Typical Culture Themes of the Philippines and Effective Communication of the Gospel
The Philippines is a beautiful country which has diversity in terms of ethnicity, language, faith, and culture. In the past, the Philippines was colonized by Spain, Japan, and America. In particular, Philippine culture is complex largely because of different cultures shared and transmitted by the members of Filipino society. This study attempted to study the main characteristics of some representative cultures of the Philippines and tried to effectively communicate the Gospel to the people on the basis of “points of contact,” revealed during study of the representative cultures. This study presented three culture themes as “points of contact” related to Filipino culture. First, this study discovered that Philippine society had mainly nuclear family units composed of father, mother, and unmarried children. Nuclear family units were usually linked to the larger family which occurred within the traditional bilocal extended family. This study utilized a house church model to evangelize the people who were living in this kind of family system. The house church model was effective on the basis of multiple human relationships of the oikos. Second, this study discovered that there were poor people who were living marginal lives, whether in rural areas or urban areas. They were suffering from severe poverty transmitted from generation to generation largely because of the structural evil caused by the corruption and inability of the Filipino government. Churches would need to support the poor more substantially and systematically in cooperation with the NGO’s and the Filipino government while understanding the culture of poverty. Third, this study discovered that there were plural religions including both traditional and popular religions. The main, traditional religion was animism prevalent throughout the Philippines, whereas popular religions were a mixture of various religions, developed according to indigenous situations of the Philippines. This study presented methods of evangelism which would effectively transform the Filipino world view in order to make them true disciples of Jesus Christ. They would need true conversion through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Philippines is a beautiful country in which Filipinos can experience real righteousness, peace, and joy in God's kingdom as the churches intentionally engage in holistic mission. Holistic mission calls for the house church model, solidarity with the poor, and evangelism, that is, making true disciples of Jesus Christ.