Henry Thompson looked at Mrs. Sato. He was uncertain about what to say to her. The neighborhood celebration was tomorrow. So, there was no time to call a church meeting to discuss Mrs. Sato's questions. What should he say? Would her participation in that event at the Shinto shrine violate her Christian commitment?
The Thompsons had moved from the U.S. to Japan three years earlier. After studying the language, Henry and his wife moved to Tokyo to plant a church. They carefully built friendships with people in their part of the city and had started Bible study groups in their home. It was from these groups that they had won their first converts. Mrs. Reiko Sato was one of those converts. She had grown in her faith and been baptized six months previously. She was now a staunch member of the Thompson's small congregation.
To this point, Henry had known little about Mrs. Sato's life, except that she was the only Christian in her neighborhood and that she was a widow. Now, as she came seeking his advice, he was to learn more about her. She told him that her neighborhood, like most neighborhoods in Tokyo, had an association in which everyone was expected to participate. Throughout the year, that organization raised funds for worthwhile projects and held neighborhood friendship meetings. She explained to Henry that it is not so much that everyone in the neighborhood is expected to attend those neighborhood meetings, but, unless they were very ill, it would just be inconceivable for someone not to go.
This year was different, however. Normally, Mrs. Sato's neighborhood held its year-end party in a public hall. This year, neighborhood leaders had arranged for the celebration to be at the local Shinto shrine. Since the shrine site needed refurbishing, they had also decided to call on all the participants to make a sizable donation to the refurbishing fund.
Upon hearing where the event had been scheduled, Mrs. Sato regretfully decided she should not attend. One reason was that space inside a Shinto shrine is considered sacred ground. Each shrine is dedicated to a specific Kami, a divine personality who responds to prayers. If Mrs. Sato went to the celebration at the shrine, she would have to pass through a Tori -- a special gateway for the gods. A Tori is considered the demarcation or separation point between the finite world in which humans live and the infinite world of the gods.
Thinking that Mrs. Sato had somehow misunderstood the invitation, the neighborhood leaders sent several women to talk to her. She explained she would not be attending this year's party because it was being held in a Shinto shrine where nature deities were worshiped and where ancestral spirits were invoked. The women left, not quite sure what to do. A few days later the chairman of the neighborhood association came to Mrs. Sato's door.
When Mrs. Sato told him she could not attend the festivities in the Shinto shrine because she was a Christian, the neighborhood chairman became angry.
"What is wrong with being a good Japanese?" he asked her. "You can be a Christian, but Shinto represents our national spirit. Your refusal to attend this year's festivities is tantamount to rejecting our country."
Even in the face of such pressure, Mrs. Sato remained firm in her decision to refuse to attend the celebration. In the days that followed, community pressure on her increased. People looked at her with suspicion. Friends and neighbors openly questioned her loyalties to Japan. She found herself hating to go out of the house for her daily shopping and errands. In the end, she went to Henry Thompson for help.
"What shall I do?" she asked him. "Would it be so wrong for me to attend this year's neighborhood celebration even though it is being held at the Shinto shrine? And what should I do about the donation?"
Henry realized that it was hard for him as a foreigner to understand all that it meant to become a Christian in Japan. Still, he was Mrs. Sato's pastor and he felt he had to help her find the right answer.
He recalled Paul's exhortation to be all things to all people in order to win them to Christ (I Corinthians 9:19-23). He also remembered Paul saying that Christians should not be associated with idols (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Henry thought a moment, and then he said . . . .The original version of this case study appeared in Case Studies in Missions, Baker Book House, 1987. It may be reproduced only upon payment of a 35-cent per copy royalty to Baker Book House, PO Box 6787, Grand Rapids, MI 49516 USA
 | Japanese Christians become very concerned about a U.S. president's plans to visit a Shinto shrine. [ read more ] |
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Howard Culbertson, Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th, Bethany, OK 73008 | Phone: 405-491-6693 - Fax: 491-6658
Copyright © 2000, 2001 - Last Updated: November 7, 2008 | URL: http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/celebrat.htm
