Postby Adorima » Mon May 24, 2010 5:06 am
Okay a part of this is a bit of self-promotion, but I'm doing it in service of my point: We can tell an explicitly Christian story to the Japanese and be successful in garnering their interest, opening up the potential for conversion. Of course it might not happen overnight, or it might not happen in a clear response. (If I may toot my own horn) Right now I'm writing a fictional story (not an anime or webmanga) set during a Crusade-like time. It's called Leo of the Bridge. Here's a bit of a synopsis:
“To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...
And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...”
~ The Unreachable Star, Man of La Mancha
Leo of the Bridge
By: Mara Pepito
There was a time in a far away land where a boy lived. He was raised believing that there was a place where everything was good, where everything was even better than could be imagined. Everyone he knew believed that it existed. They just had to venture out into the world to find it. The boy grew up and became a young man, and he went out from province to province, from kingdom to kingdom, from country to country, even crossed oceans. And he found that hardly anyone had heard of this place. That it only existed in fairytales to those who knew of it, as wistful and elusive as a dream – the Kingdom called Heaven.
~~~
While I have this story be in an explicit context of Catholicism/Christianity, I do address later on in the story, the short-comings of these individuals who are Christian. The righteousness of people who aren't Christian, the hypocrisy of both and their journey in life towards truth or towards destruction, whatever faith or lack thereof they may have. My point is not to detract from the salvation that comes only through Christ, but to relate the reality that we are all on a journey to the Lords house and we make choices that please him, or dishonor and defy him. I think my story is an example of how you can tell a story that is not didactic, not "blinded by faith" or not condescending.
I agree with Sailor Kenshin and I do believe the Holy Spirit will move people through Christian art. You guys already covered the issue of not pointing fingers at the Japanese for their past crimes, but that doesn't have to be the sole issue at hand. What about taking advantage of their passing interest in Christian "mythology" and introducing them to a more in-depth look at what it's really about, the life of a Christian?
We can make Christian stories about the early Church in Rome, or about a futuristic dystopia where there are people who might not all identify as Christians, but follow the same code work to change the world, or we can write about another world in which Christianity also exists, but with different life circumstances or cultures like my story? The possibilities are endless.
Key words before reading, fyi: Laity: The faithful who are not the clergy
Apostolate: an organization of the laity devoted to the mission of the Church.
In the letters of Vatican II: Laity, Chapter III: The Various Fields of the Apostolate 13: says, "the Apostolate of the Social Millieu, the effort to infuse a Christian spirit in the mentality, customs, laws and structures of the community in which a person lives, is so much the duty and the responsibility of the laity that it can never be properly performed by others. In this are the laity can exercise the apostolate of like toward like. It is here that laymen add to the testimony of life to the testimony of their speech; it is here in the arena of their labour, profession, studies, residence, leisure and companionship that the layman have the opportunity to help their brothers.
To fulfill the mission of the church in the world, the laity have basic needs. They need a life in harmony with their faith, so they can become the light of the world. They need an undeviating honesty which can attract all men to the love of truth and goodness and finally to church and to Christ...This apostolate should reach out to all men where they can be found; it should not exclude and spiritual or temporal benefit which can possibly be conferred. True apostles, however, are not content with this activity alone, but look for the opportunity to announce Christ through the spoken word as well. For there are many people who can hear the gospel and recognize Christ only through the laity who live near them."
There's a lot more in to be said about our duty as Christians in Vatican II, and more specifically in the "Instruments of Social Communications."
I don't think we should be afraid of evangelizing at all. I think we ought to proclaim the word of God honestly but also in a creative way. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will set the world on fire.
