The Motions

I had such an interesting experience today. One of the two kindergartens where I teach has no Christian teachers there, though it is a "Lutheran Kindergarten". The kindergartens were started by the churches in the area a number of years ago, but in recent years at this kindergarten, the need for staffing has led to hiring people who aren't Christian, and after a while, because there are so few Christians, the staff is now completely non-christian. The kindergarten is still connected to a church in the area, maybe a 20 minute drive away, by a man who serves as a sort of lay minister/Chaplin of the kindergarten. Every week when I teach there I attend the morning chapel with the kids, led by this older Japanese Christian gentleman. He leads the children in prayers, gives a message, and singing with the help of the teachers.

Today this man was absent, and tomorrow is the kindergarten's big Christmas family event. I watched today as these teachers led a rehearsal of the next day's worship with the children. None of them are Christian, not the teachers, not the students, and not the parents or families coming. So why are they having worship? Externally everything looked right- the acolyte bowed in all the right places, the standing and sitting, the sermonizing; they even practiced taking the offering. And, true to tradition and in fulfillment of western-Christianity stereotypes, they ended in candlelight, singing "Silent Night". But my heart was just heavy as I watched people go through the outward actions of something that has so much meaning for me. But what I witnessed instead was worship coming not from a thankful, believing heart, but rather following a prescribed pattern carried out for the sake of duty and tradition. Duty and tradition are not bad in and of themselves, but when it comes to worship, I believe without faith they are meaningless to those involved. The absence of God's presence was acute in that place.

The religion of Japan, being a blend of Shinto and Buddhism, is something that is followed by many in as far as prescriptions, rituals, and requirements, but if you ask a Japanese person whether or not they actually believe it, many will say "no" while others will stare at you blankly wondering what that has to do with anything. Religion often then is something that is culturally ingrained, rather than something that contains a genuine faith to which a person subscribes. So it's not so much of a stretch to see how, from their perspective, it is entirely possible to go through the motions of Christian worship without entering into worship.

I know I've asked before, but please pray for this site and these teachers- and also for the Christian leadership of these kindergartens, that they would discern God's leading in their ministry and bear fruit.