ICS102 Contextualization Frederick Paulo Tomacder (paulo.tomacder@igsl.

asia)

DeNui - 5 Reconciliation

1. Moreover, Schreiter affirms that reconciliation goes hand in hand with liberation— without
liberation, there will be no reconciliation. Schreiter states, “If the sources of conflict are not named,
examined, and taken away, reconciliation will not come about. What we will have is a truce, not a
peace” (1997: 23). He believes that true reconciliation must meet conflict and confront its cause.
Schreiter points out that reconciliation is not a managed process. Reconciliation is spiritual. It is God
who reconciles. It is God’s grace welling up in one’s life. Reconciliation is more of an attitude (Loc
2021-2025).
2. The first step in critical contextualization is to study the local culture phenomenologically. Local
church leaders and the missionary lead the congregation in uncritically gathering and analyzing the
traditional beliefs and customs associated with some question at hand. (1994:88)
He also describes exegesis of Scripture and the hermeneutical bridge:
The leader must also have a meta-cultural framework that enables him or her to translate the biblical
message into the cognitive, affective, and evaluative dimensions of another culture. This step is
crucial, for if the people do not clearly grasp the biblical message as originally intended, they will have
distorted view of the gospel. (1994:89) (loc 2084-2096)
3. Robert J. Schreiter condenses the exegesis of the New Testament texts regarding reconciliation into
five points: (1) it is God who initiates and brings about reconciliation; (2) reconciliation is more a
spirituality than a strategy; (3) reconciliation makes both victim and oppressor a new creation; (4) the
new narrative that overcomes the narrative of the lie is the story of passion, death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ; (5) reconciliation is a multidimensional reality. (loc 2227-2239)

4. This ritual of confession and forgiveness provides ways for the parents and relatives to vent their
anguish, anger, frustration, disappointment, and concern before they proceed further to truly grant
forgiveness to the new converts. Their forgiveness is the action of reciprocity. When the new converts
take the initiative to value the interdependent orientation in Thai culture by asking for forgiveness,
they show respect for Thai culture and their parents’ pain. As a result, the parents respect their
decision to convert. A Thai poem states clearly the importance of interdependency in Thai culture. (loc
2328-2339)

5. …Thai culture uses the ritual kama and ahosikarma to heal such broken relationships. This Thai
ritual can be contextualized to become a Christian ritual of reconciliation and resolve the problem
mentioned above. The study has demonstrated that the ritual is a rite of passage and has given the
ritual’s respect for Thai values as evidence for its potential effectiveness. The study thus concludes
that the Christian ritual of reconciliation, kama and ahosikarma, can be a means to solve the problem
of the church gaining one weak Christian, yet many strong enemies, with each new convert. It will
provide an effective means for helping new converts to be reconciled to their culture and to understand
“reconciliation” itself. (loc 2397-2411)
While reading this chapter on reconciliation, it made me wonder about the Philippine context. In some
ways, there are similarities about the responses of non-Christian parents to students who become
believers in our ministries. There are those who react negatively to the point that they will bar their
children from joining Christian fellowships and activities. In such cases, the only framework we have
is the aggressive evangelism framework where we simply encourage the students to keep sharing and
testifying to their parents. The model presented in this reading made me realize that there are other
means of dealing with this perennial challenge of negative response from. And as I look at the model,
it seems that much of it can be used in our context with some modifications to fit the Filipino
worldview better. The concept of “Preparation for Separation,” for example, is something good to try.
In our context, it is true that parents often react negatively because of shock at the sudden change of
faith announced by their children. I think this can be resolved if we introduce a period of preparation
which can actually be a sort of “pre-evangelism” for their families as well. One aspect that may be
different is the “Confession and Forgiveness.” I think the idea of bringing shame because of
converting to Christianity is not as strong because Filipinos are mainly Roman Catholics. I think what
needs to be confessed more is the general brokenness of family structures prior to conversion. That is,
many Filipinos grow up in dysfunctional families that only wear masks of morality brought by
religion. When one becomes a follower of Jesus, these masks are revealed and the cracks and issues
that were long hidden are more visible. As such, the new believer seeks forgiveness for his or her
participation in the brokenness of their families, setting an example of how Christians deal with such
issues. I really believe this model will work for the Philippines. If it does, it can actually become a
good outreach process as well for the families of the students we minister to.