Some Christians in Africa face the challenge of syncretism. Conrad Mbewe shares with us how Christians ought to respond amidst such challenges.
How Do I Navigate Family Pressures To Perform Cultural Rituals As A Christian?
Jesus says we are the salt and the light of the world. And we need to make sure that the light of God’s word, the light of Christ is shining through us.
“An obvious example I can think about is when you’ve had a death in the family and you find that relatives who go to Church will come to say to you, “Here are some charms. Bathe in them so that the spirits of the departed may rest and consequently you too will be free of that.”
Topics & Timestamps
0:10 – The challenge African Christians face
0:41 – An example of the African traditional influence
1:18 – The wrong way of dealing with these pressure
1:38 – The right way of dealing with these pressures
2:17 – Why our right response matters?
2:40 – When our light shines brightest
Top Quotes:
“Our response ought to be, “I am a Christian and I take God’s word seriously. My protection will come from the Lord himself. He is my comforter and my protector. And I am under him who is absolutely sovereign.”
“Jesus says we are the salt and the light of the world. And we need to make sure that the light of God’s word, the light of Christ is shining through us.”
“Trials will come but ours is a heavenly father who truly loves us.”
Other Content On This Topic
Should I Honour Traditional Marriage Rituals? // Ask an African Pastor
Yes, Ancestral Worship Is Idolatry
Can We Be Christian & African? // The Legacy of Byang Kato
Are African Traditional Religion and Christianity the Same? #AfricanApologetics
Transcript
A challenge in Africa
Often one of the challenges we face as Christians within the context of Africa, is simply the fact that the culture itself is religious. In fact, it is Christianized. And yet. when it comes to dealing with real life situations, the attitude is often to fall back on African Traditional Religions.
An example of syncretism
An obvious example I can think about is when you’ve had a death in the family and you find that relatives who go to Church will come to say to you, “Here are some charms. Bathe in them so that the spirits of the departed may rest and consequently you too will be free of that.” Now, you may know that definitely that’s not the Biblical teaching. But often is the fear that you might upset your relatives. That causes a number of believers to simply say, “Okay, for their sake let me simply take this but I will not use it and I will dispose it in private.” I want to say that that’s a wrong way of dealing with such matters.
How to respond to the pressure Biblically
But rather, what we ought to do is to say to such individuals, “With due respect to you, you are my seniors. I am a Christian and I take God’s word seriously. My protection will come from the Lord himself. He is my comforter. He is my protector. And I am under him who is absolutely sovereign.” So that, on one hand we are giving respect but on the other we are respectfully disagreeing.
Why our correct response matters
Why is that important? It is because as Jesus himself said in Mathew 5:13-16, we are the salt of the world. We are the light of the world. And we need to make sure that the light of God’s word, the light of Christ is shining through us. And often it shines the brightest in the most darkest times when we are going through trials. So that’s the best time for us who are true believers to show our families, our friends what true Christianity is. That we trust in God. We are in a right relationship with God. Trials will come but ours is a heavenly father who truly loves us. That’s the way we have to handle such situations.
