Religious witnessing in an Indonesian setting

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of religious propagation in Indonesia. Traditionally, leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church regard public meetings as the best method of evangelism. But the political and sociological condition of Indonesia leads to the restriction of religious propagation. According to law, religious propagation should not be done in places where people have adhered to other religions. This poses the problem of how to evangelize Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to seek for an acceptable way of fulfilling Christ's commission to Indonesian Christians. The procedure for this study followed these steps: case presentation, analysis, biblical. interpretation, and pastoral action. Part I. Description The case presented shows a pastor's frustration. He could conduct public evangelistic effort only in the village where his church was located. The church members depended on the pastor for evangelism activities. He The case poses the problem of how might the people of Indonesia be evangelized. Part II. Analysis The analysis shows that Indonesians value their unity above everything else. Political unity was achieved as the whole nation struggled for independence from a common colonial rures. Religions and religious issues tend to be a dividing factor that endangers unity. Under Pancasila, the nation's basic state philosophy, every citizen has an equal right to embrace any of the recognized religions. But religious tolerance has been officially interpreted to mean that adherents of one religion shall not propagate their religious teachings among those already possessing a religious faith. Interfaith dialogue is highly recommended down to the individual level. Part III. Intrepretation The Bible indicates that Christ's great commission to the church is to bring the gospel to all peoples, including the various ethnic groups of Indonesia. A dignified method must be selected suited to time and local conditions. The early church flourished even in time of persecution because of every member's involvement in evangelism. As Christ's commission is to make disciples, evangelism involves post-baptismal "teaching" or training, so that every convert is a disciple that can "disciple" others. This method, following the principle of multiplication, will produce a natural, informal, spontaneous, and continuous kind of evangelism. Small group meetings in member's homes are conducive to personal evangelism and training purposes. Part IV. Action To produce disciples that can disciple, necessitates emphasis on post-baptismal teaching or training, which is best accomplished by an on-the-job training. The pastor should be the church's initiator of the training program at the loca1 church level. There are two action plans suggested for focal church pastors to initiate. In plan A, every trained member trains others. Plan B involves training leaders to organize members into small groups. There are two action plans suggested for the higher level of church organization: 1. Training workers to train. 2. Training ministerial students to train.