How Can They Believe in the One of Whom They Have Not Heard?

            “We don’t even know him!” The woman exclaimed, exasperated. The woman was confused by the story the missionary doctors had told her about Jesus. They had come for just a short-term clinic. Because the people were desperate for medical attention, they walked hours to get to the clinic (This sounds horrendous to Americans who hardly ever walk five minutes to the grocery store. Let it be known that this is more normal in Africa.). There they would hear stories about Jesus, the Savior of the world. And surely the Lord was planting seeds, whetting appetites, and glorifying his name by revealing it to these people, right? Yes, I choose to believe so with all my heart.

            But I also believe that those seeds would never be watered except for the long-term commitment of the missionaries that I had the joy of living with for one month. The story of the doctors and the Alagweesa woman is true, told to me by one of my companions in Tanzania. The missionary had overheard a conversation between some women about Jesus and the stories the doctors were telling. When she inquired, the village women admitted their confusion, and who could blame them? Without the missionaries faithful presence, their efforts and successes to live among the villagers, learn their language and culture, the Africans could go to their graves without understanding the truth behind the stories they were told about Jesus.

            You see, for these Africans, Jesus does not fit into their worldview. Their worldview is a mixture of superstitious tribal customs, witchcraft, and Islam. When you mention Jesus, they think, “Oh, it is all good. You and I, we worship the same god. Oh, it is all good.” Their pluralistic thinking stems from their willingness to half-heartedly accept Islam while continuing to practice their traditional customs. What’s the difference if they add one more religion to the mix? The problem is also that they have no contextual knowledge of the Bible, of Creation and the Fall. Without growing up with that foundation, it is understandable that they would be confused by Jesus’ seeming importance—their Redemption.

            That is why the goal of the Christians I was living with is to do far more than just present the gospel to the villagers. They want to live with them, learn from them, immerse themselves in the culture and language, build relationships and trust, and share the gospel through everyday life.  Already, they have lived in the village for over a year, yet the first year was mainly language learning and relationship building. They have shared their beliefs through the way they live. God has blessed them with good relationships among their neighbors and language helpers. It is no secret that they are Christians. Since their language skills have greatly progressed, they have recently started doing tri-lingual church services in the village (Alagweesa, Kiswahili, English). In order to do these services, they ask their language helpers to assist them to ensure their translation of the Bible is correct and their sermons make sense grammatically. They have also started personal ministries with small groups of people. Two women teach English to some children who are motivated and want to move on to better education. Another woman reads the Bible individually with women, one of whom was rescued from demon possession.  Because of this, several people have been exposed to the gospel and the Christians have been able to talk with people and pray over them about issues such as demon possession and faithfulness in marriage.

            None of these things would be possible if the Christians had not lowered themselves to becoming learners—learners of culture, language, lifestyle, and humility. And this is only the beginning for them. Their ultimate goal is to present stories of the Bible in the Creation-Fall-Redemption sequence. Therefore, the people can understand the context for Jesus and why he is important to them. It is important that the missionaries have a grasp of the local culture and have firm relationships, because they need to be able to relate the gospel directly to that culture.  As God reveals himself uniquely to each person, he also reveals himself uniquely to each culture. In order for the gospel to be relevant to a people group, they must have it relate to things that they already know.

            For instance, Bruce Olson  (Bruchko) did not preach the gospel until he had lived with the Motilone Indians for five years. When he did preach the gospel, he knew the culture. He was able to relate the gospel to things that the Indians understood. They had a story of a man who became an ant so that he could help them build better homes and not scare them away. That is a parallel to Jesus becoming like humans to save us and not to punish us. That is how Bruchko presented the gospel to them—by using language and ideas that made sense to their culture.

            In the same way, the missionaries I was with have to find creative ways to relate the gospel to the Alagwa culture.  There is already one way they know that the gospel relates. There is a custom in the tribe that, if there has been an extremely devastating rift in a relationship (like recently when a man was angry and tried to kill his son), then, in order to restore that relationship, an animal must be sacrificed and the guts of the animal have to be smeared on both people. Only then can the two be reconciled. In the same way, Jesus was the sacrifice that allowed our relationship with the Lord to be reconciled.

            So, presenting the gospel requires long-term commitment, strong relationships and trust, and cultural knowledge and understanding. For the people to receive and understand the gospel, they need to understand the biblical context for Jesus, his importance, and their need for salvation, and be presented with it in their appropriate cultural context.

            Of course, God works in even the smallest of actions and He calls people to Himself in all sorts of ways. Therefore, what I have just stated is by no means a formula that one hundred percent always brings salvation. Only the Holy Spirit brings salvation to the hearts of men. We are but His vessels. We try to understand other people though and think about being in their shoes. What would make you more likely to believe a message that someone was telling you? Would you accept it if they were strangers and began their message mid-way through, with people’s names that you didn’t recognize, and figures of speech that made no sense to you? It might make you curious, but would you really care to listen? Or would you accept it if it were a friend that you trusted and he told you from the beginning, explaining who the characters were and using phrases that made sense to you?

            I’d venture to guess that the second one is more likely to be your choice. And, if you think about it, Jesus did the same thing by coming down to live among us. He “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…he humbled himself” (Phil. 2:7,8). We would not have listened to Him if He had stayed in heaven and made a way for salvation from His lofty abode. No, and we are called to have the same attitude as Christ (Phil 2:5). Therefore we need to humble ourselves to get to know the people around us, care for them, and understand through God’s perfect discernment how they would best receive the gospel—and then share it!