Book Review: Intercultural Discipleship

How many of us truly understand what discipleship is? Discipleship, in a nutshell, is the process by which a disciple transforms from a prior way of living to the way God wants that disciple to live like. Discipleship, according to W. Jay Moon, is a transformational process to draw closer to God. W. Jay Moon is a professor of church planting and evangelism. Moon use to be a missionary in Ghana, West Africa, with SIM. He is qualified to write this book because he has doctorate and has served in an intercultural setting in West Africa. Moon wrote Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global approaches to Spiritual Formation for Christian colleagues and new Christians who are stuck in spiritual ruts, and they do not understand how to get out of their spiritual ruts (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), p. xi). In his book, Moon addresses two problems with Christians today. Moon addresses syncretism and split-level Christianity. His bottom line is that “God has given us a wealth of cultural tools to promote spiritual growth, but we often overlook them and settle for just one” (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), p. xi). W. Jay Moon set up his book where he begins each chapter with a proverb that comes from a cultural lens and a personal story of his life. This helps the reader, who happens to be me, to give us evidence of where the chapter is traveling to. At the end of each chapter, he will give the readers suggestions and personal growth exercises to allow us to be playmaker with a medium size group of lifetime followers of Jesus Christ. (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), p. xii).

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1 details how we got stuck. Chapter 2 discusses two ruts: Syncretism (blending two religions into one) and split-level Christianity (finding answers outside of our faith and when we have difficulty answering a question concerning a problem, we look outside of our sect of religion to find answers). Chapter 3 defines intercultural discipleship. Chapter 4 discusses how symbols are used in a discipleship setting. Chapter 5 details how new rituals help new Christians develop their faith better. Chapter 6 helps new Christians understand the old rituals of the Christian faith and how we do not use some of those old rituals today because of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Chapter 7 details how storytelling is important to the discipleship process. Chapter 8 details how proverbs are an essential component to the conversation of discipleship building. Chapter 9 details how drama, dance, and music play an important role in the discipleship process. Chapter 10 details the holistic approach to the discipleship building efforts. Chapter 11 is how to disciple build when the Christians live in a postmodern society. Chapter 12: How to develop avoidance mechanisms to help escape the spiritual ruts that often keep us stuck in the same place as before. With all these chapters in mind, the main point of this book is that discipleship can look different in different societies across the world.

Moon’s Approach to Syncretism

Syncretism is a major problem in today’s culture. Many “so-called” Christians embrace a wide range of different belief systems and incorporate them into one religion. One example of this is Diane Kuhn. Diane Kuhn works at Great Clips in Derby, Kansas. While I was getting my haircut one day, we started to talk about religion. She went from being a Baptist to Catholic. So, this change makes me wonder if she is incorporating some of the catholic traditions with the Baptist traditions also.

Syncretism is a dangerous game to play when you are Christian. Moon warns that some intercultural agents of Christ are counterfeiting some parts of their faith with another one. When you make a shake, do you blend fruit with vegetables? No, you wouldn’t. In the same manner, a Christian should not blend their Christianity with a counterfeit religion like Folk Religion as mentioned in the book. Moon uses a definition from Moreau. Moreau defines Syncretism as “the replacement or dilution of the essential truths of the gospel thru the incorporation of non-Christian elements” (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 35). Moon also wrote, “When the stream of Christianity is mixed with the stream of a folk religion, the resulting practice is a mixture of both such that it is not purely one or the other” W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 35). So, Folk Religion and Christianity do not intersect and not part of the same set of beliefs.

Moon’s Approach to Discipleship

Since Syncretism exists in the churches today, Churches should start discipling one another. Moon wrote, “Churches largely agree that discipleship should be a priority for the mission of the church” (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 3). He also notes why they are not discipling one another to the best ability. Moon writes, “Unfortunately, they would also usually agree on another point: their track record for discipleship is not so good.” Then Moon presents a thought-provoking question: “Can churches from other cultures and other time periods provide some needed guidance in this important process of discipleship?” (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 3). Moon argues to the tune of yes. He believes other cultures and other time periods can provide some needed guidance in this important process of discipleship. Moon defines discipleship as the process by which a discipler transforms their disciple’s worldview, not simply to learn new beliefs or behaviors.

Moon’s approach to Split-Level Christianity

Split-level Christianity, according to Moon, is the process by which a person reverts to folk religion for answers to the questions that are usually not asked in the church. According to Moon, Split-level Christianity is more dangerous for disciplers because split-level Christianity is not very easily detected. Moon wrote, “For disciplers, split-level Christianity can be more dangerous than syncretism, since split-level Christianity is not readily detected” (W. Jay Moon. Intercultural Discipleship: Learning from Global Approaches to Spiritual Formation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 35). Split-level Christianity is more related to mathematical relations. A relation between two sets, such as set of Folk beliefs and the set of Christian beliefs, is the collection of ordered pairs containing one object from each set. So, when we compare this math principle to Split-Level Christianity, we can see that the Venn diagram would include some beliefs from Christianity and some beliefs from folk religion. Therefore, Split-level Christianity can be proved in a logic proof because of the relation between the two sets. However, it is ill-advised.

Mathematical Proof Applications of Moon’s Book Regarding Syncretism

In Advanced Calculus, an upper-level math class, I learned about set theories and relation theories. A definition that I learned in Advanced Calculus using a Discrete Mathematics book, Kenneth H. Rosen states, “two sets are equal if and only if they have the same elements” (Kenneth H. Rosen. Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications. (New York: Random House, 1988), 27). For example, A Baptist and an Evangelical meet up for supper. A Baptist will have the same sets of beliefs as an Evangelical. However, if we change one of those elements in the core belief system of those one of those people. They will no longer be equals. A set of beliefs is basically doctrinal statements that collate with their belief system. For example, a set of Baptist beliefs are and will never the same as a set of Folk beliefs. So, when we draw a Venn Diagram, we cannot include any of the Folk beliefs into a set of Baptist beliefs because they are not subsets of one another. The definition of Subset, by Kenneth H. Rosen, states, “The set A is said to be a subset of B if and only if every element of A is also an element of B. We use the notation A B to indicate that A is a subset of the Set B” (Kenneth H. Rosen. Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications. (New York: Random House, 1988), 28). With this definition, we can deduct that a Set of Baptist beliefs is not a subset of a set of Folk Beliefs. We can also deduct that a set of folk beliefs is not a subset of Baptist beliefs. Folk religion and Christianity are two separate entities that can cross over.

For illustrative purposes, let’s say A is the set of Baptist beliefs and B is the set of Folk beliefs. For reference purposes again, a complement is defined as “a set that contains the elements present in the universal set but not in set A” (Kenneth H. Rosen. Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications. (New York: Random House, 1988), 36). So Set B can have all the elements in the universal set of different religions, which there are hundreds of religions present in the United States alone, but can never be part of Set A. So, A is a complement of set B because Set A is part of the universal set of different religions but can never be part of set B. The Same could be said for Set B. Set B is part of the universal set of different religions but can never be part of Set B. Therefore, we can deduct from Moon’s book that A is a complement of B because set A does not contain any of the elements contained in Set B. Therefore, we can deduct that set A can never collate with Set B. With this mathematical proof and the warning against syncretism in Moon’s book, we can see that Syncretism can never work because blending different religions isn’t very logical with the use of a Venn diagram.

Conclusion

This book was very well-written and well-received in the Christian environment. Split-level Christianity and Syncretism poses a threat to Christians across the globe in various cultural backgrounds. However, according to the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, we should not mix religions together or find answers outside of Christianity because this makes God sad. God wants a personal relationship with us, and we betray God’s trust when we look for answers outside of Christianity. Christianity is basically a personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.