Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 10/28/09

We began to discuss Eastern Orthodox theology and the iconoclast movement up through the sacking of Constantinople in the 4th Crusade. We also briefly discussed and dialogued about the Christianization of pagan holidays and practices and the two sides to that debate. Personally, I think that Christianity needs to be rooted in the culture itself, drawing out what can point to truth and Jesus and critiquing that which is counter to the gospel message. In this way, Christianity is not transplanting a foreign culture but is transforming the native culture from within. I understand the objection to this, since changing the name or focus of a holiday or practice does not change the hearts of the people and can lead to the secularization of Christianity (e.g. Christmas and Easter), however, this is possible with any Christian symbol, practice, holiday or idea since it is never the thing itself that matters but how and if you allow it to transform you. Humans can and will secularize anything.