Today’s subject is a follow-up
to that of Post 100, but Isaiah 56 intruded—for a valid, though not necessary,
reason. Consider it an extra gift, even if an intrusion. So, in view of their
related subjects this one is really the follow-up to Post 100.
At the beginning of Post
100…. 100? Wow, that’s worth a
celebration for me. I have started three other blogs at different times and
never made it up to a hundred. In fact, I always stopped—perhaps “dropped” is a
better word here--far short of it. I was always preoccupied with major writing
projects that squeezed out any time I thought I had for blogs. So, I would simply drop them by not
publishing any more posts. But they are
still there and people are still accessing them. One of these days, I should
summarize what each was/is about. This time I was able to stick with it and
made it up to 100, 101 in fact! No, with the last intrusion, 102!—the very one
you’re reading right now. I’m proud of myself for having made it thus far and,
not the least, grateful to God for giving me the stamina to carry it through.
The reason for the current
situation is that I have no more major writing projects going that require a
lot of serious research, energy and time. So, now I can relax a little and have
more time for writing posts. Now this
is one of my major writing projects. So,
celebrate? Yes, by all means. Treat yourself to a McDonald double cheese. You won’t be out much! If you find yourself in my neighbourhood, I
will even buy you one. Now, how’s that for generosity? Do I sound like a Dutchman? Of course, if a
McDonald double cheese is not your kind of thing, I’m not sure where we’d go. I
can’t afford more than $1.85 or so per reader! And then only if you don’t all
come at once!
That said, back to Post 100.
I wrote there that I would write about conversion in both Christianity and Islam, but ended up writing only
about Islam’s view, Nigerian Islam, to be more specific. Some people,
especially Asian and Arab Muslims, apparently don’t take Nigerian Islam
seriously or consider it important. I make that statement on basis of their
uninterested reaction when I tell them about my Christian-Muslim series about
Nigeria. But that’s for another blog some day. (Why am I so easily diverted
today from the announced topic? Is it
because “conversion” and “reversion” rhyme so well with “diversion” that it becomes a perfect fit?)
The WCC conference in Post
98 demanded that Christians, along with others, drop their “obsession” with
conversion. Stronger than that, actually: They are to “heal” themselves of that obsession! Apparently, it is a sickness
to desire someone to convert. Psychologists, here’s your excuse to add another
psychological problem to your official list of diseases and specialists. What
shall we call this new specialty? How about “conversionitus?” I have a history of coining
new words and consider myself good at it. Another “–itus” term I once coined is
“change-itus,” referring to the interminable decades of administrative changes to
which my church has subjected its staff, especially its overseas missionaries
like me. (If you’re curious, you may go to my memoirs, Every Square Inch, vol. 2, p. 148, on the Boeriana page of my
website < www.SocialTheology.com
>.)
At the same time, WCC always
maintains that genuine inter-religious dialogue—and that was the essence of
that conference—requires that no one feels threatened or that any religion
should give up part of their core. Those requirements to drop that “obsession”
and to retain your core are not easy bed partners. Both Christianity and Islam
regard conversion (or reversion) as part of their core. You eliminate that part
and you end up with a distorted, truncated, shriveled up version of the
religion. It is no longer true to itself. One great missionary statesman of a
century ago, Karl Kumm, whose legacy consists of millions of Christians in
northern Nigeria and for whom I have the greatest admiration, wrote that the
church must obey the Great Commission
to go and make disciples or it must perish. Obeying that Commission is its life
blood.
That Commission of Matthew
28, Jesus’ parting shot in Matthew, simply cannot be wished away. And, having
been a professional missionary throughout my career, I feel put on the
defensive. Did I misdirect my life, waste my time? Should I have done something more
constructive? Were all the books and
articles I published and all the lecturing I did—and they were many; just check
out my website—useless or, worse, damaging to inter-religious dialogue and to
everything else?
Indeed not! That Muslims
could go along with that demand, I understand somewhat. See Post 100. But that
Christians should have gone along with that, is in some ways amazing to me. However, knowing the WCC mentality somewhat,
it is not totally surprising to me,
for there always has been a lot of wishy-washy thinking in that organization,
not to say liberalist thinking, that has been quick to play down the uniqueness
of the Christian message and opt for a “soft” egalitarian view of all
religions.
But I hasten to pre-empt a
conclusion on your part that I totally dislike, disagree with or even condemn
WCC. I have argued on the Boeriana page of my website that my church, the
Christian Reformed Church, should join WCC, both to learn from it and to
contribute to its programmes out of our own tradition; We have much to give—and
much to learn. Over the decades, I have cooperated with WCC from my Nigerian
perch at various fronts and have generally appreciated their input. But
especially in the dialogue section, there has been that negative aspect, even
though there, too, I cooperated with them appreciatively.
But it does not fit well for
Christians to drop their “conversion obsession,” or to “heal” themselves from
it. Conversion to Christ is not a missionary obsession; it is the greatest gift
I can offer to people. Bringing people to believe in Christ is the most
liberating thing you can do. Just ask
anyone who has made the transition. I am not suggesting that I need to
prevent them from going to hell. I frankly cannot conceive of all of the
world’s non-Christians going to hell. That would render the Kingdom of God a
dismally failed enterprise. All these
billions to hell? Sorry, I simply cannot accept that. It neither fits my concept of a large,
gracious and generous God nor my view of the scope of Christ’s
accomplishments. He did enough to cover
all or, at least, by far most of us.
I don’t know about the
Hitlers and Stalins among us or the oppressive religious leaders of Jesus’ own
day, but I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions. If it were my
responsibility, I might have no compunction about assigning our Hitlers and
Stalins c.s. to hell. But move away and “heal” myself from urging folk to repent
or convert is hardly an obsession that Christians can drop at will without the
church itself perishing, shriveling up into a dry creek. I would rather argue that the
Christian church is increasingly in need of healing from lack of interest in conversion!
Oops! I’m already quite far
beyond my maximum goal of 750 words. I haven’t finished the job. See you in 103.
In the meantime, today, the
day of this posting, we are both mourning and rejoicing the crucifixion of
Christ. It’s Good Friday, an ambiguous day for us. But the resurrection is just
around the corner and that’s what it’s all about. So, Happy Easter to all of
you. The Lord has risen!—the traditional Christian Easter greeting, to which
the usual response is “He is risen indeed!”
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