Putting it into Context
We asked Petra and Catherine , intercultural workers serving in completely different cultural and religious contexts , the same question , “ How would you share the creation story ?” Their short answer was , “ Context matters .”
Creation
The K people of the Silk Road ascribe to being
Muslim by religion , culture and identity . As such , their creation story from the Quran has a lot of similar elements to it , and of course some significant differences .
The fact that the Almighty God created everything out of nothing is a familiar concept , one they are very comfortable with . In fact , our experience when sharing stories where there is overlap between to the two holy books such as this , is that they really enjoy the Biblical account . The Bible uses stories and poetry , a mode of communication close to the K people ’ s heart . The rhythmic flow of Genesis 1 , “ God said … it was … it was good ,” is a good example . Our stories also fill in some of the details the Quran skips over .
But of course , there are major differences . The primary one is the way the Bible describes the relationship between God and Adam . Adam , a man , who in their mind is fundamentally flawed , destined to sin and shame , has been made in the image of the Righteous God . And as if that weren ’ t enough , God then goes on to honour Adam further by asking him to name God ’ s creatures . These points of difference are somewhat of a head-spin for the K people and they take time and care to work through .
This is why as intercultural workers we are committed to learning the language and culture of the people we work with . Doing so enables us to communicate the Gospel in a way that is meaningful for them .
An example of doing this with the creation story would be addressing concepts around work . There ’ s nothing a K person loves more than to sit for hours , reclining at a low table , eating , drinking tea and spending time with others . To be able to do so is an indicator that God is blessing you . So when we get to , “ God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it ” ( Gen . 2:15 ), there would be a conversation about how the Almighty God honoured Adam by entrusting His creation to Adam ’ s care .
The K people ’ s reverence for the holiness of
God makes the concept of a personal God unfathomable . What we seek to do is to help them maintain their high view of God , while introducing Jesus as the one who removes shame and restores us to the Garden with Him .
Petra ||| Silk Road Area , Muslim Context resonate · issue 36 · page 11