Reconciliation

 

https://mikeduvall.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/a-beginning-finally/

  

I was recently skimming through various newsfeeds and came across an article preview, from Christianity Today entitled "A Deeper Debate Over Drums in Church" (August 2017). I am able to read the first few paragraphs though and want to share a part of it here:

When white missionaries first spread the gospel to indigenous tribes, they often did so in     ways that undermined tribal language and culture. Almost all Native Christian leaders agree on that...But leaders remain divided over what contextualizing their faith should look like—and what role sacred objects, like drums, have in Christian worship.

The article caught my eye at first because I was surprised to see such a topic still being discussed. Then I read a bit further and realized it was about the place of sacred drums in the context of Indigenous churches. Since I can't read the entire article I don't know what it concludes. However, it reminded me that I've been wanting to write about a related issue. Stick with me and you'll see how this fits with the work of Bible Translation. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began in 2008, with the 94 Calls to Action published in 2015. Residential schools were operated by various Christian denominations in Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian government, with the purpose of assimilating Indigenous people into mainstream society. This was achieved by stripping Indigenous families and communities of their culture and identity. This is not distant history in Canada as residential schools operated for over a century from 1870's to 1996.

Through your support of Wycliffe Bible Translators you are connected to the Bible translation movement, and so I am sure you are aware that we value culture. We recognize that the Bible speaks best to people in their heart language, that lives can be transformed through scripture, that families and communities do measurably better when they can experience translated scripture that is informed by and rooted in their culture, not removed from it. This is the very antithesis of the mandate of residential schools. Wycliffe’s values include the recognition that worship is based in culture. For example, the Psalms were originally written as songs and meant to be sung. Most churches and followers of Jesus do not regularly sing the Psalms in their worship. Nor do we use the same instruments that were used during the times the Psalms were written. Churches may not all have the same worship style, but I've yet to meet one that hasn't changed what worship means now from what it meant in the past. 

There has been a shift over the years in the translation movement, from less focus on the foreign translator being the expert and owning the process and therefore bringing their own cultural bias, to more focus on national colleagues being guided through the process. This shift happened over years and many and hard lessons. Eventually those in the Bible translation movement realized that a Bible translation must be community owned, led, and driven. This allows the translation to be rooted in the culture it is meant for, which leads to greater space for understanding and transformation. 

The shift in best translation practice represents the results we want to see from the TRC and 94 Calls to Action. Acknowledging that what was done in the past, was wrong, and finding a better way forward today. In both translation and the TRC, it means allowing indigenous communities to lead and translators, governments, churches, and organizations to follow alongside. 

Going back to the article at the top of this letter, there was harm done in teaching and forcing Indigenous communities to abandon all elements of their culture for them to be acceptable to Jesus and Canadian society. There continues to be harm done as the past influences the present by causing division in the indigenous Christian community today. We all have been invited by these communities, through the 94 Calls to Action, to follow their lead in addressing what they have decided is important. Bible translation organizations are sometimes fortunate enough to be invited back to these communities to help them translate scripture in a meaningful form. 

I believe the spirit of the text of 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 is applicable here. Pray with me that all who have benefited from the acts of the past (that's most of us) will look for and step into opportunities to address the wrongs of the past. 

Then if my people who are called by my name 

will humble themselves and pray and seek my

face and turn from their wicked ways, I will

hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and 

restore their land. My eyes will be open and my 

ears attentive to every prayer made in this place