From http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2006/11/operation_chris.html#more
It's collection week for Operation Christmas Child, the high profile project of Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse, and while shoeboxes are being packed for kids across the world, they're also being unpacked of any religious message. According to the Daily Mail Samaritan's Purse has banned any religious items from the boxes, including Bible stories, images of Jesus and any other religious items (though these don't make the list of other banned items on their web site, which also includes war-related toys, chocolate or food, breakables, medicine and liquids).
Shocking, isn't it? A Christian charity banning its own message. But it's part of making sure the message gets through. They need to respect local cultures where the boxes will be distributed--which are often primarily Muslim. Giving a Jesus doll to a Muslim boy could cause problems on the scale of a certain cartoon that caused worldwide riots. Samaritan's Purse hopes the simple act of giving will speak for itself, followed up by the ongoing interaction with the organization. The idea is that there will be other, better avenues to spread its message, so they voluntariy opt not to put the message in the shoeboxes. Instead the shoebox itself is the message.
So is it political correctness gone amuck? (Seriously? Since when was Franklin Graham politically correct?) Or is it a good example of carefully considering when and how to communicate the gospel?
And that's where this becomes an apt lessons for churches and how they do outreach. While the ultimate goal is telling people about Jesus, sometimes how we do that is more important than simply doing it. A message communicated at the wrong time and the wrong place and in the wrong context is often worse than not communicating at all. And for those who say we need to rely on God, I think it's clear that he also relies on us to do it right and not just wing it. Communicating the gospel in the right time and the right place and the right context all relies on God. (The other danger here is to never communicate the gospel because we can never figure out how to do it just right. As always, a balance is important.)
Sometimes sticking to that conviction means you take flak from the faithful. And in the case of Operation Christmas Child, I wonder if the flak comes from those who are more interested in feeling like they've carried out the great commission than actually doing it.
Posted by: Stan at November 14, 2006 3:01 PM
Thank you for posting this article. I live in the most populous Muslim country in the world, where I serve as a teacher, training up the next generation. I work for Christian nationals who go out in the stricter parts of the country and meet the physical needs of the people. They mostly start schools and under NO circumstances mention Jesus or the Bible. If they did, then they would be banned from the area and wouldn't even be allowed to meet the physical needs of the people there. These people know the culture and the people because they are nationals. When other ogranizations come in and start prosthelytizing in the area, they ruin it for everyone else working in the area because the religious leaders kick everyone out! For example one group came in and started teaching Christian songs to the little children in one school. The kids didn't know what they were singing, but their religious leaders did and therefore banned everyone from interacting at ALL with the children in that school.
So, I appreciate the efforts of Franklin Graham and his organization. They are not being political correct. They are respecting the local cultures and therefore are building a relationship that will last for the long term. That's what will win these people in the end. It's a war, not a little battle. And if they even smell that we have an alterior motive we will be sent away. (Samaritan's Purse was one of the only organizations allowed to remain after the tsunami because of their no-prosthelytizing policies.)
And for those reasons I will continue to support the Operation Christian Child both financially and with my time. :) Thanks for letting me voice that. I'll step off the soap box now. :)
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