Part 17 (1/2)
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It would be folly for the Lutheran Church, for instance, which has one polity in Germany, another in Sweden, another in Iceland, and still another in America, to attempt permanently to impose any one of those special forms upon the j.a.panese Lutheran Church; it will have its own special polity, but this should not cause us any anxiety or concern.
If the faith and life of the church are right, it matters but little about its polity. We should be more concerned for the broader interests of the kingdom than for the perpetuation of our special form of the church, for the promise of final triumph is only to the kingdom.
Experience has settled certain points in regard to the native church, which Dr. Lawrence, in his admirable book on ”Modern Missions in the East,” denominates ”axioms of missions.” My own experience and judgment lead me to give them my hearty indors.e.m.e.nt. Three are named:
1. ”The native church in each country should be organized as a distinct church, ecclesiastically independent of the church in any other country.”
2. ”The pastorate of the native church should be a native pastorate.
Whatever else the missionary is, he should not be pastor.”
3. ”The principles of self-control, self-help, and self-extension should be recognized in the {293} very organization of the church. To postpone them to days of strength is to postpone both strength and blessing.”
The question of self-support and independence is one of the gravest in connection with the native church. All are agreed as to its desirableness, and all aim ultimately to attain it; but the success. .h.i.therto attained in j.a.pan is not what might be expected. There are perhaps a larger number of self-supporting churches in j.a.pan than in most mission fields, but not so many as there should be. The native churches, as a rule, do not contribute what they should or could toward their own support. In this regard the statistics usually given are very deceptive. Many of those churches put down as self-supporting either are so largely through the private contributions of the missionaries of the station, or are churches in connection with mission schools, where the expense is small because one of the professors, who draws a salary from the board, acts as pastor. I have heard of one church marked ”self-supporting” that was composed of only one man and his family. This man was the evangelist, who, having some private means, supported himself.
While the annual statistics show fairly good contributions ”by the native churches,” it should be borne in mind that the contributions of a large body of missionaries, who are liberal givers, are {294} included. At most stations they give more than the whole native church combined.
Native Christians do not contribute as much toward the support of the gospel as they formerly did toward the support of their false religions. The reasons for this are, first, that heathenism induced larger gifts by teaching that every one who makes a contribution for religious purposes is thereby heaping up merit for himself in the life to come. And, second, that the native churches have from the beginning leaned on the missionaries and societies, until independent giving and self-sacrifice have been discouraged. The mission board is looked upon as an inst.i.tution of limitless resources, whose business it is to provide money for the work. And, third, that in many instances the native evangelists do not heartily second the efforts of the missionaries to bring the churches to a self-supporting basis. They would much rather draw their salaries from the mission treasurer than from the members of their churches. The reasons for this are obvious: they could not conscientiously urge their flocks to support them on a better scale than they themselves live, but they can ask the mission to do this; again, when their salaries come from the mission they are prompt and sure, while if they come from the churches they are irregular and uncertain. But in justice to j.a.panese {295} pastors it should be said that, while the above is true of many of them, there are others who have willingly made personal sacrifices, living on much smaller salaries than formerly, in order to a.s.sist their churches to self-support.
How to overcome all these obstacles and develop a liberal, self-supporting spirit in the native church is a difficult problem with which the mission boards are at present grappling. The Congregational Church has more nearly solved it than any other, yet its number of independent churches fell off considerably during the past year.
The native church must not be judged too harshly for its failure in self-support. It has not yet been educated in giving as the home churches have, and its resources are very limited. Most of its members are exceedingly poor and have all they can do to provide for the support of themselves and families. Our proper att.i.tude toward them in this matter is one of patience, sympathy, and help.
How shall the native church be provided with a competent ministry?
This is a perplexing question to the churches in the home lands; how much more so in a mission field! It is necessary to provide pastors, evangelists, catechists, teachers, Bible-women, etc.--a whole army of workers.
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The first question in this connection is, How is the material to be provided? Shall bright, active boys who seem adapted to the work be selected out of the mission schools and especially trained for this work at the expense of the mission, without waiting for a divine call?
This is the usual method, but it is far from satisfactory. Such, not having sought the ministerial office, do not feel its dignity and responsibility as much as those who are brought into it by a personal call. Some of the brightest and most promising, after having been educated at the expense of the mission, are easily enticed into other callings. Men so chosen and educated are very apt to consider themselves, and to be considered by others, as simply paid agents of the mission. Often their labors are performed in a mere routine and perfunctory manner, they evidently caring more for employment than for conversions. These are serious objections, and yet many good and n.o.ble men have been so trained; it does seem that in the early stages of mission work there is hardly any other way of providing a native ministry.
So soon as a native church is developed, with its accompanying Christian sentiment, the personal call to the ministry can be relied upon to furnish the material. An effort is then made by most of the larger missionary bodies to give a broad training to many men, and to rely upon a {297} certain number, in answer to a divine call, seeking the ministerial office. In this way the mission schools supply a portion of the theological students, but in j.a.pan the larger portion are not graduates of the mission schools.
After the men are supplied, how shall they be trained for work? Shall instruction be given in j.a.panese only, or shall English be taught also?
(For full discussion of this question see Chapter XIII.) Shall Greek and Hebrew be studied? How far shall the native religions be taught?
Shall the curriculum in other respects be about what it is at home, or shall it be modified and especial stress laid upon certain subjects?
Shall students study privately with the missionaries, or shall theological seminaries be erected? Shall students be encouraged to complete their theological training in Europe and America? s.p.a.ce does not permit a discussion of each of these questions, but only a bare statement of the consensus of judgment and practice in j.a.pan after years of experience.
Shall instruction in the original languages of Scripture be given? As to the desirability of this there can be no question; but as the whole science of theology is entirely new here, and a study of its more important branches requires a long time, it has not been customary to give instruction in either of these languages. In recent years some seminaries have been trying to {298} introduce primary courses in Greek and Hebrew, and as the schools grow older, and their equipment improves, these languages will gradually be added to the curriculum.
Shall the religious systems and books of j.a.pan be taught in theological schools? It is highly desirable that native ministers clearly understand and be able intelligently to combat the false religions around them; and to this end some seminaries give instruction in the doctrines of Buddhism and s.h.i.+nto as well as Christianity. In one or two instances Buddhism is taught in Christian theological schools by Buddhist priests, but it is usually taught by Christian teachers in connection with dogmatic theology. As a rule, the native ministry desires more thorough instruction in the native religions, while the missionaries oppose any extension of the curriculum in that direction.
In general the same branches of theology are taught here that are taught at home. It is especially desirable that instruction in dogmatics and apologetics be thorough and sound, and these branches should perhaps be emphasized more than others.
Experience has proved that it is much better to have theological schools where the native ministry may be instructed than for the missionary to undertake such instruction in private. All the larger missions have fairly well-equipped {299} theological schools, and private instruction is only given by a few men whose missions have not yet been able to establish these. It is unfortunate, both for the student and for the missionary, when theological instruction must be given in private.
Many j.a.panese have been sent abroad to complete their theological course, but the experiment has not been satisfactory. The consensus of opinion now is that for the main body of pastors and evangelists a local training is much better than a foreign one. A few men of exceptional ability may be educated abroad as teachers and leaders, but great care must be taken not to denationalize them.