Do I Have to Become a Na'vi to Be Effective Among the Na'vi?

The issue of contextualization in missions is one that is hotly debated. Wrongly practiced, the cross-cultural witness presents a "gospel" that is so watered-down that the one who hears this "gospel" doesn't have to confront his or her own sinfulness. The gospel of Jesus becomes a gospel of no offense. It results in one simply incorporating jesus (intentional lowercase) into his or her existing world view. In other words, it results in syncretism.

When contextualization is done appropriately, the gospel is not changed. However, the one sharing the gospel must critically examine his or her own worldview in order to separate what is cultural from what is biblical. The gospel will confront the individual and the community with their true sinful nature; the gospel will offend as it challenges deeply and, often, subconsciously held cultural beliefs and traditions that run counter to God's Word. My job, as a witness to the gospel and as a discipler of believers, is to look for ways to present the gospel so that it is understood fully and truthfully by the hearer -- I need to let go of any of my own cultural baggage that might hinder the hearing of the gospel and the growth of the church and employ forms that are contextual for my host culture, as long as those forms are not counter to the Bible. For example, rather than using the Roman Road presentation of the gospel that is systematic and that speaks to particular groups of Americans, I might choose to present the gospel in a story format by telling the story of the Philippian jailer from Acts 16. Or, as churches are started, the form of worship that is used by an African church might look very different from that used by a Korean church.

Every cross-cultural witness that I know eventually struggles with this -- some, admittedly, earlier in their ministry than others. Being able to contextualize means that the cross-cultural witness, whether from another country or another ethnic group within the same country, must enter the culture as a learner.

Becoming a Na'vi

While there is much to criticize in the movie Avatar, it contains some useful reminders of what contextualization means when one wants to effectively communicate cross-culturally and to facilitate change. In the movie, Jake Sully's mission is to convince the Na'vi of Pandora to relocate so that the corporation can extend its mining operations. Jake realizes that he must understand Na'vi culture in order to do that and asks Neytiri to teach him. Jake is taken to the "village" and introduced to the spiritual leader of the Na'vi, Moat. Jake repeats his desire to learn Na'vi culture and Moat challenges Jake by saying, It is hard to fill a cup that is already full. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you know where this is going. Jake convinces Moat and some of the Na'vi that his cup is not full -- in other words, that he doesn't come with preconceived ideas and that he is capable and willing to learn. Predictably, a major sub-plot of the rest of the movie is the revelation that Jake's cup is pretty full though he mostly overcomes that and becomes an insider.

Take away's for me as a cross-cultural seed planter:

• The mere presence of an outsider and his or her interaction with a society will bring change. Sully tried to enter Na'vi culture in order to effect change. Change within the Na'vi began with his very first contact with the warrior, Neytiri. Culturally, Neytiri should have killed Sully at first contact but she did not. Further, she allowed him to follow her back to the village. I need to be spiritually discerning to do what I can to ensure that my presence in a host culture brings positive change.

• Though some non-Christian anthropologists might disagree, change in a culture is not inherently bad. The change in battle tactics that Sully introduced helped the Na'vi defeat the corporation and its army and helped them gain their freedom from external control. Our mission as cross-cultural witnesses is to facilitate change. The gospel accepted is change effected. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

• As outsiders, we need to become aware of our own cultural biases and be open to seeing the world from the perspective of our host culture. We're most effective in our mission when we can do that. The corporation tried to force change among the Na'vi. When that didn't work, they sent Sully in to learn the culture to try to effect change from inside. When we begin to understand our host culture, then we know better how to present the gospel in ways that make sense to members of that culture.

• As we understand our host culture, we will be changed. In Avatar, Sully did not just move from being somewhat apathetic about his mission to being empathic with the Na'vi. He completely identified with and adopted the Na'vi culture -- from a Christian perspective, he went way too far (one of the places where the illustration breaks down). Further, he changed his methods for effecting change and began to use strategies that made sense to the Na'vi and it was then that he became an effective change agent. Our challenge is to change in ways that do not compromise either the gospel or our witness in the host culture but that allow us to communicate more effectively.

So, in order to be effective among the Na'vi, do I have to become a Na'vi? To a point, yes; but only to a point. After all, isn't that what Christ did?  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:12, NIV) Jesus became flesh but did not adopt our sinful nature and practices. And, isn't this what Paul said that he did? I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22, NIV)

What would it mean to become a Na'vi among your host culture? What kind of changes does an outsider need to make? What changes have you made?

For the Kingdom,
Bob A

David Watson in his blog post, Church Planting Essentials – Exploring Contextualization and Deculturalization, does an excellent job discussing this topic. It was his post that prompted me to write my post. Also, thanks to Mina E for her comment that "there's a lot of cross-cultural stuff in Avatar". Her comment helped me watch the movie with an eye and ear to that perspective.