Churchless Christianity
Churchless
Christianity is an approach of evangelism and it is also known as “movements to
Jesus” or “insider Movements”. Insider movements are defined as “popular
movements to Christ that bypass both formal and explicit expression of
Christian religion.” So, it means that insider movement has no link with the
visible faith expression of Jesus Christ or Church. “Insiders” are new
disciples of Jesus whose main “inside” attitude are relationships and communities of
their social and religious culture. Insider discipleship is said to “express
itself in culturally appropriate communities of believers who will also
continue to live within as much of their culture, including the religious life
of the culture, as is biblically faithful.” It means that they remain attached
to their own religious or faith traditions and additionally they believe in
Jesus.
LCMS missionary Herbert
Hoefer published his book, Churchless Christianity, a study of Jesus
devotees in Tamil Nadu in India. The general nature of this “Churches
Christianity” in the city is to relate believers in Christ in their private
prayer and meditation. Occasionally they go to Church anonymously, but for the
most past they are on their own to nurture their faith. Thus, they easily fall
away from a disciplined worship life and into a syncretistic way of thinking.
When some need or anxiety arises in their life, they will again turn to Lord
Jesus for help, strength and guidance.
There is also a christubhakta
movement in North India. This group is found in Varanasi, Gorakpur, Lucknow,
Agra and Faridabad. The spirituality of christubhakta emerges from the grassroots,
from the spirituality of their own, influenced by Hindu Bhakti movement. The
new search for identity of christubhaktas finds a response in the teachings of
Jesus and in the experience of his person, and he becomes their Ishtadevata-
personal deity. This is “faith encountering faith” in the deeper subject-hood
of the believers. The dialogue the Christubhaktas enter into with the Christian
experience is shaped already by their experience of faith in Hinduism and other
indigenous religious traditions. The encounter with the Christian experience
deepens their experience nurtured through their traditional rites, practices,
etc. The case of Christubhaktas is one of faith-journey. There is no break with
one’s past religious experience to embrace a totally new faith and message. The
experience and spiritual process the Christubhaktas undergo is a journey in
which their past accompanies them while they move ahead in their faith-quest.
Churchless
Christianity tries to protect the religious and cultural aspect of one’s faith
so that there should not be disturbance or persecution or disorder to the cause
of the gospel. At the same time there is no denial that there are many elements
in the visible body of Christ i.e. Church which can hinder a few but that does not
validate one not to be part of the Church. Christian faith is having a strong
community life and individual dimension of faith is very much part of the
social life of the person and the individual faith is being nurtured in the
community of disciples of Jesus.
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