Indian Culture Wars

It is just amazing to be here, teaching a team of pastors that are dealing with such raw issues in ministry. And yet at the same time, some of their issues are so similar to the things we wrestle with and question in our own search to figure out what it looks like to follow God together.

We had an incredible and enlightening conversation this morning with N, one of the team leaders we are working with. Our conversation connected with something that seems to be a theme for me lately: how much our expression of faith in Christ has to do with figuring out what it looks like to live in God's kingdom in the midst of another kingdom. How do those cultures momentarily co-exist in our experience of living between the beginning and fulfillment of our redemption? And how do we live in that balance? Do we completely reject the "world's" culture? Is that even possible? It seems to me that so much harm has been done (including much of what younger generations of Christians react against) when incidental elements of the dominant culture have been rejected in the name of following Christ. N shared two examples that illustrate this.

Both have to do with uniquely Indian cultural issues. The first is how a woman ought to express herself. In India, many woman where a "bindi" or dot on their foreheads to indicate that they are married. The tradition comes from a uniquely Hindu understanding of marriage, but has been adopted by much of Indian culture to the point where it is more of a fashion statement than a religious statement. In addition, there are other indicators of marriage in the same category, such as a ring on the second toe and certain types of bangles worn on the arms.

Certain groups of Christians firmly instruct their women not to wear bindis because of their relationship with Hinduism. They claim that walking in God's kingdom completely forbids this "wordly" kingdom expression of marital status. And yet, this can cause offense and cultural insult in Indian culture. This offense can then lead to persecution against Christians. In fact, when N asked some Hindus why they beat up a Christian pastor, their reply was that the pastor had instructed his people not to wear bindis and this was corrupting their Indian culture. One of the main criticisms against Christians in India is that they can often cause people to lose their Indian culture when they convert to Christianity. They become almost culture-less. Is that what it looks like to be a Christian? Can't you be a Christian and still maintain a rich Indian culture. I hope so.

The other story N told was of his grandfather who died at age 97. He was such a respected man in the community, that the community told the family that they would put on the funeral instead of the family. But since the grandfather had recently become a Christian (following many of his family members), some family were upset that he would receive burial ceremonies that expressed some elements of Hinduism. However, N and some others wisely realized that whatever was done to their grandfather's body would not matter on a spiritual level and to deny the community their request in the name of Christ would cause undue conflict.

So the funeral took place, the community was satisfied that they honored a respected elder among them and the Christians in the family had a small prayer time together at the end of the funeral. By doing this, N was able to honor the community, honor his grandfather, and honor Christ. In fact, even those members of the family who were originally upset by this changed their minds so that when his grandmother died shortly thereafter, this arrangement was repeated with everyone's full support.

In hearing these stories, it struck me how similar our issues are at heart. So much of what it means to follow God comes down to how we relate to our culture around us. And when this is done well, non-Christians get a glimpse into a reality of life and truth and forgiveness that is compelling. But when it is done poorly, they get shoved aside, insulted, and marginalized in the name of God's love.

It will be a privilege to turn over some of the issues together with our Indian friends this week. I feel like I have a lot to learn from them about what it means to follow God.