Saturday, 19 June 2010

Wadaiko X Black Gospel Fusion

Paul Nethercott over at 'Worship & the Arts' has recently poured his heart out in a post where he writes that the way to be effective at reaching people (in his case the Japanese) for Christ is to follow your God-given passions. He says, 'Now I am making films. Filmmaking is not easy, it is one of the most challenging things I have ever done but it is also a lot of fun and, most importantly, a very effective means of communicating the gospel in Japan.' I think with the video that follows you will be as glad as I that he made that choice. Enjoy.

Wadaiko X Black Gospel Fusion Music Video from Studio Re: on Vimeo.


It made me think again however about how we share the gospel. I was once sent a message with a quote from a book in I think is rather apt:

"We should never have transplanted Christianity to Asia without breaking the pot in which the plant came...a church which has failed to strike roots in Asian soil because no-one dares to break the Greco-Roman pot in which, for centuries, it has been existing like a stunted bonsai."
[Pieris in Bosch, J.B (2009), 'Transforming mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission', New York: Orbis books.]

I believe this to to particularly true in non-hellenistic societies such as Japan but I wonder for a moment to what extent that is true here too. In the UK we are obviously, by nature, hellenistic and therefore the Greco-Roman pot is in theory quite suited. With that said our culture has, and is changing, and unless we adapt to/with/in the culture can we really be suprised when people see church and Christianity as irrelevant? Not that the gospel is in any way to be changed but rather the way we present it. Being in an Anglican church makes one realise the extremely fine line between keeping and benefiting from traditions and scraping them for fresh expressions. I think the video above is a great example of mixing traditions and cultures, and I hope that they see fruit from what they are doing. Perhaps one day we too, in the UK, will find the balance to the glory of God.

Till Next Time!

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3 comments:

  1. Paul Nethercott22 June 2010 at 08:39

    Hi Peter,

    Thanks for embedding the music video in your blog. Where is the excellent quote you have in our text from? This is why we did this music video. I believe that the Gospel is going to have to get a lot more Japanese or few in Japan will receive it.

    Thanks again for the embed. Have a great day!

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  2. Unknown22 June 2010 at 12:02

    Hi Paul,
    thanks for the comment.

    A friend of mine message it to me. It's quoting Pieris in 'Transforming Mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission' by David J. Bosch (Orbis books, maryknoll, New york, 2009 ed.) Page 478

    Sorry for the poor referencing but I'm rather out of practice. I think I'll have to look up how to do it properly again before editing the post.

    Ironically the more I study internation mission from a western perspective the more jaded I become about mission organisations and more convinced that one should just move, get a job and inculturate themselves. From there ones evangelism will be more effective.

    Looking forward to future posts from you as they never fail to be intersting and to see more of your vids.

    Korekaramo gambatte kudasai.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Paul Nethercott22 August 2010 at 17:12

    Peter I am going to post the Bosch quote on facebook, if you want to find me there look for me as "Paul Nethercott" one of my networks is "Judson University."

    ReplyDelete

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