Why does God have to move heaven and earth to get Peter to go to Cornelius? With all of Peter's background of spending three years with Jesus, hearing the Great Commission, experiencing Pentecost, accepting Hellenists and Samaritans, God still cannot get him to the Gentiles without visions, trances, angels and the Holy Spirit! And even after he arrives at the house of Cornelius he is still uncertain about what his task is--"may I ask why you sent for me?" (10:29). Luke shows in an emphatic way that Peter is an orthodox Jew who has no idea that Gentiles should be evangelized as Gentiles. The mission to the Gentiles occurs as a process that is only gradually realized over a number of years and through a seres of events and discussions.
In this way Luke shows that the theological challenge of the Gentile mission is not the reluctance of the Gentiles to respond to the gospel but the traditional Jewish belief that Gentiles must also accept the cultural forms of Jewishness. While Luke's account of Cornelius' conversion clearly establishes his point that Gentiles can now become Christians, his account of Peter's struggle demonstrates that the "conversion" of the Jewish Christians must precede Gentile conversions. Jewish Christians must drop historic standards that excluded Gentiles. Peter must go to the home of Cornelius and remain there after Cornelius' conversion; Cornelius does not come to Peter. Whether the difficulties involved in preaching the gospel cross-culturally are sociological or theological, these objections must be overcome. The gospel must be preached to those who have never heard. Luke's narrative demonstrates that the "conversion" of the messenger must precede the conversion of those who are lost.
Luke's narrative of the conversion of a Gentile household becomes paradigmatic for early Christianity and becomes a biblical standard for all subsequent cross-cultural mission. The gospel that has been bound up with the particular is liberated. Subsequently, every people group that embraces the gospel has an obligation to preach the gospel to other people groups without requiring them to change their culture. This missionary urgency continues throughout church history.
I hope we can help the Cambodians embrace Christianity and keep their culture intact.
2 comments:
Sounds like a good book-- can i borrow it sometime?
The interesting thing about cross-cultural missions is that we have to walk that line between preserving culture and allowing Christian practice to become syncretized and disconnected with the real power of the gospel.
I haven't read enough to identify any books that make the above argument while presenting a Biblical foundation for drawing lines and boundaries on what is Christianity and what is western liberalism.
Sweet, I got a comment from Eric Lui. Sure, you can borrow the book but It's Ricks, thought I don't think he'll mind. But I do need to finish reading it first. (= Soon as I'm done thoug, it's yours.
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