Attractional Model for Missions: Help or Hindrance?

(Response from comment of last blog)

The question of uni-cultural (new word for me) activities for missions and how effective they are is an on-going discussion with no end in sight. Hand-bell presentations, puppet shows, street theater mime acts, and even prayer walks are all benign ministry, which means it probably doesn’t hurt anyone but also may not be of any effect. I’d guess that nearly 90% of short-term missions fall into the category of benign uni-cultural activity though presented through a mono-cultural western form. The primary justification for uni-cultural ministry is that it draws a crowd for people to hear the gospel.

When I was working in Kenya, a university choral team wanted to visit our work and put on a performance as part of their mission trip. The theory was if they put on a concert many locals would come and hear the message of Christ. I still smile when I think of a bunch of white college students in matching outfits singing in front of half-naked Africans. I politely declined their offer and they were offended that I had denied them the opportunity to serve Christ (and take pictures) in the bush of Kenya.

In northwest Arkansas, where my family lives, it is said, factitiously, there are more Christians living in the area than there are people. Literally millions of dollars is spent every year by churches in the area, through building projects, church programs (children, youth outreach), concerts, etc., to attract people to their brand of Christianity. The competition for souls (not lost, just unaffiliated) is fierce. The congregation that has the better show wins and bragging rights on how God is blessing their ministry. The attractional model is costly, but is it effective?

Did Jesus use the attractional model? He certainly did draw attention as His fame of healing spread throughout Judea. The blind man who received his sight, the lame who threw away his crutches and walked, were all drawn by the attraction of the man from Nazareth and healing power. Though He drew crowds of thousands, Jesus did not use attraction as a method for ministry. In fact, He often told those He healed to tell no one. In the end, Jesus died alone at Calvary. When the curtain came down, the lights dimmed and the benefit of His presence turned to a detriment of being identified with Him, the crowds scattered.

After the hand-bells are put back in the box, the makeup is wiped off the face of the mime the only one left on the scene is the national pastor or cross-cultural missionary to either follow-up or clean up the short-term act. Benign uni-cultural missions are like rice cakes; it won’t hurt you, but it does little to build up the body.

The Life Of A Non-Resident Missionary

And so another journey begins for Blue Passport. Seven weeks, thirty thousand miles, twelve time zones and three countries. Along with the travel I will teach at least 120 hours before nearly 100 people including cross-cultural church planters assembling in Hyderabad, MA students in Bangalore and one student from Denver, Colorado. I will enjoy, briefly, New Delhi where we lived for four years, Indian village life, the halls of academia and a conference with world Christian leaders in Thailand. I will miss my wife’s milestone birthday October 5th (I won’t tell you her age, but you can write her by sending a message to Sandralewis2@gmail.com), and, thankfully, the presidential campaign and election (though I’ve already cast my absentee ballot). I will also miss, regretfully, moving my aged parents off their farm of 33 years into assisted living.

And why do I go through all of this? So that I can communicate the importance of taking the message of Christ cross-culturally to those who have never heard. My appreciation to all those who support us financially and through prayer.

Respect For The Book

The other day in an American church the worship leader paused between songs to read a passage of Scripture. What I noticed was that he had laid his Bible on the floor behind him and picked it up to read. A guy across the aisle had placed his Bible on the floor, under his chair. I was reminded how offensive it is in another culture to disrespect the Book.

I first became aware of the “sacredness” of Scripture in the early ‘90’s while working in Russia. Books, all books, were considered a prized possession and therefore handled with esteem. To write in, make notes, underline in a book is highly offensive, and of course, one NEVER places a book, certainly not the Bible, on the floor. The ground is “profane” space, where one puts their shoes, certainly not a Bible.

What is it about our culture that we have become so careless with little regard for fashion, music or literature? I am aware the Book is just a book and does not hold particular spiritual powers. Nevertheless, it seems to me that perhaps we would have more respect for God’s Word if they weren’t thrown in the trunk of our cars or tossed in the corner of our homes. A word to short-term teams going overseas -- hold your Bibles in your hands, place them on your laps, don’t throw them on the floor.

Culture As Commodity and Short-Term Missions

In the August edition of American Ethnologist is an article entitled, Sharing Culture or Selling Out? The author looks at the tourist industry in general and Alaskan tourism among the Native-American Tlingit people in particular.

Tourism is big business for many countries, especially for developing countries and indigenous people. For the Tlingit, the summer Alaskan cruises provide tourist dollars and cash income that fishing cannot compete with, and a whole lot less work. But with every boon there is a bane. “Tourism is commercialized hospitality” (p 384) and while the tour guide provides the visitor with a look into the past, in the process he chips away at culture present and the demise of culture future. Of course culture change is inevitable, and perhaps one function of sharing culture is preserving its memory as well.

For a tour to be successful it must follow a certain script, a “tourist formula.” The tourist formula includes: “the greeting, the guide, demonstrated use of the heritage language, traditional architecture, a performance, a gift shop or souvenirs or sale, and often, demonstrations of traditional Native crafts” (p 385). The better one can master the formula the more successful the selling of culture as a commodity.

As I read the article on the selling of culture and the “tourist formula,” it reminded me of some short-term mission projects I know. The idea that, “Culture itself must be simplified for tourist consumption,” and “For [culture] to be marketed and sold, culture must be packaged according to consumers desires” (p 387) is true for many Christian/mission tour ventures. While the goal of short-term missions is certainly more commendable than secular tourism, if not careful, the promotion of missions can be commercial selling of culture and faith as well.

Forced Reconversion

I continue to receive news from my friends and former students about the troubles in the state of Orissa. One of my students wrote that his brother was killed and their house was destroyed. Another church planter wrote to tell me his house was burned and that his family is now hiding in the forest. This morning I received this news:

Forceful Reconversion Carries on ; 
Supreme Court Raps State, Asks to Submit Report 


Hindu mobs led by fundamentalists are roaming in the whole of Kandhamal district & threatening the Christians to reconvert or else face death. Yesterday 5 families were forcefully reconverted, against their will, to Hinduism in Adaskupa in Kandhamal.

The Court further directed the Orissa Government to place a report of steps taken to protect lives of people in riot-hit Kandhamal district. "The court wanted to know what the state government was doing to protect the lives of people belonging to the Christian community," the court official said.

The religious fanaticism, which started on the night of August 23, has drawn strong condemnation from the international community. 



In a letter sent to the Bishop Joel Mal, Moderator of North India, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, called for an end to the violence and urged Christians elsewhere to show their support for the Christian community in Orissa. 

"I hope that Christians and people of faith around the world will make known their horror at this violence, their support for the rebuilding of lives and the churches, orphanages and schools destroyed, and for work towards future reconciliation," he said.

EFI has compiled a comprehensive list of database with assistance from Archbishop's House Bhubaneswar, John Dayal, Christian Legal Association, Light Foundation and EFI News reporters and other sources, which can be found at Orissa Christian Persecution Fact Finding Report.

The next potential problem is the proposed yatra that is scheduled for tomorrow, September 6, in Bhubneshwar, carrying the ashes of slain leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.

Communicating The Gospel: Retelling The Story

As many of you know who read my blog, my passion is cross-cultural communication. To those who do not live in the world of missions it’s hard to grasp the importance of studying culture as it relates to communicating the Gospel. A focused study of culture should not only be a pre-field endeavor but an on-going pursuit as well.

Terry Muck, in a 2004 article entitled, “What Does It Mean to Do Theology Missiologically?” (Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XXII, No.1 January: 3-4), quotes Curtis Chang who gives a simple, yet profound, three-fold step in presenting the Gospel cross-culturally.

"First, ….that people must enter into the STORY OF THE CULTURE in which they are communicating the gospel. This means understanding its thought forms and then using those thought forms and especially the language of that culture to understand their paradigmatic stories."

Too often cross-cultural workers seek ways to invite people of other beliefs into their own stories of creation, forgiveness, eternity, without yet understanding the host cultures story. When we understand their concepts and, more importantly, the way they express those concepts, we will be better equipped to enter into meaningful dialogue.

"Second, the missiological theologian 'retells' the story. 'Retelling' does not mean 'stealing' the story for one's own. It means to emphatically understanding it to the extent that identification occurs with the people indigenous to that culture. It means that one can use the language and thought forms of that culture to communicate one's own ideas."

For example, Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet of God (Allah). Is it not reasonable that a cross-cultural communicator can retell the story of this great prophet as a prelude to discussing His uniqueness to that One true living God? This concept of retelling the story then leads to Chang’s concluding argument.

"The third stage, capturing the story, means that we ADD GOSPEL VALUE to the story so that the story is not countered but enhanced--or even transformed. INSTEAD OF SAYING, ‘NO,’ TO THEIR STORY, THE MISSIONARY THEOLOGIAN SAYS, ‘YES, BUT...YES, BUT HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF THIS?’" [emphasis mine]

Too often we bring a halt to the discussion before we begin. By understanding their story, retelling the story using their language and thoughts, we can own their story, without compromising ours. This approach is a natural bridge in retelling the story that may be similar, yet critically different.

I find that many of my students, and even many readers, are so terrified of compromising the truth of the Gospel that they fail to see they importance of first learning their story. We can only truly contend for the faith when we understand the argument.