Rasmussen 1 Rachel Rasmussen HNGR 484 July 26th, 2013 GCP Reflection on Christianity Rediscovered The past two

months in Africa, in Kenya and Uganda, have re-informed my view of Christianity and missions. Reading Christianity Rediscovered continued that process, and I really enjoyed reading it. While in Nairobi, I heard about the Masai, and even saw a few Masai men. Reading their story of receiving Christianity was beautiful. And I found Vincent Donovan's approach to mission work highly redemptive. I have more hope for modern missions after reading this book, and a new perspective on what that means for me. Throughout Christianity Rediscovered, a theme of agency for the Africans is evident. The preface states, "The work of the mission begins with the rediscovery of the gospel by the missionaries themselves." Upon first reading, this statement stirred me. Reading the rest of the book continued that stirring. I felt that in order for mission work to be fruitful, this would have to be true. Instead of holding tightly to the particulars of the gospel created by culture, a missionary has to be willing to hold with open hands the cultural traditions and rituals surrounding Christianity and be willing to only cling to the naked gospel. The African discovery of the gospel has changed Christianity because of the new understanding they bring to the word of God. In some ways, it seems that the missionary experiences God more fully than the average Christian. I say this not because a missionary is more holy than the average Christian, but because of the depth of understanding he or she can gain from experiencing the gospel in its naked form, and seeing it creatively grow in a new context. Experiencing Christianity in only one context can provide for an incomplete gospel. For example, growing up, my parents often talked negatively about poor people, or people on welfare. It was ingrained into me that these people were lazy and

Rasmussen 2 the cause of all of their problems, and that if they would just work hard, they would be okay. As I have learned more about the structures in place that perpetuate injustice, I have realized that poverty is much more complex. Also, as I have spent time with Jesus, my heart has changed to have more compassion. As Donovan saw the gospel come alive to the Masai, he learned more about the character of God and how he relates to his people. The creativity exploding in the Masai people in how they worshipped God brought me joy to read about. I have always suspected and hoped that God is bigger than American church on Sunday mornings, that he manifests himself creatively, that He is an artist. Last fall, I took Sculpture 1 with Professor Hooker. For the class we read a book about theology and art by Dorothy Sayers. The book profoundly impacted my belief in God and how he works in the world. She describes God as the ultimate creator, relating to the artist. I understand the desire to create, the energy of new ideas, and the process of working out those ideas. Sayers described God's will in those terms, saying that we actively participate in creating God's will by what we choose to do. She describes creation as continual, and that we are the agents, working with God. When making art, the artist has to work with the medium in order to produce something, and although the artist is in charge, the medium does not always do exactly what it seems like it should. It is a beautiful, messy, hard, and dynamic process. This process is how Sayers describes God's will being manifested on the earth. He is the artist and we are the medium. As Donovan wrestled with the gospel and how to present it to the Masai, and then saw them struggle and finally, respond; as they made the gospel their own, it was a manifestation of God as the artist, working with the medium of the Masai people. One quote from the Masai that struck me was when the young elder said, "If I ever run into God, I will put a spear through him." As Donovan said, this is comparable to the thoughts

Rasmussen 3 many young people in the US and Europe have today. The older I get, and the more education I receive, the more I am convinced of the brokenness of the world. There would be times last semester that I would return home from Social Change class and cry, because of the injustice against women that we were exposed to. After counseling sessions, as I began to talk about things that I experienced growing up, I would leave in a state of raw pain. Many times I yelled at and cried to God. It hurts. But blaming God for injustice, for pain, for death is misplaced. God is not the one who ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden. I am. We are. Humanity sinned, and we have to groan because of that. Instead of blaming God, I can only live out of thankfulness that He redeemed us with the blood of Christ. And because I am sure of my responsibility in the act of sinning, I feel convicted that it is my responsibility as a Christian to fight injustice. As the Masai described their God as one who loves good, rich people, I remembered a conversation I had with some of the Amani women. They were admiring my hair, and how fast it grew. Then they began talking about white people, and how wealthy we are. One young woman, Joyce, said "God loves you (white) people more than us," referencing wealth in the US, and how all the depictions of Jesus in the Catholic church are white. I was taken aback, and tried to refute the statement. But as I later thought about what she said, I realized that I am guilty of thinking the same thing. How many times in the past two months have I pitied the people here? How many times have I thought that they do not even know what they are missing? But the thing is, they are not missing anything. Most of them are happy, as happy as the Americans I know, or maybe even happier. It has been an interesting journey that has changed how I view blessing. Blessing can come in many forms, and so can curses. Until recently, I have always thought of money as a blessing. And it is in some sense, in a material sense. But like the rich young ruler found, it can be a barrier to experiencing God. At first, it seemed right to idolize the

Rasmussen 4 simpler life I am finding here. Without wealth comes a life without much choice. And this life seemed to be somewhat less complicated and more full of joy than my life has been. But as I spend more time here, I see the struggle of humanity is global, just in different forms. Here, people have to work constantly to earn enough money to survive, while in the US, we are obsessed with doing cool things and become depressed with comparing ourselves to others. We may not be fighting for survival, but we are still plagued with a search for meaning. I am finding that neither form of suffering is superior. Whether rich or poor, we are all broken people who need a savior. It is easy to romanticize a life of either poverty or wealth, Ecclesiastes reminds me of the futility of either one. And Ecclesiastes 5:18 "Behold, what I have seen is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot," and 12:13 "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man," emphasizes what is more important than the amount of money a person has.

Donovan's explanation of Jesus incarnate to the Masai people was a part of the book which has made me rethink my idea of what it means to be human. He says, "If God wants to be visible to creation, to appear in the midst of creation, there is only one thing he can do. He must take on human flesh. He would have to create human flesh in his own image and likeness...Not only is God different than we thought. So is man... Man is God appearing in the universe, appearing visibly in the midst of all he created. That changes the meaning of man, doesn't it?" One of my first thoughts after reading this was that if only we believed this, how differently would we treat other people. So much sin happens because of thinking more highly of ourselves or people like us, and devaluing other humans. If every person could believe that others were

Rasmussen 5 God appearing in the universe, how differently would we treat everyone. It convicted me of how I view others. And it excited me. Each person displays God's likeness, and what a beautiful world that makes. Another thought I had was about the way we talk about being made in God's Image. Most sermons that I have heard about it are individualistic and self-focused. They are like a dose of positive self-esteem to boost confidence. "You are beautiful and special, because you, yes you! are made in the image of God!" I think that it is healthy to have self-confidence, but this seems like a narrow interpretation of the Bible. Knowing that we reflect God in the flesh should give us inspiration and conviction to represent that. We should have the conviction to accomplish God's will on earth above everything else, and we should believe in other people and call them to show themselves to be made in the image of God as well. This book has inspired my faith and given me more hope in God. My favorite part of the book is "The lion is God." The picture of God as a lion, pursuing, hunting, and making me part of himself is a haunting picture, and I deeply connect with it. Each day I want to know God and be a part of him more.