08-20-2009, 03:11 AM
http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/24_2_PDFs/...tersen.pdf
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Your are 87 and you have been a christian for long year.
If time can roll back and you are again in 1933 what would you do.
Yisu Das Tiwari: âChrist is my âishta,â
he has never left me, I will never leave
him, but I would not have joined the
Christian community. I would have
lived with my people and my community
and been a witness to them.2
He would not have joined the
Christian community? How could he
say that? How could anyone refuse to
have fellowship with other believers in
Christ? But Dr. Tiwari was not merely
referring to koinonia between disciples.
The Indian âChristian communityâ is
an altogether different type of social
system. It is a legal entity in India that
operates under its own civil law code,
one derived from the British legal
system of the 19th century.
However,
these concerns will not be specifically
addressed until the second major section
of this paper, which will analyze
Staffnerâs specific contribution to
missiology in the Hindu context.
Still considering Dr. Tiwariâs amazing
reflection about wishing he would
have remained within the Hindu
community, from where would such
a seemingly strange, even bizarre
conviction come? It appears that it had
something to do with his passion for
being a witness within his own Hindu
community; anything beyond that
would only be speculation, although
Dr. Tiwariâs regret at the loss of his
Hindu birth community identity is
certainly common for many high caste
Indians who have followed Christ.
The
tension between full commitment to
biblical faith and loyalty to oneâs family
and community is certainly a theme
that can be traced throughout mission
history; indeed it forms the backdrop
for the above-mentioned discussions
regarding âinsider movements.â This
very issue first came to prominence
concerning the case of the Roman
centurion named Cornelius in Acts
10-11 and 15.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
Your are 87 and you have been a christian for long year.
If time can roll back and you are again in 1933 what would you do.
Yisu Das Tiwari: âChrist is my âishta,â
he has never left me, I will never leave
him, but I would not have joined the
Christian community. I would have
lived with my people and my community
and been a witness to them.2
He would not have joined the
Christian community? How could he
say that? How could anyone refuse to
have fellowship with other believers in
Christ? But Dr. Tiwari was not merely
referring to koinonia between disciples.
The Indian âChristian communityâ is
an altogether different type of social
system. It is a legal entity in India that
operates under its own civil law code,
one derived from the British legal
system of the 19th century.
However,
these concerns will not be specifically
addressed until the second major section
of this paper, which will analyze
Staffnerâs specific contribution to
missiology in the Hindu context.
Still considering Dr. Tiwariâs amazing
reflection about wishing he would
have remained within the Hindu
community, from where would such
a seemingly strange, even bizarre
conviction come? It appears that it had
something to do with his passion for
being a witness within his own Hindu
community; anything beyond that
would only be speculation, although
Dr. Tiwariâs regret at the loss of his
Hindu birth community identity is
certainly common for many high caste
Indians who have followed Christ.
The
tension between full commitment to
biblical faith and loyalty to oneâs family
and community is certainly a theme
that can be traced throughout mission
history; indeed it forms the backdrop
for the above-mentioned discussions
regarding âinsider movements.â This
very issue first came to prominence
concerning the case of the Roman
centurion named Cornelius in Acts
10-11 and 15.
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