imagining how the church can reorient around mission

Pegs and Holes

By Josh
Imagine a machine that is designed to carry large chunks of marble up out of mine shaft where it can be packaged and shipped off. Now imagine what people would say if the miners suddenly struck oil and the man in charge decided that they would use the exact same machine to elevate the oil to the surface.
People would declare that the man is insane! They would say that his system was built for a different purpose and for a different environment. They would say that the oil they are dealing with is uniquely different than the marble that they have dealt with in the past. Therefore it is only logical that a new machine must be built; one that can conform to and handle this new material.
In the same way, western missionaries are moving into countries and establishing church organizational structures that were built for an entirely different “substance”. It is ludicrous to expect a church system designed for a mega church in Seattle, filled with wealthy middle class Americans, to work for a nomadic tribe in Central Africa. The very “substance” that we are dealing with is different. All cultures are not the same, and the church or machine must therefore be modified or changed in order to handle different types of cultures. The machine is still doing the same thing, but simply by a different process and means.
Square_peg_in_round_hole_2When you look at foreign missions from this perspective it seems obvious that the organization and way that the church functions must be very different from what is common in America; however, sadly, it is still very common for western missionaries to go into a country and try to conform that countries culture to his system of church organization. We might as well try to put a square peg in a round hole. With enough pressure the square will fit into the hole, but it will no longer be the square that God uniquely created to be a square. Westerners have fallen into the trap of thinking that God only makes round pegs and round holes. We think that God has made everyone like us, and that those that are not like us need to change.
-JS
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4 Responses

  1. Very true.
    This issue is what Hirsch was addressing in the lecture video that we watched in class. If you are trying to dig a hole twenty feet away from the hole you already started. It is absurd to dig deeper down into the first hole.
    This is the problem that most of the world (or at least Europe) has with our American society, we believe we are God’s gift to Earth, so to speak. This is not an endearing method of building bridges or relationships with others whether it be on the national level or on the individual level.

  2. Josh, it is funny how we try to force an old and out of date method of church onto our peers. Especially with so much modernity and post-modernity all around, I don’t quite know what our generation is longing for, but whatever it is, it is going to be big! Once we figure out what shape to cut the block for our unique generation I believe that crazy wonderful things will happen! We have so much potential to do so much good in the world!
    Thanks for writing this.

  3. I think the square peg and round hole is a good metaphor for the current state of the American church. What made the Church flourish in the 20th century does not work with the younger generations of today. I’m excited to see what creative expressions of ‘Church’ come out of our generation around the world.

  4. I definitely agree with you that our missions often try to impose our systems without taking into consideration important cultural differences that might require a different approach. This applies not only when going to a different country but also to different states within our country and even different areas in our own cities and towns.
    Peter