A Strategy of Saturation for Syncretistic Peoples

Imagine a huge knot made up of a million cords pulled so tightly together that you can't get a needle between them. So intertwined they are that you can't distinguish cord from cord. And your job is to extract a cord, a specific one, from the mass. Welcome to the evangelism of syncretistic people.

Syncretism is "the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought." Consequently, a syncretistic person is a spiritual mess, someone who tends to accept many religious and superstitious teachings; the problem is not that he rejects Jesus Christ (indeed he accepts Him and everything we might teach about Him); the problem is that he accepts everything else that everyone else says about Him and about other prophets, and about the Evil Eye, and about the spiritually helpful qualities of garlic and the shrines of famous dead men. For three years we have worked with syncretistic people. I think I could get many of them to repeat after me the words of a sinner's prayer--and in quick time. I even think they would pray it sincerely. I think I could even add something for them to pray, like "And I now turn away from all other beliefs," and they would pray it sincerely; but I think they would still go away lost, perhaps even more lost (if that were possible), thinking that the magic prayer, like the garlic, would help their relationship with God. In my zeal to get things moving, to see souls saved, and to report conversions, I think I would be missing the point that I am to be a disciple-maker, not merely a decision-maker.

So how do we reach syncretistic people? I think they need saturation: the simplicity of Truth, presented over and over and over and over again, in as many ways as possible. Live the Gospel, preach it, read it, teach it, illustrate it, act it out, flesh it out! Let it shine upon their hearts, day in and day out, until the conglomeration of dark doctrines is flushed out by the Light. This takes time, faith, patience. The Scriptures teach that evangelism is a process, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but nevertheless a definite link of steps called planting, watering, waiting for the increase, and finally reaping (1 Corinthians 3:6-8).

Here's a case study: for three years our syncretistic target people have listened to teaching after teaching, engaged in conversation after conversation, have listed to sermon tape after sermon tape, watched the same evangelistic film over and over and over. Those of them who can read, have read the Word of God. We have cause to believe that they are beginning to understand, accept and experience the exclusivity and superiority of the Gospel message. Here's why:

1) They continue to meet with us and they themselves bring up the topic of spiritual life: no need for us "bridge into" the topic. In evangelism, it often becomes evident when you're becoming a nuisance, when you and the hearer are in two separate mindzones, and when the Gospel is falling on completely deaf ears. But these guys are "all ears."

2) They sense authentic love. Being an eschewed minority group, they can recognize condescension and insincerity a mile away. But one of them told one of our guys, "You know the difference between your church and all the NGOs? The NGOs come out here and shake our hands, then disappear when the project money dries up; but you all keep coming back--and you kiss our cheeks."

3) They correct each other, correctly! By this I mean this: our evangelistic discussions are rarely tidy, western-style meetings where we lecture and they listen, taking notes and raising their hands to ask questions when needed. No, no, our gatherings are boisterous and sometimes chaotic: an observer might think the thing was "coming to blows" if it were not for the regular outbursts of laughter. They talk over each other, interrupt, and object. More and more, the men are taking ownership of the Truth, the more seasoned listeners in our group "going after" the newer listeners, correcting their false notions dogmatically.

4) Spiritual questions tend to reveal the movements of a lost man's heart and they are asking good questions. For example, one of the men, formerly our biggest opposer and a self-proclaimed religious leader asked: "Do we seek God or does God seek us?" The background of his question was his many pilgrimages to the shrines of the holy mystic men in order to seek God, but hasn't found Him yet. We explained the Good Shepherd who goes after a lost sheep. That little story has arrested his lost heart, and he says he now feels God seeking him every day. In fact, I was shocked when this guy vehemently asserted: "Jesus is the beginning and the end! Jesus is everything!"

5) "G" continues to grow in spiritual perception and argued to his peers, "Look, our religion tries to keep everything mysterious, tells everyone that we can't know the big secrets for many years, if ever, but these guys come and reveal to us everything they know. Why should everything be a mystery? Why would we trust something we could never understand?"

Evangelizing syncretistic people is like trying to untangle a huge knot. My theory is that we can never untangle the knot. Instead, we have to provide long-term exposure to the Light which will burn away the competing cords. When the smoke settles, a solitary, scarlet cord is discovered, wrapped tightly around the newborn's heart.