossroad or way to explain Christianity, so he used deity in Chinese Mythology and Religion, but this created another Gospel which if forbidden, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse!" (Galatians 1:8), and "For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily." (2 Corinthians 11:4). .What Xavier should have done is used the Four Elements that the Chinese heralded as sacred and spiritual which are: earth, fire, wind, and water. He could have said of earth, "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?" (Acts 7:49). Of fire he could have said, "for our "God is a consuming fire," (Hebrews 12:29) and "The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire." (Revelation 1:14). Of Wind it could be said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John 3:8). Of Water it could have been said, "Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14). One can also see the Same God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made all four elements, "God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good," (Genesis 1:10), "He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name," (Amos 4:13), and "And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars." (which are fire, Genesis 1:16).

Patrick and Xavier are primes examples of the polar opposite pendulums. Patrick took the local focus and important concepts to point to Christ, as he did with water. When the Irish got saved, they moved on from their old superstitions. Xavier on the other hand created confusion and preached another Christ, "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24). Xavier went too far, mingling the True Messiah with the mysticisms of the unbelievers. Patrick knew that parables work, he did not adopt the pagan traditions, he used what interested the locals and was important to them, in this case water to point to the Living Water who is Christ Jesus. That was as far as it went, he was using something of commonality to create a bridge to Christ, while Xavier went into major apostasy and heresy by combining theologies; combining the One True Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with false gods (not acceptable! Exodus 20:3).

We must be careful when using assimilation, that we are like St. Patrick, using analogies, cultural customs, and ideas to point to Christ, and not become like Francis Xavier who created a false gospel and false Christ. It is fine to use parables, but not to adopt paganisms. We must know the difference, which I have carefully laid out. The Gospel must be preached from the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit. Amen.