The Anthropology of Mission

I would like to comment on JPII’s focus on unity in evangelization with first, a pragmatic and anthropological example from the real world.  Let us look at a child’s first encounter with the world, in the normal course of events as part of an intact and identifiable family.

When little children are first learning the world, the first person they look towards is their parents.  They witness the actions of their caregivers, and at some level or another contrast these actions with the actions they see others doing.  Implicitly, when the actions of other adults differ or are counter to the actions of their parents, the children readily identify with their parents’ way of doing things as the correct way, and the way that we do things.  Their sense of identity - and sometimes self worth - become tied up with the specific mannerisms of their family culture, and set them apart from everyone around them.  The child’s perception of the world thus becomes one where us vs. they is highlighted and juxtaposed: what we do is lauded, and correct, while what they do is wrong and to be avoided.

Though this example does not use phrases like unity or evangelization, it directly relates to the evangelizing mission of the Church.  You see, people in general are not that different from children; they are just tempered a bit.  Worldviews are still, even among those who claim to be so open minded their brains fall out, formed by identifying the us/them relationship as conducive to acceptance in our own circles and rejection of those outside our family (or tribe, if you will).  Moreover, each of us - even those who are trying to evangelize - still maintain and exist in the created worldview of us/them.  The first object to be overcome in the Church’s evangelizing actions is therefore to overcome our own natural tendency to insist people see the faith in the exact way that we see it.  In other words, missionary work is, “is not of course a matter of missionaries renouncing their own cultural identity, but of understanding, appreciating, fostering and evangelizing the culture of the environment in which they are working, and therefore of equipping themselves to communicate effectively with it, adopting a manner of living which is a sign of gospel witness and of solidarity with the people (RM, 53).”

Solidarity - changing the us/they relationship into a we/us relationship - also goes towards overcoming the appearance that evangelization is an act which introduces something outside or opposed to the evangelized’s existing identity.  Once that initial unity is created, people of all walks are then able to receive the gift of the Spirit and seek God in their own, already existing lives - without sacrificing the truth of the faith for the sake of appeasing or endearing oneself to the culture.  JPII writes: “Developing ecclesial communities, inspired by the Gospel, will gradually be able to express their Christian experience in original ways and forms that are consonant with their own cultural traditions, provided that those traditions are in harmony with the objective requirements of the faith itself… In this regard, certain guidelines remain basic. Properly applied, inculturation must be guided by two principles: ‘compatibility with the gospel and communion with the universal Church’… In fact there is a risk of passing uncritically from a form of alienation from culture to an overestimation of culture. Since culture is a human creation and is therefore marked by sin, it too needs to be ‘healed, ennobled and perfected’ (RM, 54).”

Evangelization is about healing Man, not rejecting all that pertains to Man for the sake of some abstract, only spiritual existence.  Man needs healing because of his sickness with sin, the nature of which is intrinsically isolating.  Whether it be overcoming the isolation of the individual, or the isolation of culture vs. culture, the first step in evangelization is always, and must always be, one which establishes unity between the missionary and the evangelized.