The message of the church cannot be changed, but the message must be preached in a way people can best understand and accept. At the Asian Society of Missiology Forum held in Bali, Indonesia, we talked about Christian mission in religious pluralist society. The ASM Forum was a productive and profitable gathering of missiologists from Asia, Canada and the USA.
The Apostle Paul said: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse. As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Gal 1:8-9).
The same Paul also said:
“To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, so to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might have some.” (1 Cor. 9:19-22)
Pluralism is a current trend in mission. It is a must for us to understand it fully so we can bring the truth about Christ and His Gospel to the mission fields effectively.
As the founding and honorary president of ASM and Editor of AMA, I am honored that Asian Missions Advance dedicated its 61st issue to Asian Society of Missiology. We would like to share the articles written and discussed by seasoned missiologists of our time during the ASM Forum. Included here are the works of Dr. Chris Gnanakan, entitled “Any Which Way But Win?”; Dr. Teresa Chai’s “Christian Mission in Religious Pluralistic Society: With Special Reference to Malaysia”; Dr. Sadiri Joy Tira’s “Religious Pluralism in the Context of the 21st Century Global Diaspora”; Dr. Moon Jang Lee, with his paper, “The Progress of the Gospel in South Korea”; and Dr. Martin Lukito Sinaga with his work “Conversion and Public Conversation in Asia”. Special thanks to Dr. Eiko Takamizawa for writing a short but comprehensive report about the ASM Forum!
We share to you Asian Society of Missiology! We hope you will benefit and be blessed as much as we did!
Timothy K. Park
Editor