Seminary in Japan
I have had the opportunity to attend seminary in the UK (for 2 years) and now in Japan (I'm just 3 months into a 4-year course). A couple of initial observations concerning seminary in Japan:
1. The more I study here (it's not just "study", the Japanese call it "kenshinseikatsu" and it involves every aspect of your life. You can't compartmentalise the way you can in the West) the more I appreciate why missionaries and Japanese pastors so often struggle to work together. The underlying cultural assumptions about what "kenshin" (difficult to translate, but the word signifies what you do when you devote your life to full-time Christian service) implies are very different in Japan to the assumptions in Britain. This would include such personal areas as use of time, money, and the approach to be taken towards those whom you pastor.
I am having to put into practice everything I learned at seminary in the West about contextualisation of the gospel, simply in order to avoid the pitfall of being critical on the basis of culture alone. I am a product of my culture/background as much as anyone here, and everyone's culture needs to be judged by Scripture. If I come here only to judge on the basis of my own preconceptions and preferences, I will not last the course.
2. Learning styles are so different here. Asking questions is not really encouraged. Classes are lecture format, with no discussion. Unlike at seminary in Britain, where we were encouraged to think outside the box, so much so that some people would have probably ended up anathematized by some church council or other, the box here is presented to us ready-packaged. There is value in both approaches. I'm glad I did things this way round, as to have gone the other way might have blown my mind. But learning to hold my tongue is a constant battle...
posted by Richard @ 7:26 am
