Mitsuo Fukuda wrote an article entitled, “Sermon Topics Contextualized for Japan” in which he writes that

It is reasonable that frequent quotation of foreign theologians and usage of terms such as, God, love, sin, redemption, soul, trinity and other specialized words often causes a sermon to sound foreign to the Japanese non-believer or one seeking after Christ. It is also possible that those who are seeking refreshment for their souls go away bored because of a continued stream of knowledge-oriented sermons which are meant to appeal to a person’s mind.

(I would suggest that many of the terms used in sermons today sound foreign to many non-believers whether they are Japanese or not. They sound strange to many Westerners as well!)

Unfortunately, many sermons in Japan begin with these concepts. Recognizing the limitations of sermons, Fukuda suggests 3 other starting points for preaching to Japanese. I do not think they are limited to the Japanese psyche and so I want to talk about one of those starting points here – the sense of BEAUTY.

Fukuda writes,

“The Japanese have a sensitivity that enables them to find beauty and brilliance in everything that exists. Munesuke Mita, a famous Japanese sociologist, calls this the “consciousness of original favor” (gen-on ishiki), and contrasts it to the Hebraic consciousness of original sin.

The Japanese have a sense of gratitude for even the smallest things in their everyday lives. I will call this a sensitivity for recognizing beauty and happiness in life and existence, the “‘good fortune’ consciousness” (okage ishiki).”

The contrast of the “consciousness of original favour” to the “consciousness of original sin” is interesting.

In “Simply Christian”, N.T. Wright outlines four features of human life that function as echoes of a voice. These four features are justice, spirituality, human relationships, and ( . . . drumroll, please . . . ) BEAUTY! As a church planter in Japan, this last “echo of a voice” caught my attention immediately. I want to explore this idea of the beauty that we find in our everyday lives acting as an echo. An echo of what? As a Christian, (and a follower of N.T. Wright – ha ha ), I believe it is echo of the voice that is found in the Creator God. (Note: the “creator” in Creator God is important for the Japanese context. The Japanese have many gods and they all go by the same name and written with the same Chinese character. Highlighting CREATOR, helps to distinguish God for the other Japanese gods. Perhaps this is a topic for another post someday.) This is not to say that beauty in itself will directly lead us to God, but that the echo, or the longing for beauty is part of who we are as humans and so is worthy of following after.

When talking to Japanese about God, (or, perhaps anyone in any context for that matter!) I wonder if it would be much more culturally-sensitive or culturally-appropriate to begin with this innate sense of beauty which we all have. Hmmm . . . I DO want to think about this some more.

Any comments? Any helpful advice? Can you point me somewhere to help me ponder this some more?