Chapter 9 – Redeeming Our Culture Over Dinner

1. Carol confesses to Dan that she has been praying for him, telling God that Dan’s questing for truth is a function of his love for God. She says to God, “If he didn’t love you, if he didn’t love the truth so much, he would just play the game, just fulfill the role . . . he is suffering because he really wants the truth.” Carol suggests that Dan could actually be “falling into God,” not falling away. Do you think Carol’s assessment of the source of Dan’s struggles is accurate? How might a time of doubt and intense questioning result in a person’s “falling into God”?

2. Part of Dan’s suffering comes from the real-life implications attached to his role as a pastor, where changes in theology have serious ramifications. What are some of the ramifications pastors and other leaders face when they begin to engage in dialogues about changes in theology? Should these concerns overshadow (in this instance) Dan’s search for truth? How difficult might it be to live in this tension?

3. As Dan, Carol, and Neo discuss “organized religion” the topic naturally shifts to culture. On each end of the religious spectrum are ways of engaging with culture. One way is to accommodate or serve the culture on its own terms; the other way is to completely disengage from the dominant culture and set up a subculture. Neo says that religion, Christianity specifically, is not a matter of “. . . private comfort or political power. It’s a matter of revolutionary mission” (p. 73). What does Neo mean by that? Can you think of examples of Christianity as private comfort and political power? Have you ever experienced Christianity as revolutionary mission?

4. How do you respond to the story of the Ugandan dancers and the Native American pastors? Has exposure to another culture ever caused you to question some of your underlying assumptions about what is essential and what is cultural?

5. Reread the story (pp. 76-77) that leads up to Dan’s statement: “Wouldn’t it be ironic if, in the name of Christ, we try to conserve and preserve the very same native cultures in the 21st century that we tried to wipe out in the 19th and 20th centuries? How do you respond to this idea?

6. Neo says that Buddhism is more than a culte; Buddhism is also a culture. He goes on to suggest that Jesus can invade a culture (Buddhist, for example) and spark a new and authentic expression of Christianity. How might an expression of Christianity from a Buddhist or Islamic culture challenge a Western European version of Christianity? Is this already happening?

7. Carol and Dan worry about syncretism, that is, blending pure Christianity with pagan elements. Neo replies that “. . . syncretism is usually what Christians who are thoroughly immersed in one culture talk about when Christianity is being influenced by other cultures.” Is there such a thing as “pure Christianity”? How does Neo suggest that the church can engage culture and avoid losing its identity through syncretism? Do you think he is being overly optimistic? Do you see other ways the church can both maintain its identity and engage in mission in the midst of conforming cultural forces?