The reader might first ask, "What is ATR?" ATR is the abbreviation for African Traditional Religions. Here in Africa we love abbreviations, the longer the better, and ATR is much easier than typing African Traditional Religions, so from here on out I will refer to it as ATR.
If the reader has read some of the earlier posts, such as The 3 S's of African Traditional Relgions orUnderstanding Interpersonal Relationships in Africa, he will be familiar with the difficulty in reaching Africans for Christ without understanding their thinking. I hope to give some helpful hints and conclusions that I have come to as I have sought to reach these kinds of people for Christ.
The hardest aspect when dealing with people that are of African cultural background is the way that their society culturally deals with sin or judgement. African people, just like the people of inner-cities of America, have few, but strong, rules. A person in these areas must strive to keep peace with their family, clan, or the other people that they see as important to their survival. (In America this is many times the gang, street, or group of people that the person closely associates with). They have certain values that are deeply rooted in them. Unfortunately, many times, because they live in a society where moral rules are far from concrete and where survival and social harmony are more important than a written code of conduct, their lives are ruled by situational ethics. They have no absolute truth as a frame of reference, therefore there is little or no judgement. And without judgment, there is no guilt or fear of consequences (Rom. 4:15).
This fact greatly influences the thoughts and understanding of the person living in this kind of community. Since most rules are seen as relative and many decisions are based on circumstances, the person does not have a list of do's and don'ts to measure his life by. With the removal of, or in the case of Africa, the ignorance of any Divine Code of conduct, the person and his community become the judge of his or her personal guilt and worth.
As in all places, times, and nations, when law is lost, people do what is right in their own eyes. As time passes, the lines between right and wrong become more blurred, and before long, the people that live in these groups have no guilt. They feel no remorse. Guilt comes from the feeling that the person has broken a law and that judgement is ahead. Remorse happens when a person knows that they have offended the powers that be and want to change. But when a person lives in a society based on social peace and harmony, as in areas greatly influenced by ATR, this guilt is lost.
Here is the problem that people have when witnessing to people that are influenced by ATR. The ATR person judges his life by his own experience and that of his community. The voice of the majority is king, and if the society they live in says that they are good (though not perfect), then they are not guilty and in no need of help. Yes, they know that they seem to break the laws of the Bible, but everyone does this, and so God must forgive them. They can understand that the God of the Bible has laws and that they have broken them, but living in a world without absolutes has hardened them from any guilt.
So what does the Christian worker do? If he cannot reach them by their guilt over their sin, what does He do? The Christian worker working with people that are influenced by ATR must remember that Africans learn deductively. That means they have to start from the real life out-working and then go to the theory. If the African does not see it in his own life or the real world, it is very hard for him to understand and start to believe.
If an African does not have guilt and has never seen anyone in his whole life struggle with guilt, then it does not exist, and it will be hard to use as a tool to bring him to Christ.
Here is what God has shown me of late. Africans may not have guilt, but they do not have peace. Here in Africa peace is king. Africans always want peace. They seek for it in every way that they can, but no matter how much they want it outside, they never have it inside. Inside, they always have conflict. They have no PEACE!
This lack of peace is a great tool when dealing with ATR influenced people. ATR people are overtly relilgious and superstitious. They believe all things have a spiritual cause.
This is how I have started to show people their sin problem. I ask them, "If you are so good, and you work so hard for God, how come no matter what you do, you still do not have peace?" They do not have peace, because they are sinners and have broken God's law. They are like Adam and Eve in the garden after the first sin. They just do not know the law they have broken.
Most people in their hearts know that they do not have peace. This is the practical problem. They do not have peace. Then I tell them why. I tell them that they have broken God's law. At this point I show them the law so they can understand what I am saying. This starts to bring the guilt. I take them from the experience of not having peace, and use that to start to show them their need of Christ. Christ is the only way to give them peace and salvation.
Many times when Christian workers deal with ATR people, they want to talk about guilt. Unless the person being dealt with has done something that has shaken his world system, though, he will not feel guilt. But, every person has had a time in his or her life that he has lived with a lack of peace.
I believe that if a person that is working with ATR people will start at the practical point of peace, he will see the light turn on. When we spoke with people about their guilt before, the people would agree, but not from personal understanding. When we speak with people about a lack of peace now, we see the personal understanding come at once.
When preaching to lost people, we must deal with their guilt in contrast to God's Holy Standard, but I believe it will help us to start at the point of greatest understanding. Let's start at their lack of peace, then build to their guilt.
(Just a note- In my experience dealing with people influenced by ATR, starting with the concept of the Love of God means very little. All ATR people believe God loves them, and that they are good people. They live in communities where social help and harmony are very important. They have not probably tasted of Agape Love, but they have a storehouse of their social idea of love, and many times the need for Divine Love will not at first draw them.)
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