I have been enjoying the insights found in the book “Communicating Christ In Animistic Contexts” by Gailyn Van Rheenen. This is another must have book for the missionary appointee, short-termer or for the missionary that is already ministering in an area that holds to an animistic world view. Many readers may have no idea what animism really is. Hopefully, the following article will be helpful to you.
“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfecta with the LORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 18:10-13
Some questions were asked of Van Rheenan concerning the fact that most missionary appointees are ill equipped to deal with animistic religion because they know nothing about it.
1. How can we expect missionaries to be effective if no realistic preparation about spiritism is offered prior to going to a country?
2. Considering that the average person does not understand the concept of spirits existing in our world today, how can they understand the mind of the national or the culture and then succeed in spreading the genuine message of God?
3. How cynical are untrained missionaries toward beliefs in spiritism? (Da Silva 1988) These questions that were asked were right on target.
I noticed within weeks of coming to Zambia that my world view was tainted by my Americanism and this veneer is difficult to pry off. Every time I hear a story about a woman flying into a yard at night or a chicken with a person’s head running around I tend to remain cynical. The fact is that my Zambian brothers around me understand that we “wrestle not against flesh and blood”. They have grown up in an environment that constantly pits good against evil.
So what is animism? “Animism is defined as the belief that personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual forces have power over human affairs and, consequently, that human beings must discover what beings and forces are influencing them in order to determine future action and, frequently, to manipulate their power.” (Van Rheenan 20)
When a missionary arrives on the field he carries with him his bag of past experience and his knowledge of how he dealt with each experience. An American coming to the mission field in the 21st Century will have a different world view then let’s say one that was living in America during the time of Nathanial Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allen Poe. Any student of American Literature will see that these authors held a world view that entertained the idea of personal and impersonal spiritual powers at work around them that often caused great calamity.
Animism is a belief in spiritual beings and forces that have power over human affairs. When you look deeply into a culture you will see the world views that most deeply impact an individual. “Effective missionaries must accept two presuppositions about world views. First, worldviews are so natural to insiders that they feel that all others perceive reality their way…Second, world views can be perceived by outsiders at some times more easier than at other times.” (Van Rheenan 33) The death of a loved one or the initiation of a youth into adulthood will often bring out the roots of the national man or woman’s world view. Much is happening in clear view, but there is much going on behind the scenes that an outsider would not see or understand. The idea that there are beings and forces at work is certainly present.
Kamps says that animism’s “foundation is based in power and in power personalities”. “The essence of animism is power—power of the ancestor to control those of his lineage, power of an evil eye to kill a new born or ruin a harvest,…power of the demonic to possess a spiritist, power of magic to control human events, power of impersonal forces to heal a child or make a person wealthy.” (Van Rheenan 21)
I have met a man who did not eat certain foods because his parents forbade it. When I pressed him to give a reason why, he informed me that when he was born his parents went to a witch doctor and the doctor said the boy would grow strong and have a great position in society one day if he would abstain from certain foods. He and his parents later on became professed Christians, but the eating habit continued. This is hard for me to grasp with my Christian world view. As a Christian I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I believe His work on the cross is complete and that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone. Yet in an animistic society some people still hold onto animistic beliefs after a profession of faith. “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” 2 Kings 17:33
For many of us reason and logic is a basic truth that we live out on a daily basis. Two plus two is four. What goes up must come down. We arrive at solutions based upon the facts at hand. Duke has four legs and likes to bark. A dog barks and has four legs. So we surmise that Duke is a dog. In animistic contexts it is all about manipulation of circumstances. If you can make two plus two equal five then you will. Many people if given the opportunity will try to “manipulate spiritual beings and forces to do [their] will.” (Van Rheenan 22) It has been estimated that 40% of the world’s population base their lives on animistic thinking and that 88% of the unreached people in the world are animistic. (Neil and Kamps—Van Rheenan 25)
If you are going to be an effective minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in animistic contexts you must first have an ample understanding of the culture you are trying to reach and seek to understand their animistic world view.
I believe the Apostle Paul utilized this in his ministry. He wrote to us in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”
I am by no means advocating that missionaries become like the animists to reach them. This is also not making allowance for syncretism. We must firmly entrench ourselves in the study of people groups that we are intent on evangelizing in order to truly reach them. “Mass Conversions” are not a test of a missionary’s effectiveness. When people’s lives are transformed by the Gospel and they turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God” then the power of the Gospel has taken effect.
Another important aspect that cultural anthropologists have found is that throughout a country which has dozens and dozens of tribes and differing dialects there will also be a multiplicity of world views. “Unlike Christianity, orthodox Islam, or traditional Hinduism, animism does not present a consistent cosmology of viewing life.” (Van Rheenan 27) So we must not fall into the trap that what is believed by one people group is believed by all. As a cultural outsider we should be an observer, listener, and student of the society we are ministering within. A missionary that charges in before doing this will place himself as an interloper and will have to learn many hard lessons before he becomes an effective cross-cultural communicator. As a rookie on the mission field I have made my share of mistakes in this area and it costs time, resources, and relationships. Resources and relationships can be recovered, but time is forever lost.
Many people fear that God will call them to be a missionary to Timbuktu and they are afraid of the “what if’s” of the African mission field. God has called us to bring the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. This means the Gospel is to be preached in New York, London, Vienna, and yes Timbuktu. My family is privileged to serve in a land that is largely animistic in their world view. “For a variety of reasons animists remain the most receptive of all the peoples of the world to Christianity. First, animistic peoples live with an all-pervasive fear of ancestors, spirits, magic, and witchcraft. However, the Christian message provides an ideology in which “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). Christ has triumphed over the principalities and powers which undergird animistic systems and has put them to open shame (Col 2:15). Second, while animists fear disharmony, which tears society apart, the Christian message shows how people can truly live in harmony with both God and man. This harmony is not based on human beings’ manipulating the divine; rather, the Christian learns to place his life dependently in the hands of the sovereign God, who is worshipped as Lord of lords and King of kings. Third, tribal animists have been especially receptive because their worldviews are inadequate to explain technologies that seek to control nature. Tribal animists, who believe that trees and rocks contain powerful nature spirits, are shocked when bulldozers and tractors destroy sacred trees and push aside rocks while constructing a new road. Christianity, however, presents God as the creator of all things, who has put human beings in charge of his creation (Gen 1:26). Fourth, the animistic system is typically amoral. The spirits and forces appeased and propitiated in animism are morally ambivalent. However, moral and righteous God the Creator calls the animist into relationship with Him.” (Van Rheenan 30)
“Psalm 103:19 states, “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Borders are nonexistent in God’s kingdom. Nothing is beyond the reach of His rule. The Psalmist declares in 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Nothing can frustrate His purpose and obstacles are nonexistent to his wishes. This is why we can Trust in the Lord. God is praiseworthy because His rule is universal and trustworthy because His purposes are unstoppable. Psalm 135:6, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” All the elements of the earth are the tools of providence. He controls the clouds, the lightning, and the wind for his ends—fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds all fulfill his word and respond to his commands.” (Talbert-Not by Chance)
Those holding an animistic worldview must have a “power encounter” with the God of the universe. They must come to an understanding that there is an all loving, all powerful God who desires all men to be saved. (2 Peter 3:9) Who works all things together for His good (Romans 8:28) and that if they delight in Him He will give them the desires of their heart. (Psalm 37:4)
