At the turn of the 20th century with the government having failed at physically removing the Indians from the conquest of the United States, there was a shift in the thinking . . . it moved from physically killing the Native Americans to spiritually killing them. Captain Richard H. Pratt, superintendent of the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, was among those proponents of this movement. In a speech that he gave at a convention in 1892 he stated:
“A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”
Do you recognize that phrase? Most of us remember it more like this: “Kill the Indian, save the man.” Remember that sentiment.
Beginning is 1887, the federal government attempted to assimilate . . . to “Americanize” . . . Native Americans. The first push was to place them on reservations and make them farmers, but a latter effort was made through the effort to educate Native youth through boarding schools. The model upon which the boarding schools were based was the school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At these schools children were given vocational and manual training along with their education to become “good Americans” in order to strip away and erase their tribal culture. Students had to drop their Indian names, were forbidden to speak their native languages, and cut their long hair. Those who resisted were disciplined until their spirits were either broken or they died. The idea was to “civilize” the so-called “savages” to be good American citizens.
It was a failure. Hopefully this terrible part of our nation’s history will one day be reconciled, and the healing can begin to accept these tribal people just as they are. To not change them, but to welcome them.
I am not a historian of Christian evangelism or missionary work. But I do know that it has changed over the generations of the faith. I know that the original model did not work. For a long time, missionaries used the “assimilation model” to convert the “heathen” into Christianity. These were thinly disguised efforts by the missionaries to convert these people into whatever nationality they were before they became “good Christians”. The people were given new clothes to wear like those there to save them, they were made to learn a new language, taught to turn their backs on their culture for a more westernized version, given new “Christian” names, and even made to cut their hair.
Sound familiar? Neither did this work.
In the beginning of the Christian movement there was a lot of struggles . . . including how one became a part of the movement. We are all familiar with the arguments about foods that were eaten and circumcision that plagued the movement in the beginning. Good followers only ate certain foods . . . real followers were circumcised. The struggle was real, and it threatened to divide and destroy “the Way”. The Apostle Paul, whose letter to the Corinthians we are hearing this morning, was in the thick of the great debate.
The apostle says: “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law . . . so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law . . . so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
The apostle recognizes the flaws of these arguments . . . arguments of assimilation before conversion. They do not work . . . yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Paul realizes that if people are to join the movement . . . to take part in the way of Jesus . . . that they must be accepted for who they are and where they are. They are not meant to be forced into a particular model or style of faith, they are invited to come into faith through who they are, where they are, and how they see the world . . . to come as they have been created by God to be. Making them fit into a particular mold does not work. Thus, it is that Paul is saying that he approaches others where they are at to invite them to come and be a part of the “Way” . . . the “Way” of Jesus.
There is a lot of validity in this idea of Paul’s. It took the “church universal” a while to learn this lesson . . . assimilation is out, acceptance is in. Evangelism or missionary work changed . . . at least in mainline denominations. No longer did missionaries attempt to convert people to their nationality or ways of life . . . to kill the “heathen” and save the individual. They quit making people become someone or something they were not. Clothing did not have to change . . . instead of speaking the language of the missionary, missionaries learn the people’s language . . . names were not changed. Surprisingly it worked!
Accepting people for who they are and where they are works. There was a time when western civilization—Europe and North America--was the center of the Christian world, but not anymore. Today Latin American, Asia, and Africa have more Christians than western societies. Why? Because the faith is share with them in a way that does not negate or berate people’s culture and instead accepts them for who they are and where they are. As Paul says, the faithful have learned to approach others as they are . . . they have learned the art of being chameleons.
Chameleons are those colorful lizards that have the ability to change color to fit the environment or situation. They adapt in order to be safe . . . in order to fit in. They do what it takes. Does that sound familiar? Paul said: “To the Jews I became like a Jew . . . to those under the law I became like one under the law . . . to those not having the law I became like one not having the law . . . to the weak I became weak . . . I have become all things to all people . . .”
The Apostle Paul preached “adaption” not “assimilation”. His message did not change, his approach changed. People are more apt to receive information . . . even the “Good News” . . . if they are approached and accepted for who they are and where they are. They are less likely to being receptive if they are attacked, demanded to change, and become someone they are not or that God did not create.
The faith of a chameleon is not about becoming someone or something you are not. It is about being able to adapt. In this case, adapting to an openness to receive people as they are, learning who they are, learning about their culture, receiving them as God has created them. It is adapting to listen to others . . . to hear the words they are saying . . . to discover the feelings behind the words . . . to understand where they are coming from. This is the work of relationship and sharing one’s faith comes through relationships. It does not come making others into someone or something they are not. The faith of a chameleon does this with the purpose of sharing the “Good News” of Jesus’ invitation to come and follow in his footsteps.
The apostle states: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its blessings.” It begins with conversation and moves to relationship. With God there is no need to “kill” anything in order to “save” another. No, there is only the invitation to everyone to come to a relationship with God as created him or her to be . . . that is the person God is interested. Yeah, it is easier said than done. It is difficult to change old ways of thinking and habits; but as a nation, as a people of faith, we need to learn from our mistakes when it comes to sharing the “Good News” of Jesus. It is different for everyone . . . God did not create any two of us the same, so why would we expect it from others. Jesus did not. Jesus did not demand that those who chose to walk with him be any particular person or thing. No, Jesus wanted people to come and be in relationship with God and others as they had been created by God . . . a cherished child of God. Amen.
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