Introduction
There is only one constant in the world we experience today i. e., ‘change’. If so, “How do Indian Christians cope with the phenomenon of change?”[1] Habitually, Indian society has experienced the changing challenges like, the existence of ideological differences, cultural diversity, new philosophy, conflicting belief systems and new patterns of life-style, which highlight the fact that one of the most significant phenomena the church faces today is pluralism.[2] Therefore, these pose new challenge for the Church in India to wrestle with the change and fulfil her mission in this situation. Here, brief discussion is done on the subject so as to understanding the paradigm shift in the understanding of mission and ministry alongside the new interpretations of the teachings of the Bible in relation to the experience of innocent faithful believers, and to highlight the necessities of new contextual mission model suitable for Indian context.
Definitions
Mission: The traditional definition of mission was advocated by Gustav Warneck (1890s) as, “the total activity of Christendom to plant and organize the Church among Non-Christian”.[3] Gradually, Christians have learned to perceive the positive values in other faiths, understood that the colonial model of imposition of one ideology on all people is no longer feasible which leads to a shift in the conceptual understanding of mission. K. C. Abraham argues that the earlier approach of mission was evangelism and conversion, but with the impact of religious resurgence, nationalism, ecumenism, globalisation and the threat posed by scientific and technological advancement, the boundaries of mission expanded.[4] According to S. J. Samartha, “Mission is continuing activity through the spirit to mend the brokenness of creation to overcome the fragmentation of humanity and to heal rift between humanity, nature and God”.[5] Above all, mission can be best understood from the accent in Jesus’ interpretation of mission in the Nazareth Manifesto (St. Luke 4:18-19). It is on liberation from oppression, removal of all forms of dehumanisation and restoration of justice. Therefore, unequivocally the goal of mission can be interpreted as not simply the conversion of individuals but the transformation of society.
Pluralism: Lesslie Newbigin conceives pluralism as a proper characteristic of the secular society, a society in which there is no officially approved pattern of belief or conduct. In simple, pluralism in a society is the presence of multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-cultural identities and the valuing of all as equal and valid.[6] Pluralism may be classified into four types such as, Empirical Pluralism, Cherished Pluralism, Philosophical Pluralism and Religious Pluralism.[7] The essential to the existence of these pluralisms is toleration of religious pluralism, which is the crux, encompassing all the concepts of the rest. According to Swamy Abhishitananda, “religious pluralism is a gift from God graciously given to humankind...”[8]
The Present Mission Situation and Response from Other Faith
By the end of 19th century Parani Andi, V. S. Azariah, K. C. Banerjee and K. T. Paul claimed Christian liberty to stand aloof from western cultural domination and to reformulate indigenous mission.[9] After the Independence of India, churches were united under CSI in 1947 and CNI in 1970. There were large units of Christian population that remained under separate identities such as the Baptist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Brethren, etc. Later on, NCCI was formed as an alternative unifying agency for cooperative action and representation. The Indigenous missions had a great vision but unfortunately they could not develop into a great movement due to the prevalence of ‘Hegemony of Power’ in the mainstream churches and ‘Hegemony of Charismatic Spirituality’ in the Pentecostal churches.[10]
During this dormant period the aggressive evangelizing mission groups stepped in, to carry out religious, social and humanitarian activities. In many cases the poor low caste Hindus are attracted towards them not truly because of any spiritual motivation but for social and economic betterment. In doing so, though Christians consist of 2.6% of the total Indian population, they could cater 20% of primary education, 10% of all literary and community health care, 25% of all existing care of destitute, and 30% of all handicapped, lepers and AIDS patients.[11]
In 1870s, fervent condemnation of the nations’ religions was countered with a ferment of unprecedented intensity spearheaded by the Socio-Religious Movements – Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, etc. These movements contributed substantially towards the formation of a higher level of consciousness and self-confidence required for responding to the challenge posed by Christianity and modernism.[12] It was in this period (1870s) Hindu fundamentalism had its beginning, though it has been consistently modified.[13]
This Hindutva ideology leaves away the essence of Hinduism by politicizing religion, reducing the religion to fascism, challenging the essence of secularism and claiming the identity of one’s sect. Hindu fundamentalists always allege that Christians are engaged in coercive conversion activities as part of an international conspiracy to colonize India.[14] Some of the citable instances for the fascist attitude of Hindutva ideology in recent time are: The demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6th December 1996; the burning of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons on 23rd January 1999 in Orissa; the killing of Fr. Aruldas and the Godhra carnage in 2002 in Gujarat; the killing of over 500 Christians, the destruction of over 300 villages and displacement of about 60,000 Christians in Kandhamal, Orissa.[15] Obviously, the contemporary India is witnessing inter-religious rivalry and conflict at a level unheard of in its past history.
Three Aspects of Christian Mission in India
There are three main aspects of mission which have to be seriously considered in this multi-religious context of India such as, witness of the Church, theological education, and Church and social responsibility.
(a) Witness of the Church: Some of the features to which Christians seek relevant patterns of witness are fundamentalism, globalisation and awakening of the marginalized people. Firstly, the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 makes the fundamentalist forces assumed a centre-stage role in the socio-political life of the nation. So, the very secular and social fabric of the country is under threat. Secondly, Globalisation has imposed the market as the determining factor and shaped human beings as only customers, at the mercy of the market forces. Under globalisation even Jesus Christ and Christian faith become products to be marketed.[16] Thirdly, As a result of the social reform movements in the late 19th century, there was a marked change in the lives of the marginalized people in their world-view and struggle for survival, especially in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Taking into account the context of India, the Bible needs careful interpretation. While Christians recognize that the mission is to respond creatively to the ‘Great Commission’ (Matthew 28: 18-20), it is also needed to recognize that the mandate is not given in a vacuum, but in a context.[17] Again, the mandate of the church was that, ‘you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1: 8). The early church understood this mandate in relation to Greco-Roman philosophies and cultures, and retained organic link between the faith and the context. However, when the church moved westward, it developed an imperial-expansionistic ethos. Exactly, this is the understanding of mission imparted to the Indian Christians, which requires accurate mandate-context relation. Today, Indian churches need four strategies in order to witness effectively to Christ’s renewing power: First, Christ’s presence in the religio-cultural renaissance of India has to be acknowledged; Secondly, discarding sectarian aspirations, cultural renaissance has to be evaluated with Christ’s Spirit of love, compassion and humility; Thirdly, to present Christ as the source of power that redeems cultures from the powers that do violence and set up walls of partition;[18] Fourthly, Christians, even as they witness, they must listen to the witness of others-“Mutual Witness” as called by Dr. Samartha.
It is appropriate to ask a basic question here: Does the Church still believe in conversion? - or - Is conversion a possibility? Indian Christians have developed their own response to the question - “The Church does not convert, God does and God does not seem to regard this as a high priority...”[19] Ariarajah conceives conversion as truly the work of the Holy Spirit and it is He who converts, not the Church. According to K. C. Abraham, the transformation of a “foreign people,” seen in the ‘Book of Jonah’ where God’s Grace surpasses all understanding underscores transformation a possibility.[20] So, it matters that Christians be attuned to the Spirit in themselves and leaves the matter of transformation or conversion to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
(b) Theological Education: Theological education in India is within the context of education for ministry that attempts to relate theological theory to ministerial practice, however inadequate such attempts may be. This form of education grounded in praxis provides room for non-academic forms of theological reflection.[21] Furthermore, on this view, theological education assumes the role of factory whose job is to manufacture which is of demand by the market (i.e., the Church). It is high time to realize that theological education itself is a form of ministry undertaken within the context of the Church directed by God.[22]
Diana Eck says, “One of the essential tasks of education is engendering the ability to see ourselves in a wider global context. The world is too small and too inter-related for us to stand in one family of faith without any substantial knowledge and appreciation of the ‘others’, and without any inkling of what the ‘others’ think of us”.[23] Much against the above statement, if we look at the pattern of theological education in India, may be for fear of making a religious compromise, study of other religions is oriented towards abstract theoretical way and not grounded in proper dialogical praxis.[24] No doubt, in India there has been a long tradition of inter-religious encounter but few theologians take into account the contemporary dimensions of religions and the question of a Christian response to religious pluralism. Thus far, the effect of inter-faith dialogue on the ministerial formation of the Church in India is minimal.
The relationship between the socio-economic realities and the role of spirituality and religions has received little attention in theological reflection. It is needed to scrutinize the nature, structure and vision of theological education from the pattern of ecclesio-centred to community-centred understanding of mission.[25] There are few development in the course and experiments with the introduction of the course “Modern Religious and Secular Movements in India” as Serampore subject, and Dialogue departments and programmes in United Theological College, Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, Gurukul Theological College, South India Biblical Seminary, etc.[26] However, if only pattern is emphasised by theological education, there will be a never ending process of a revision of curricula or courses or experiments. Therefore, the aims of theological education may be to inculcate the spirit of service with a theology envisioning transformation.[27] Besides, it is also crucial to incorporate Indian heritage rather than the undue and uncritical overdependence on western models and tools of reflection. If the seminaries don’t take the context seriously it will be considerably complicated for the Church to response realistically to the challenges it faces.
(c) Church and Social Responsibility: The idea of responsibility, with the freedom and obligation it implies, has its place in the context of social relations. The biblical witness not only gives a rationale for engaging socially and doing justice but also provides a foundation for understanding the nature of social relationships, and the form and content of the society to which Christians witness (Micah 6: 8; Luke 4: 18). The highest form of social responsibility is the direct demonstration of love of God and neighbour rather than a repetition of the commandment to self and others. The Church meets its social responsibility when it functions as a society, undivided by race, class and community interests. Responsibility is a universal feature of the social life of men, but the content varies with the nature of the society to which humans think of themselves to belong.
There are notable problems prevailing in Indian sub-continent such as the social deprivations of rights, the crisis of poverty and environment, immigration problems, the crave for economic prosperity, lack of proper health care, the threat of a nuclear holocaust and sacrifice of spiritual values in exchange for wealth.[28] It is also appalling to know that out of one billion Indian populations about 400 million people are living below the poverty line.[29] Despite various projects, the situation is becoming worse day by day. This could be due to connivance of the rich donors in choosing the destiny of the poor as per their aspirations and the incapability of the poor to come together in solidarity to take upon themselves the destiny of their own development.
In Christians’ action oriented encounters with people of other faiths, the cementing factor is the shared belief in one God, no matter how this one is perceived. So, the ‘one perception’ must not remain a topic for academic debate but also needs to be translated into common actions.[30] Only then, liberation task can be undertaken for those who are discriminated against in the social, economic and religious spheres in the unjust structure of the world. The Church needs to give a radical response of compassion by engaging in expressing solidarity, fighting for the cause of the poor and stand against injustice towards the marginalized. Wherever such a ministerial attitude is brought to bear on one’s task, there prevails Christ’s ministry even if the task is performed by a non-Christian.[31]
Conclusion
By taking seriously the challenges posed by the pluralistic situation of India a search for new models of Christian mission activities is becoming a pressing need of the time. St. Teresa may be cited as one of the greatest persons devoting her whole life to the service of humankind who work among the most deplorable sections of society irrespective of religion, caste, creed, race, background, etc. under the banner of “Love Till It Hurts”. And also, M. K. Gandhi, even though he wasn’t a member of the literal Christian fold due several reasons, his view on mission could be suggested as an admirable model i. e., live the message of Christ, drop the goal of proselytizing, do not belittle other faiths of the world and adopt the cross as a way of life.[32] Nevertheless, both the indigenous mission strategies adopted by St. Teresa and M. K. Gandhi have their disadvantages to recognize as non-provocative, viable or valid methods, still then, those could be considered as exemplary models of doing Christian mission in Pluralistic context of India. In this fashion, without squeezing God and Christ out of the picture Christian mission may effectively engage in the transformation of the whole society in the changing world.
Gandhi writes, "A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. The fragrance is its own sermon."
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[1] Arvind P. Nirmal, ed., Adventurous Faith and Transforming Vision (Madras: Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, 1989), 13-14.
[2] Pluralism was the identity of the early Church. In the Semitic world, the Babylonians, Canaanites, Israelites and others were following their own belief. For instance, Baalism and Yahwism co-existed. In the Greco-Roman context, Gnosticism, Epicureanism, Mithraism, Eleusian cult and Emperor Worship co-existed. See M. Stephen, A New Mission Agenda-Dialogue, Diakonia and Discipling (Delhi: ISPCK, 2007), 1.
[7] Empirical Pluralism refers simply to the fact that there exists plurality in our society; Cherished Pluralism is that which celebrates the reality of empirical pluralism; Philosophical pluralism is the denial that any particular ideological view is superior to other; Religious pluralism views all religious beliefs are equally valid. See Donald M. MacDonald, “The Church’s Mission in a Pluralistic Society.” The Free Church College Session, 1998-1999 - Opening Lecture Manuscript, http://www.freechurch.org/resources/lectures/pluralistic.htm (20 July 2011).
[9] The National Church of Madras (1886), the Christo Samaj of Calcutta (1887), the Marthoma Evangelical Association of Kerala (1888), the Hindu Church of the Lord Jesus in Tirunnevelly (1903), the National Missionary Society and the Christian Ashram Movement were the attempts to create indigenous missions. See Siga Arles, Missiological Education: An Indian Exploration (Bangalore: Centre for Contemporary Christianity, 2006), 51; C. B. Firth, An Introduction to Indian Church History (New Delhi: ISPCK, 1998), 254.
[14] In 1954, the M. P. Govt. appointed the Christian Missionary Activities Inquiry Committee called Niyogi Commission. In 1956 the report said that solidarity of society was disrupted by conversion, which was not prompted by spiritual motives but was a policy to re-establish western supremacy. Thenceforth, the issue of anti-conversion becomes an ongoing malaise till date for minority groups but not necessarily for Hinduism (emphasis added). See Blaise Levai, The Role of Missions on Present Day India (Madras: CLS, 1957), 276.
[21] J. Paul Rajashekar, “Theological Education in a Pluralistic Context: An Overall Assessment,” in Ministerial Formation in a Multifaith Milieu: Implications of Interfaith Dialogue for Theological Education, edited by Sam Amirtham and S. Wesley Ariarajah (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986), 106-107.
[32] Mathew Thomas, “Christian Missions in the Pluralistic Context of India.” School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam – Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Thesis, http://mgutheses.in/png/T%201599/T%201599.pdf (21 July 2011).
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