Jesus "Became a Motilone"

            While I was in Tanzania, I was required to read a book called Bruchko. It was very eye-opening to me and I would like to share with you some of the insights that I gleaned from it. There aren’t too many spoilers in here. I think you’d still be able to enjoy the book if you want to read it. It’s fast-paced and exciting!

            Bruchko is an autobiography of Bruce Olson, a missionary to the Motilone Indians. As a young man, Bruce had a fascination with studying the Bible in its original languages (Greek, Hebrew). Through his studies, he came to the realization that it is possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and his life was changed. He began to feel called to missions, though he experienced much opposition and rejection from his family, the mission board, and even Christians on the mission field. Undeterred, Olson pressed on to fulfill God’s call on his life, even when he had no earthly support whatsoever.

            Even though Olson’s way seemed unsure and his decisions almost reckless sometimes, God’s faithful guidance and provision are evident through the entire plot. Olson eventually reached the Motilone Indians, whom he had been called to serve. Everyone feared these Indians because no one had ever been able to venture close to them without being killed. God allowed a way for Bruce to live among them though. He patiently learned their language and culture and endured many hardships along the way.

            It was five years before God decided to open the door of the gospel to the Indians. God’s power was revealed in the way He spoke through the Motilone culture and provided salvation through the testimony of the first Motilone who accepted Christ. A revival swept across villages and through the entire tribe. The Motilones became a pillar of faith and evangelism throughout the country and beyond. Bruce’s humble existence in the remote jungle of Columbia changed the course of the Motilone people’s lives and even the entire country!

            One thing that struck me while reading this account is that God’s approval is far greater than man’s approval. When the mission board rejected Bruce, he realized that God was still calling him to go. He needed to follow God’s voice even if humans did not agree. A similar situation occurred when Bruce was with the Yuko Indians, before he met the Motilones. Bruce said, looking back, “The Yukos didn’t particularly want me to stay, but God did. And I would have to follow God” (77). Bruce was learning that rejection from people was not necessarily an indicator of direction from God or his ultimate worth or success in life.

            In the same way, many modern peoples have a negative view of more primitive, obscure people groups. People think they are worthless, unintelligent, unimportant. They reject them. But God does not. He wants them to have relationships with Him. He sent His Son to die for them. He created them. He sends missionaries so that they will hear the gospel. These unreached groups are important in God’s eyes, even though many people reject them.

            Another thing that struck me was the fact that God speaks into each culture so that people can have an understanding of who He is and how He relates to them. When salvation swept across the Motilone villages, the catalyst was Olson’s main companion, Bobby, the first man to receive Jesus. That man, being respected among his people, was able to explain the gospel to all his people during a festival, through a common way of telling important news—singing a song in a hammock.

            Bobby’s presentation of the gospel used analogies that made sense to his people and made Jesus a real, relevant Savior. For example, it is culturally appropriate in the U.S. to say, “I want to invite Jesus to live inside my heart.” For the Motilone culture, Bobby explained that they should, “tie their hammocks into Jesus.” That analogy makes sense to them because they sleep in hammocks. It is a metaphor of complete trust and dependence. Olson observed, “[God] had spoken in the Motilone language and through the Motilone culture. He had not even had to use me” (146). God had prepared the hearts of the Motione people to hear His Word. He placed different ideas into their culture, which made the gospel completely applicable, and he presented it in a familiar, culturally normative way.

            This truth opens my eyes to the vast variety of God’s character, that He can descend to every culture in the world because He created them all and cares for them. I realize that I can be closed minded and narrow in my thinking. My ideas can conform to the American ideas of Christianity, and be judgmental of anything different. I realize now that God is so much bigger than my idea of Him. God is not judgmental, and each people group sees Him a bit differently because of their backgrounds, upbringing, culture, and surroundings. This is not being pluralistic; it is simply not putting God in a box based on my own “American” preconceived ideas or misconceptions about how Christianity should be manifested and spread.

            Ultimately, Bruchko strengthened my faith in the sovereignty of God and his care and understanding of all peoples.