August 2005
Newsbrief
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain
shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s
great Judgment Seat…” So begins Rudyard Kipling’s
famous poem. That may have seemed the case to him some 100 years
ago, but over the last few decades, Japanese and American cultures
have “the twain met” in many interesting and unusual
ways.
Yesterday (August 24) the new train line from Tsukuba to Tokyo
began service, and the festivities surrounding that began the
previous night with a fantastic illusion show. “Princess
Tenko,” who is well known in the United States these days
(she’s kind of a pint-sized, oriental, female version of
David Copperfield), put on a spectacular show that had us all
amazed and baffled by the illusions she and her team created.
Several local groups performed before the 2,500 in the audience
prior to Tenko’s hour-long finale. Of the nine or ten groups
that performed, two were gospel choirs! We missed the first group,
but the second one consisted of about 50 young people who sang,
“Oh happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!” and
“Joyful, joyful, we adore thee” in a style that imitated
Whoopee Goldberg and her movies, “Sister Act” and
“Sister Act II.”
They really did a splendid job, and we mention this because it
is one of these surprising areas where “the twain have met.”
The Hollywood movies did provide an important impetus to gospel
music becoming quite popular in Japan, and numerous Christian
ministries have sprung up to make use of this phenomenon for the
cause of Christ. Churches have begun their own gospel choirs that
attract quite a few people who are initially only interested in
the music style, but who then encounter the underlying gospel
message through that and are attracted to Christ as a result.
A somewhat older phenomenon that is similar in many ways is the
Christian-style wedding ceremony. Over half of Japanese young
people getting married today opt for a Western-style, Christian
wedding, with most being done in fancy wedding chapels. Needless
to say, this phenomenon has its abuses, such as profit-motivated
wedding chapels hiring fake ministers to perform (as in “act
out”) ceremonies, but for the most part, these businesses
actively seek out legitimate Christian ministers to do the ceremonies.
Japanese-speaking foreigners are preferred, and so a number of
“tent-making” missionaries (those, who like St. Paul,
support themselves with outside income) make this their main activity
and do ministry through and in conjunction with such weddings.
Needless to say, the vast majority of young people getting married
(as well as those in attendance at the wedding) have little or
no connection with the Christian Church, and so this does provide
a unique venue where at least gospel seeds can be planted. For
the most part, young Japanese consider the Christian-style wedding
much more “romantic” than the traditional Japanese
Shinto-style wedding, and they are attracted to the message of
love and commitment that is presented. Tim has been asked several
times to connect up with such chapels and do weddings on a regular
basis. As we don’t think God is calling him into this particular
form of ministry, he has declined such offers, but he does occasionally
do “pinch hitting” for ministers who have scheduling
conflicts come up. We always give the couple an excellent book
prepared by a missionary colleague designed for couples just starting
out in married life. While we may not ever see such couples again,
there is a point of reference for them, and a significant number
do make some contact with the church at a later time.
Cultures are dynamic and are greatly affected by their interaction
with other cultures, both positively and negatively. We often
hear of the negative impact of Western culture on other cultures,
but there is also much to celebrate. (And look at how Japanese
culture has been impacting U.S. culture in recent years as well!)
These are just two interesting examples of how cultural interchange
can by used by God to open up channels for communicating the gospel
message in modern Japan.
Blessings on you all,
Tim and Juji Boyle
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
251 |
