Here's the thing: sometimes I
don't think evangelism is the best move.
The Great Commission, yeah, but
at what cost?
Disclaimer: my musings may stray
into the heretical, but Jesus loves me so, y'know, if you love Jesus then you
should also love me. Especially as Jesus and I share a hairstyle, just
sayin'...
I'm from Oxfordshire and go to
university in Exeter, my existence has been exposed to as much diversity as a
meeting of the English Defence League. I'm not going to get all
pretentious-Emma Thompson about this and condemn this, it's just one of those
things from the areas of the UK where I've spent the most time: they're
basically white and Christianised. This isn't the case in Ottawa, and
particularly not at the University of Ottawa. Here it's a perfect example of
that 1960s Multiculturalism Act and Mosaic-thing Canada's got going on.
Different creeds, colours, cultures - it's all very exciting to be around. Not
in a weird way, but just in a meeting new people is really super fun way.
Anyway, last semester I took a
class called Introduction to Aboriginal Societies and Cultures, which was
humbling and heart-breaking in equal measures. It was taught by a Wendat First
Nations, a group history calls the Hurons, because history isn't on the side of
the losers. My professor had grown up on a poverty-stricken reservation and saw
his family member's descent into devastating alcohol abuse. In his book, he
recounts being taught history at school, by a white woman, who taught my
professor, a child, that he was from a savage people, that the people who put
his ancestors of reservations were doing it to humanise them. Disgusting, eh?
And as past readers will know,
this year I've studied in detail about Colonial interactions with First
Nations, in particular, I've looked at Catherine Tekakwitha. Catherine,
sometimes known as Kateri, was canonised last October, which is funny, because she
ain't that Catholic if you actually look into it. Anyway...the thing that has
been weighing heavily on my mind is, should Christians really be evangelising
to First Nations?
Don't get me wrong, because of
the whole colonialism thing, there are a lot of First Nations Christians; when
I was at Akwesasne the church was a prominent fixture and our guide informed us
it was well-attended each Sunday. But what I'm thinking is, should christianity
recognise its role in the decimation of a culture and keep the theology away
from its mission with that culture? I'm not saying that Christians shouldn't
not be concerned with First Nations. In fact, as we're called to love the last,
the least and the lost, for Canadian Christians those people are right down the
road. What I'm saying is, should we keep Jesus in our hearts when helping out
First Nations?
'Cause really, how does the
evangelism conversation go?
"Hey, so I know it was
Christians who stole your land and wiped you out with European diseases and
called you savages. And I know it was Christians who forced you onto
reservations and introduced you to alcohol. And I know it was Christians who
took your children away from their families and banned them from speaking their
languages and raped them and covered up their deaths from TB by burying them in
mass graves. BUT, we're Christians and we think Jesus can help you. Oh and by
the way, alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling is your fault and it's a sin so
stop it.
Yep, because Jesus was a lot of
help to the First Nations. Did any of those residential school priests read the
gospels?
I want to take away your pain, I
don't want to steal your culture.
My great-grandad was a
missionary to the Cree of Alberta and the Lakota of North Dakota. I'm reliably
informed that he was a babe about it. He didn't go out to convert, he went out
to heal. And I think that is where Christians sometimes mess up.
Jesus had the knack of
evangelism. He left the Christian jargon at home, along with the obnoxious
gospel tracts, and went and saved people. Woman at the well: here's water, but
the husband thing? Not that great. Woman being stoned: bugger off (I'm
paraphrasing) you stone throwers, but babe, don't sin anymore. Dude on mat: I
know what you really need healing from.
You see? I firmly believe
evangelism starts with the person. Don't set out to convert, set out to see
someone's heart the way God sees it. We all need saving and Jesus is the only
one who can do it but if we turn mission into a military operation then we lose
sight of what we're doing and who we're doing it for.
Look for who you can help rather
than how many you can help. That's where the Kingdom began. It began with Jesus
choosing just 12 to heal and who then used 11 (sorry Judas) to choose their 12
who chose their 12 and so on and so forth.
A nation isn't saved if one
heart isn't healed.
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