宣教心的白人視野之外

3年前修過一門課程：宣教心視野。現在回顧課本和內容，發現裡面有白人至上的味道。宣教士當然都是西方派往其他地方建立教會為理想的宣教模式，東方教會的傳播拓展自然不在課本範圍之內。

Ralph Winter教授把神國度的拓展乾淨俐落地分成10個時段，每段400年：耶穌降生前的2000年分成5個時段，按聖經所記有先祖時期、埃及為奴時期、士師時期、列王時期、被擄時期。而耶穌之後至2000年為止也是五個時段。

羅馬帝國歸向基督或許是歷史上最了不起的基督教征服外邦的階段了。Winter教授稱此為(西方宣教的)第1時段：

In Period I, Rome was “won” but did not reach out with the gospel to the barbaric Celts and Goths. Perhaps as a penalty, the Goths invaded Rome and the whole western (Latin) part of the empire caved in.

In Period II, the Goths were added in, and they and others briefly achieved a new “Holy” Roman Empire. But this new sphere did not effectively reach further north with the gospel.

In Period III, again seemingly as a penalty the Vikings invaded these Christianized Celtic and Gothic barbarians. In the resulting agony, the Vikings, too, became Christians.

如果說第2和3時段那些野蠻的外族人打敗羅馬帝國，或奪取了基督徒住區後，都接受了所征服民眾所敬拜的基督，成為基督徒，實屬神的作為，那麼第4時段企圖征服伊斯蘭的努力是徹底失敗的。十字軍東征無論怎樣看都是基督徒的歷史教訓。

In Period IV, Europe, now united for the first time by Christian faith, reached out in a sort of pseudo-mission to the Muslims in the great abortion known as the Crusades.

In Period V, Europe now reached out to the very ends of the earth, but still with highly mixed motives; intermingled commercial and spiritual interests were both a blight and a blessing. Yet during this period, the entire non-western world was suddenly stirred into development as the colonial powers greatly reduced war and disease.

第4時段既然失敗，第5時段也不能說是成功。是的西方宣教士在世界各地努力建立教會，但同時受到經濟擴張動力的支持驅使，不能講社會公義，只能縮減福音，強調個人得救的層面。

由於很多文化並不注重個人責任發揮，接受個人得救的福音大受侷限。另外，現在已經到了2020年，屬於甚麼時段呢？建議宣教士在本城、本國教導跟隨耶穌參與社會公義的抗爭，以糾正過去幾百年的偏離。