“Harmony, relationality or reciprocal relationships, and circularity, these are the three core Asian values,” said Dr. Chansamone Saiyasak, president of Mekong Evangelical Mission. “Can we penetrate the Asian cultural heartlands? Yes, but not without dealing with those three cultural values that stem from the religion.”
In the sixth plenary talk of the 2022 Asia Congress which gathered 600 Christian leaders from more than 40 countries in Thailand in mid-October, themed “Penetrating Asia's cultural heartlands with the Gospel”, Dr. Saiyasak responded to Dr. Nishioka’s speech on the gospel communication contextualized in the Asian context as the respondent.
Dr. Yoshiyuki Nishioka, research director at the Tokyo Mission Research Institute, contrasted the current two types of gospel transmission—propositional approach and social service approach, and presented the new approach, witnessing, that is to say, presenting a new way of life while living in the culture.
In his response, Dr. Saiyasak analyzed how the propositional approach presented by the verbal proclamation of the gospel should be processed in an Asian context and gave his own opinion on spreading the gospel in the heartlands of Asia. He emphasized the importance of the three core values, urging Christian leaders to deal with them carefully.
For the verbal proclamation of the gospel, Saiyasak believes that these three things are important to consider: how the gospel is being packaged and delivered; how the gospel is being received by the Asians; and how they are going to take the gospel received and live it out in their own context.
Different from the current verbal proclamation of the gospel, which has been shaped by Western culture and more appropriate for Western ways of thinking and cognition, Saiyasak suggested a new method should be adopted to proclaim the gospel in Asia.
First of all, most Asians follow their religion based on their emotional experiences, not on logic.
Secondly, in line with Asian epistemology, the credibility of truth is based on action and experience, not words. Saiyasak explained that most people in East Asia were influenced by Buddhism which holds that language is completely incompetent in describing reality, that logic should be discarded, and that language and logical reasoning segment the holistic nature of reality.
Thus, “Christian messengers should package the gospel in more of a narrative storytelling form, traditional form... allowing the Asian recipient to effectively experience the gospel as a meaningful conversion,” he said. “After the initial conversion experience, then the work of discipleship, the cognitive thinking reasoning process can proceed... effectively preventing syncretism which the West tends to fear when it comes to contextualization or indigenization.”
Thirdly, the Asian cultural value of collectivism streaming from the three core Asian values —harmony, relationality or reciprocity, and circularity—requires the gospel presentation framework to consider following group or collectivist decision-making, not individualistic decision-making, which means the whole family should be collectively witnessed to and persuaded to follow Christ. Moreover, the post-conversion growth in faith should also be experienced collectively as well.
"So, what do harmony, relationality, and circularity mean?"
Saiyasak stated that harmony is achieved among one another, with nature and all life. While Westerners desire to command and control the situation, this core Asian value dictates that they achieve a harmonious relationship with them. So this value discourages converting to another religion due to the perception that it will result in this harmony.
Relationality or reciprocity means everything that occurs is related. We exist not as independent individuals, but as independent and interrelated beings, and the Asian sense of self is more deeply rooted in the web of human relationships.
Circularity refers to the transcendence in space and time, providing a sense of relatedness to the present, the present to the past and the future, a sense of relatedness and life of this world to the whole of creation. We exist between our past ancestors and our future children.
To counter the severe impact that Christian conversion has on the three core Asian values—the negative balance of the value of the gospel relative to the value of harmony, the disruptive impact on the value of relationality, and the total eradication of the value of circularity, Saiyasak suggested that Christian leaders in Asia should dialogue and reflect together to come up with an Asian contextual communication approach. He thought Moore's Strategic Triangle should be helpful in this case, which is to build legitimacy and support, public value, and operational capacity.
“The Asian cultural heartlands have experienced loss because of the gospel. This is not to say that Asia has not benefited from the gospel, overall against its core values, Asia has faced more loss than gain,” he explained.
Christianity in Asia has lacked legitimacy and support since the forced conversion in the period of colonization era. Christianity is still being perceived in Southeast Asia, particularly Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, areas that have been formally colonized, as destruction to family, ethnicity, communities, national disharmony, and reciprocal relationships. Meanwhile, Christianity presented through mission condemned the circularity value.
"How should we build the public and social value of the gospel? How should we build the operational capacity for Asia messengers of the gospel?" Saiyasak’s organization, the Evangelical Mission, uses the strategic triangle of education, business, and churches to demonstrate change, building capacity, skill sets, and mindsets.
He described in detail the things that missionaries should do. “They just want to be loved. They want to be embraced. They want us to stand with them...... They want to us be there when they are sick and have demons over them. That's what they understand. That's the gospel.”
Saiyasak ended with the “12 mountains” listed in the global think-tank form of the World Evangelical Alliance convened in September in Austria, a way to build capacity, which includes arts, business, education, family, media, politics, technology, and others, things form the foundations of culture.
“As you continued to do those two things (build values of the gospel and build the capacity of churches in Asia), Asia will lend legitimacy and support for Christianity to grow and thrive in Asia,” he concluded.
2022年10月17日至21日，来自全亚洲600名基督教领袖齐聚泰国曼谷，参加洛桑运动举行的主题为“重思教会与事工：上帝给今天的议程”（Rethinking Church and Mission: God’s Agenda for Today）的“亚洲2022大会”（Asia2022 Congress）。
2022亚洲大会第六次全体会议以“让福音穿透亚洲的文化腹地”（Penetrating Asia's cultural heartlands with the Gospel）为主题，探讨福音如何在亚洲的多元宗教文化中更好地传播、发展和繁荣。东京宣教研究所研究主任、东京圣经神学院院长西冈义之（Yoshiyuki Nishioka）做了主题演讲，分析了当今存在的两种传福音方法—命题真理和社会服务—存在的问题，而后提出新的方法——见证。
泰国湄公河福音宣教团（Mekong Evangelical Mission）主席赛亚克博士（Chansamone Saiyasak）针对演讲做了回应，在原有内容的基础上做了扩展，最后提出了自己的观点。
他从一位亚洲人士的角度谈到需要理解亚洲文化的本质，强调说亚洲背景下的福音传播要认真看待和处理亚洲三大核心价值观——和谐、关系、循环。
（续：特写 | 洛桑2022亚洲大会第六次全体会议（上）：为何“见证”是让福音真正进入亚洲文化的好方式？）
——三点前提：
赛亚克博士在回应之前说明了三点前提：
第一，在谈论福音穿透亚洲文化之前，要先了解亚洲文化是什么。
第二，传福音应该模拟接受者熟悉的方式。
第三，福音的本质是所传的重点。福音在被亚洲人接受之前，要进行去西方化的过程。
他说，他是代表失落的亚洲大陆做回应，而不是代表传教士。
——对命题真理的回应
赛亚克认为命题真理是西方文化塑造的福音，以命题的方式表达更适合西方的思想和认知。建议福音宣讲根据亚洲的文化背景来构建，即印度教、佛教、以及中国和日本的宗教思想。
首先是福音的塑造和宣讲。大多数亚洲人信奉宗教是基于个人的情感体验，福音宣讲可从这方面着手，以认知方式向亚洲人传福音会遭遇抵制。
其次是亚洲中心地带接受福音的方式。亚洲的认识论是基于行为和经验而不是言语相信一件事。东亚大多数人受佛教影响，认为语言完全无法描述现实，逻辑应该被抛弃，语言和逻辑推理会割裂现实的整体性。亚洲人拒绝西方的线性交流方式，采用感觉式交流。所以传福音应该以讲故事、与其他传统艺术结合的方式进行。
不过，赛亚克建议人们信耶稣之后，可以对他们进行门徒训练，即补足对信仰的理性认识。这样可以有效防止福音与本土宗教的融合。
最后是人们如何在他们的生活中活出福音。赛亚克在这里提到亚洲的三个核心价值观：和谐、关系和循环，由此引申出亚洲的集体主义。当前宣教的前提是个人主义，塞亚克建议亚洲的宣教可以从集体主义出发做决策，向整个家庭传福音，甚至信仰转变后信仰的成长也应该是集体经历。
简单来讲，和谐是人与人、与自然、以及所有生命的和谐；关系指人和人之间相互关联，亚洲人的自我意识深植于人际网络中；循环是超越时空，一种与现在、过去和未来的关联，当下的人们生活在祖先和子孙之间，连接着过去和未来。
——对社会福音的回应
针对西冈提出的日本教会所做的社会服务存在的三个问题，塞亚克提出了自己的看法。对于行动和言语之间的分离，他认为两者密不可分，不能分离。对做社会服务的人未能口头上宣讲福音，他认为这是机构的失败，口头宣讲福音要成为基督教服务的一个组成部分。对帮助者和受助者之间的阻碍，他认为这是必须克服的挑战，处理好宣讲过程中让人不舒服的部分，可以让福音持续性地深入亚洲文化中心。
——对“见证”方式的回应
塞亚克高度认可见证对传福音的作用。认为它与亚洲文化中追求和谐、相互依存相一致。而且见证是对话式交流，给个人、家庭和社区赋能，消除了主导和被主导的关系。
同时他也提出了质疑，见证确实让社群中的其他人产生疑问从而听到福音。不过他认为听到并确信是真的与实际接受仍然存在差距。
——亚洲背景下的福音传播要认真看待和处理亚洲三大核心价值观：和谐、关系、循环
回应的最后一部分塞亚克提出了自己的观点。他认为要认真看待和处理亚洲三大核心价值观——即和谐、关系和循环，它们是抵抗福音进入到亚洲文化腹地的基础。
福音给“和谐”带来负面影响，破坏了“关系”，更是彻底根除了“循环”，并不是说亚洲没有从福音中受益，而是总体而言，福音违背其核心价值观，亚洲得不偿失。
为了应对福音给亚洲三大核心价值观带来的破坏，他认为可以采纳哈佛大学教授摩尔提出的战略三角，即建立合法性和支持；建立公共价值；以及建立运营能力。
基督教在亚洲缺乏合法性和支持。基督教常与帝国主义殖民势力联系在一起，以强权强迫人们归信。基督教在东南亚，尤其是老挝、泰国和柬埔寨这些被正式殖民的地区仍然被视为对家庭、种族和社区的破坏。
该如何在亚洲建立福音的公共价值，建立教会的运作能力？
塞亚克所在的湄公河福音宣教团采用教育、商业和教会战略三角，建造运作能力、技能和思维方式。
他也更具体地阐述了教会该做的事情。对亚洲的人来说，“他们想被爱，被拥抱。他们希望我们与他们站在一起。当他们进入新家，他们的孩子上大学，他们生病或被鬼附时，他们希望我们在那里。他们就是这么理解的，（对他们来说）这就是福音。”
他提到世界福音联盟于今年9月在奥地利举行的全球智囊论坛，期间提出了名为“12座山”的项目，意为教会要致力于建造形成文化的12个方面，包括艺术、商业、教育、家庭、媒体、政治、技术等，从而改变文化。
最后，塞亚克呼吁认真对待亚洲的三大核心价值观，在亚洲建立福音的价值，建立教会的能力。“当你们继续做这两件事（建立福音的价值，建立教会的能力），亚洲将为基督教在亚洲的发展和繁荣提供合法性和支持。”
特写 | 洛桑2022亚洲大会第六次全体会议：亚洲背景下的福音传播要认真看待和处理亚洲文化的三大核心价值观
“Harmony, relationality or reciprocal relationships, and circularity, these are the three core Asian values,” said Dr. Chansamone Saiyasak, president of Mekong Evangelical Mission. “Can we penetrate the Asian cultural heartlands? Yes, but not without dealing with those three cultural values that stem from the religion.”
In the sixth plenary talk of the 2022 Asia Congress which gathered 600 Christian leaders from more than 40 countries in Thailand in mid-October, themed “Penetrating Asia's cultural heartlands with the Gospel”, Dr. Saiyasak responded to Dr. Nishioka’s speech on the gospel communication contextualized in the Asian context as the respondent.
Dr. Yoshiyuki Nishioka, research director at the Tokyo Mission Research Institute, contrasted the current two types of gospel transmission—propositional approach and social service approach, and presented the new approach, witnessing, that is to say, presenting a new way of life while living in the culture.
In his response, Dr. Saiyasak analyzed how the propositional approach presented by the verbal proclamation of the gospel should be processed in an Asian context and gave his own opinion on spreading the gospel in the heartlands of Asia. He emphasized the importance of the three core values, urging Christian leaders to deal with them carefully.
For the verbal proclamation of the gospel, Saiyasak believes that these three things are important to consider: how the gospel is being packaged and delivered; how the gospel is being received by the Asians; and how they are going to take the gospel received and live it out in their own context.
Different from the current verbal proclamation of the gospel, which has been shaped by Western culture and more appropriate for Western ways of thinking and cognition, Saiyasak suggested a new method should be adopted to proclaim the gospel in Asia.
First of all, most Asians follow their religion based on their emotional experiences, not on logic.
Secondly, in line with Asian epistemology, the credibility of truth is based on action and experience, not words. Saiyasak explained that most people in East Asia were influenced by Buddhism which holds that language is completely incompetent in describing reality, that logic should be discarded, and that language and logical reasoning segment the holistic nature of reality.
Thus, “Christian messengers should package the gospel in more of a narrative storytelling form, traditional form... allowing the Asian recipient to effectively experience the gospel as a meaningful conversion,” he said. “After the initial conversion experience, then the work of discipleship, the cognitive thinking reasoning process can proceed... effectively preventing syncretism which the West tends to fear when it comes to contextualization or indigenization.”
Thirdly, the Asian cultural value of collectivism streaming from the three core Asian values —harmony, relationality or reciprocity, and circularity—requires the gospel presentation framework to consider following group or collectivist decision-making, not individualistic decision-making, which means the whole family should be collectively witnessed to and persuaded to follow Christ. Moreover, the post-conversion growth in faith should also be experienced collectively as well.
"So, what do harmony, relationality, and circularity mean?"
Saiyasak stated that harmony is achieved among one another, with nature and all life. While Westerners desire to command and control the situation, this core Asian value dictates that they achieve a harmonious relationship with them. So this value discourages converting to another religion due to the perception that it will result in this harmony.
Relationality or reciprocity means everything that occurs is related. We exist not as independent individuals, but as independent and interrelated beings, and the Asian sense of self is more deeply rooted in the web of human relationships.
Circularity refers to the transcendence in space and time, providing a sense of relatedness to the present, the present to the past and the future, a sense of relatedness and life of this world to the whole of creation. We exist between our past ancestors and our future children.
To counter the severe impact that Christian conversion has on the three core Asian values—the negative balance of the value of the gospel relative to the value of harmony, the disruptive impact on the value of relationality, and the total eradication of the value of circularity, Saiyasak suggested that Christian leaders in Asia should dialogue and reflect together to come up with an Asian contextual communication approach. He thought Moore's Strategic Triangle should be helpful in this case, which is to build legitimacy and support, public value, and operational capacity.
“The Asian cultural heartlands have experienced loss because of the gospel. This is not to say that Asia has not benefited from the gospel, overall against its core values, Asia has faced more loss than gain,” he explained.
Christianity in Asia has lacked legitimacy and support since the forced conversion in the period of colonization era. Christianity is still being perceived in Southeast Asia, particularly Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, areas that have been formally colonized, as destruction to family, ethnicity, communities, national disharmony, and reciprocal relationships. Meanwhile, Christianity presented through mission condemned the circularity value.
"How should we build the public and social value of the gospel? How should we build the operational capacity for Asia messengers of the gospel?" Saiyasak’s organization, the Evangelical Mission, uses the strategic triangle of education, business, and churches to demonstrate change, building capacity, skill sets, and mindsets.
He described in detail the things that missionaries should do. “They just want to be loved. They want to be embraced. They want us to stand with them...... They want to us be there when they are sick and have demons over them. That's what they understand. That's the gospel.”
Saiyasak ended with the “12 mountains” listed in the global think-tank form of the World Evangelical Alliance convened in September in Austria, a way to build capacity, which includes arts, business, education, family, media, politics, technology, and others, things form the foundations of culture.
“As you continued to do those two things (build values of the gospel and build the capacity of churches in Asia), Asia will lend legitimacy and support for Christianity to grow and thrive in Asia,” he concluded.
Dealing With Three Core Asian Values Is Essential for Gospel Transmission, Says Mission Leader
