In conversations with other "like-minded" native ministries, a lot of our discussions deal with symbol and substance.  How do we "reach" native Peoples with the Gospel? Hold old fashioned tent meetings, denounce, across the board, all native culture as evil?  Do we REALLY want to share the Good News with our First Nations Peoples?   Do we simply stop all ministries among First Nations because they've heard the Gospel for 500 years.....?  I wonder.... I question....... Have they truly heard the Good News? Really? Was the Good News they brought In the European version truly THE Gospel?

Ok, so I'm involved in men's prayer sweat lodge (among the Lakota, the purification lodge). Since many (not all) natives consider the sweat lodge a spiritual cleanser, when one enters Mother's womb and comes out as though born again, is this symbolic? Thus, regarding sweat lodge, sage, sweetgrass; when these "articles" are used, let's say, burning sage, and the smoke ascends, carrying our prayers to God -is that what the smoke does or is that what it means? Is the smoke symbol or substance?

First, I think the bottom line is that symbols mean whatever a group intends them to mean. The meaning is in the perception, not the symbol itself. An artifact or action may have taken on such a profound meaning that the artifact cannot meaningfully be separated from its perception in a culture. But the meaning is usually put into the artifact from outside. The OLD TESTAMENT sacrifices meant something different in a pagan society than in Israel. Israel uses them in response to God's covenant directions. The pagans use them to seek to placate or appease the gods. Israel uses them to express repentance or blessing to God in accordance with divine directions or commands.

We  have to address the audiences we are working with, whether they are postmoderns or premoderns, as in indigenous peoples. It is the GLOBAL contextual movement that has the most relevant information. There is a book called, Globalizing Theology, by Ott and Netland. The new president of Asbury Seminary is an anthropologist, Timothy Tennant. He has a book that is also transforming...Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church Is Influencing the Way We Think about and Discuss Theology. These are foundational books that are transforming the way the West and evangelicals need to think about the faith. I think they will provide a lot of substance for many questions. They are certainly a lot to think about. Do you think Indians are going to change or destroy your theology? (Rhetorical question).

John and Gerri GrosVenor