My word - indigenous! - Church Mission Society (CMS)

My word – indigenous!

I absolutely loved the current edition of Anvil – exploring the emancipation of indigenous theologies in light of the rise of world Christianity (and it’s free).

by Jonny Baker,

14 June 2023

I was in a conversation with friends over a meal recently and someone asked us what our word of the moment was in a sense of something you wanted to lean into. I said that my word was ‘indigenous’. I have so enjoyed and been stirred by various things related to indigenous spirituality, community, theology over the last few years – visiting Maori in new Zealand; reading various books – Huia Comes Home, Braiding Sweet Grass, First Nations Version of the New Yestament, Rescuing The Gospel From The Cowboys; hearing of CMS gathering in S America to name a few. So it was great to find this deeper dive through Anvil.

I also really liked the book reviews and found that having them individually linked to made a big difference – they all sound interesting. Thanks to everyone who contributed and worked on it.

I was then enthusing with someone about it and they said something along the lines of ‘but the articles are long’ implying that it is a bit specialist and not an easy read. I was a bit discouraged by that to be honest. So if that’s you, to give a flavour of the articles I have picked one author – Jay Matenga – and taken quotes from his editorial and article and put them over photos I took when In New Zealand in 2020. His article by the way is so poignant especially I think at a time when the Church of England at least could do well to stay in for the difficult conversations.

Fern leaf with quote: "the Western story of the global church is being decentred in favour of a polycentric mosaic of narratives" - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "When the heat comes on, rejoice! Stay in the pot and be transformed." - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "It is through our interactions within the fellowship of male, female, eunuch, Jew, Greek, Barbarian, slave, free, rich, poor, young, old, etc. that we are transformed by our learning from one another, and making space for each other, empowered by the Spirit who is love." - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "The Eurocentric theological consensus has been privileged in most Protestant theological educational institutions around the world but when Indigenous Christians begin to decolonise their faith, such education can be found wanting." - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "Systematic theology is a contextual theological method rooted in a particular place and time, addressing particular issues. Examples like these purport to be universal, but although many of theological findings can be adopted and adapted, others can be outright detrimental to the flourishing of the gospel in other contexts." - Jay Matenga

Photo of lake with tree growing up out of the water: "The perspectives of expatriates/outsiders must submit to the right of insiders who follow “the Jesus way”9 to guard and articulate the gospel in their midst, and their relationship with the triune God they encounter within the gospel narrative, on their own terms – all the while remaining biblically faithful and in dialogue with the global church (historic and current)." - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "A transplanted faith will not thrive for long in new soil. This is the tension emerging as Indigenous believers realise their freedom and gain confidence to express their unique values in their own voice, rooted in their assumptions about reality." - Jay Matenga

Street art with quote: "The gospel can incarnate, missionaries cannot." - Jay Matenga

Photo of night sky with quote: "Western missions paradigms are limited in their ability to enable the gospel to flourish in non-Western contexts. Rather, if we were to adopt Indigenous perspectives like omolúàbí (or ubuntu, kotahitanga, etc.), our efforts to establish the kingdom of God will be far more effective among Indigenous peoples" - Jay Matenga

Pour yourself a coffee (or go on a long journey – I read it on a ferry!) and do yourself a favour by giving it a long read.

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