Recently, a visitor to Japan asked me
why it is that Japanese people frequent temples and shrines, yet
claim that they do not have any religious beliefs. In the west we
consider this to be contradictory or hypocritical, however to
Japanese people this is normal. In the Japanese way of thinking going
to a temple is not necessarily a matter of belief or unbelief, but
more of a sense of honoring the past, honoring ancient traditions,
and being respectful to ancestors as well as Japan itself. Imagine a typical
American atheist coming into a church and having his children partake
in Sunday school out of respect for America's culture, traditions,
and history while at the same time refusing to believe in God!
Imagine if he asked the pastor to pray for him, while not believing
in God at all! This is just one of many examples of how Japanese
people live.
To the Japanese person it is important
to focus on, uphold, and show respect for the past. Traditionally, to
them the past is held in reverence and should be considered most
important when considering future decision making. So, even though
the average modern Japanese person does not claim to have any
religious beliefs, they will take their child to a religious dedication
ceremony because that is what the culture and tradition demands. They
will perform prayers and ceremonies (or pay others to) for their dead
ancestors at grave sites because that is what culture and tradition
demands, not because that is what they actually believe in. In this
way Japan is a land of contrasts. In the west we often boldly believe
that we should move into the future with little if any regard for the
past. This occurs to such an extent that increasingly few people know
about history or care to know about history. Of course, there should
be a balance.
In Japan this balance is increasingly
difficult to find as there is a rapid push for globalization, a large
number of Japanese people who have traveled and lived abroad, and a
new generation that desires to leave behind the heavy burdens of the
past. So, as long as these concepts remain in a flux, Japan remains a
land of contradictions. Japanese people increasingly have to decide
whether they will modernize while abandoning the past versus trying
to modernize while preserving the past. I personally believe that a
major part of the spiritual powers controlling Japanese thinking come
from the power exerted over the Japanese people from the worship of
the past. Any visitor will recognize that Japanese people go to great
extends to preserve the past. Japanese people take great pride in
their past. (As opposed to recent American thinking which takes pride
in hating its past.)
Concerning the ministry here it would
appear important to show respect for the past within reason while
balancing a healthy outlook on the future with God's help. Once a
person becomes a born-again believer in Christ there is a definite
pattern to personal growth with having all things become new and moving in a
future direction toward becoming more holy like God. This is in stark
contrast to focusing on the past to the point of being the most
important thing to revere. A real challenge is finding the balance
between past, present, and future with God as our emphasis. Our American churches are currently dealing with this as well. Completely focusing on the past or completely rejecting the past are
both negative extremes with their own consequences. Part of our faith
is a healthy focus on the past while moving into the future knowing
the hope that God is in control with a future plan for humanity.
