What makes a country "Gospel-resistant"?

Procyon asked in another thread, "Why is Japan so Gospel-resistant?"

Yes, Japan is Gospel-resistant. After 140 years of Protestant missions, only 1% claim to be Christian, and that includes fundamentalists, evangelicals, liberals, Catholics, Charismatics, the cults (JW, Mormon, etc.) and everybody else!

Oftener than not, I have gotten out 10,000 tracts with no response--none. When I came over to Japan in 1981, it was said that the average church membership was 21. (It must be less nowadays!) Some of the best missionaries I know have only planted one church in a career spanning decades.

Some blame Japan's hardness on Buddhism, others on Shinto, Confucianism, humanism, evolution, materialism, too much prosperity, what have you. All of these things are factors, but I believe there is one underlying theme which is present in every "Gospel-resistant" culture, including Japan, the Middle Eastern Muslim countries, etc.

Here is what almost all, if not all, Gospel-resistant countries have in common: at some time in their history, they rejected Christianity as a nation and a people. It may be that they invaded a country and killed the Christians, as the Muslims did in the Middle East. Or, it may be that they simply got tired of the truth and turned to broken cisterns, as in many European countries.

In the case of Japan, Francis Xavier and his Catholic missionaries came here in the 16th century and made great strides. They blundered of course with their mariolatry, their failure to translate the Bible, etc. But at one point 20% or more of Japan was Catholic.

What happened then is very sad. The Shogun (ruler of Japan, with even more power than the emperor in those days) decided that Christianity was evil, and began persecuting it. By the time the persecution was over a couple of Shoguns later in the 17th century, many 10s of 1000s of Catholics had been martyred, Christianity had been outlawed for 250 years, and contact with foreigners outlawed, as well as all foreigners outlawed but the Dutch.

And that, brothers and sisters, is why I believe Japan is Gospel-resistant. Why am I here? Before I began deputation, my grandfather (a well-known Baptist evangelist) asked me why I was going to Japan. He said, "Japan is hard. You can win more people to Christ in America!" I admired and loved him so much that I have no idea to this day what I answered. There is only one answer, though: God called me! And as my grandfather himself used to say, "You can't win everyone to Christ, but you can always win someone!"

 

Hi, Gold Dragon. Just got back from "dim sum" with our co-workers at a lovely little Chinese restaurant in our town.

Thank you for your kind words and prayers. You are right, only God can soften their hearts. You are right also that there is a lot of cultural pride (and prejudice) here, and that is one more barrier to the Gospel.

Fellow laborers, here is how I found joy working in a Gospel-resistant country. Years ago I was very frustrated trying to start a church in Yokohama. At one point, if I had gone to a doctor I'm sure I would have been diagnosed as clinically depressed. My precious wife went through a lot trying to help me through it.

Then one day I read in Luke 10, "17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

After an amazing evangelistic expedition, the 70 disciples were rejoicing over the miracles, but Jesus actually commanded them not to! Instead they were to rejoice over their salvation! I can do that even when my work for Christ seems absolutely unproductive!

Again, I read in Matt. 13:58, "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." I learned that even our Savior had a "Gospel-resistant" field at one point in His ministry!

So here we are, still where God called us. "There is joy in serving Jesus."

 

Easy believism? I'd settle for any kind of believism, Mike!!

Seriously, the Japanese are very polite, and I could get hundreds per year to pray some kind of prayer with me. But then if I asked them afterwards whether they believed, they would probably say, "Believed what??"

 

They are both just like their "father," right?

 

What you've read about the cultural shift concerning women is true. Other cultural shifts are taking place, too, such as a rebellion against the life-time employment system. I keep hoping these things will make them more open to the Gospel, but I haven't seen it happen yet.

I'm writing a Japanese tract right now, "Japanese Love Christianity," in which I point out that many Christian customs are popular here: Christmas, Christian weddings, Gospel music and cross jewelry. However, it is just a surface attraction, since Christian things look "neat" to the Japanese, so they need to examine their hearts.