{"id":1109,"date":"2012-10-04T14:38:03","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T14:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/the-christ-of-the-indian-road\/"},"modified":"2012-10-04T14:38:03","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T14:38:03","slug":"the-christ-of-the-indian-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-christ-of-the-indian-road\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christ of the Indian Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the fact that India has had two millennia of Christian witness, and that coupled with the fact that Hinduism is openly inclusive, the Gospel has not taken roots in the heart of its people. Christians in every generation have continued to ask the question \u201cwhy\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0That still remains one of the biggest challenges for leadership today.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tools for Theology as Grenz and Olson explain \u2018Who Needs Theology\u2019 are the Bible, Heritage and contemporary culture.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Robust Christian theology is a healthy combination of these. It makes theology relevant.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0This explains a bit of the dynamics involved in the rejection of the Gospel for centuries in India.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Christian theology has come to India of course with a very strong emphasis on the Bible, but with a lot of Western Christian Heritage and has provided little or no room for cultural interpretation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Islam first came to India, it demanded that everything social, cultural and religious of the past had to be wiped clean.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>In its place the decrees of Mohammed had to be forcefully imbedded. Hinduism vehemently defended its stand against Islam.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0The question must be asked and honestly answered.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Does Jesus make those same claims?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It cannot be denied that early Missions and even the Church today make this demand and convey this mindset.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The Christian Faith is identified more with Western culture and coloring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It has been presented in a way that is quite alien to the Indian heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Along with this reality, it has come packaged in theological systems and denominational boxes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two fold challenge that I face as a Christian leader now as the indigenous church grows in this part of the world:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0To find ways to help the Church understand the importance of embracing the difference between Dogma, Doctrine and opinion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Right now all Christian teaching is considered Dogma and theology is perceived as being divisive.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Once the difference is recognized, unity based on dogma, and the diversity in doctrine and opinion within God\u2019s Household can be affirmed and accepted.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0That by itself will be a great witness to the community around.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0The world will hear and understand the words of Jesus: \u201cBy this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love for one another\u201d(Jn 13:35 NIV)<\/p>\n

\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I see the need for more theological reflection that includes the Indian culture in our context. A theology that is more culturally friendly must emerge, of course without compromising the message of the Gospel. \u00a0The growing body of lay believers must be nurtured and brought out from the comforts of popular \u2018folk theology\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0They need to be taken to a level of \u2018lay theology\u2019 as differentiated and defined by Grenz and Olson.\u00a0 Another tier of leadership needs to be theologically equipped at a \u2018ministerial\u2019 level with the skills to critically reflect, to shepherd and guide.\u00a0 These measures will be critical not only for the spiritual health and sustained growth of the indigenous church. They will also create avenues for the Indian people to see, befriend and walk with the \u201cChrist of the Indian Road\u201d.\u00a0(Jones 1925)<\/p>\n

Jones, E. Stanley.\u00a0<\/span>The Christ of the Indian Road.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>New York, New York: Grossat and Dunlap Publishers,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>1925.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the fact that India has had two millennia of Christian witness, and that coupled with the fact that Hinduism is openly inclusive, the Gospel has not taken roots in the heart of its people. Christians in every generation have continued to ask the question \u201cwhy\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That still remains one of the biggest challenges for leadership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,198,432],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-grenz","tag-z46","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}