Synced!

"Synced!"

“Did you spot it? He’s synced.”  “No, but I caught myself being synced today.”  “Ok, ten points for each of us!”  

We could make it into a sort of a game, but it is really a matter too serious to be a game!

It’s not synchronized, but syncretized.  Syncretism is the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought, according to the dictionary on my computer.
  

Syncretism in a religious context happens when somebody joins a new religion, like Christianity, but continues to live in many ways in the way they lived before becoming a Christian.  Like a church elder keeping his charms from when he was a witch doctor.  Or a church board disfellowshipping a deacon because he mixed up the order of service one Sabbath.  (That really happened, according to one of our teachers from AFM.)  

Avoiding syncretism is one of our largest concerns as AFM missionaries.  It might be possible to fill a church with people who call themselves Seventh-day Adventist Christians, but who in reality are living like animists in nearly every way.  They interact with God as they used to interact with nature spirits, and they turn to the devil and his agents when they encounter a crisis.  They might treat God as some all-powerful fairy godfather who can be manipulated, but who cannot be known or loved.  

Consider this: The Bible is relevant for every culture, and gives counsel and instruction that can be useful for a person from any culture in the world to find their way to Jesus.  On the other hand, my understanding of the Bible is incomplete.  My application of the Bible principles I understand may be even more incomplete.  I may not do all that I know I could or should do.  

Now, I, a Christian from America, travel to Africa.  I go with the Bible in my hands, and I try my best to present the Bible as it reads to the people I come to serve.  Inevitably, I will present a biased and incomplete picture of the Bible message, no matter how hard I may try to do otherwise.  In other words, I will inevitably to some degree pass on my religion and not only the pure religion from the Bible itself.  I am a corrupt channel, and even a perfect message flowing through me will be tainted by me in some ways.  It is unavoidable.  

My religion may seem sufficient for me when I am living in a culture similar to what I have grown up in.  However, the people in the culture I will be serving will have different needs and problems than I have had in my life.  They will need answers from the Bible that I will not even realize the Bible contains.  The Bible is a book for all cultures, but my religion is not, even if it is based on the Bible.  

In order to avoid syncretism, we will need to do our best to help people in our host culture to study the Bible for themselves, through their own eyes, to find in it the answers they are looking for.  Through the Bible, the Holy Spirit will seek to show them how to meet the problems and issues they face in a Jesus-like way, instead of reverting to old, familiar ways of dealing with crises.  

Syncretism is no game, but finding ways to eliminate it will be a great thrill.  It will give us the greatest challenge of our lives!  As we work with others, we will pray that the Lord will show us our own syncretistic tendencies and help us to interact with life in a truly biblical way.  Mission work is a challenging blast!