On the Thai church

Well, I promised you deeper insights from my Thailand trip later in the week, and I try to be a man of my word as much as possible.

I'm not sure that it's really possible to spend any amount of time engaging a different culture in a real way without gaining some new insight and perspective on your own culture just by the natural comparison/contrasting that occurs. As you encounter differences, it's only natural to ponder why things are different, which then brings you to a greater understanding of your own culture. My trips to Thailand have been no exception to that rule, especially as it relates to the church cultures.

I think the greatest factor that shapes the differences in church culture between Thailand and the US is the fact that in Thailand, the "battle lines" are more clearly drawn and the alternatives more distinctly laid out. Thailand is about 1% Christian by the most generous estimates. The country is dominated by folk Buddhism, which mixes traditional Buddhist philosophy with an animism that has a keen awareness of a spiritual realm and a spiritual hierarchy. When you're in the cities, property after property is adorned with a "spirit house", which is a shrine to the spirit of the property. There's a hierarchy involved, and there are shrines to spirits of the village, town, city, region, and even a shrine to the spirit of Thailand in Bangkok. There is clear and overt opposition to the message of Christ around every corner. Here in the States, the opposition certainly exists, but it is much more subtle and more easy to ignore.

That shift leads to what I find to be two fairly fundamental differences between the Thai church and the US church.

#1 - Denominations certainly exist in Thailand, but for the most part, Thai believers don't really care that much about them.

One of the biggest knocks on the church in the US is the amount of backbiting and infighting among denominations. This is just not an issue in Thailand (if you exclude the various Western mission organizations coming in from outside and bringing their rivalries with them), and it really makes a lot of sense. Because in the States, the "enemy" is much more subtle and not as clearly visible, it's much easier to mistake friends for enemies. The Church (note the big C) in America struggles with unity because, at present, there's nothing in place to challenge it and cause us all to focus on our similarities, rather than our differences. Let's be realistic here, while I certainly have theological differences with a number of mainline denominations, how many of them revolve around issues that are even close to foundational. And yet, because we lack a clear and obvious opposing force, it's very easy for us to quibble about who has the "right" brand of the truth. We don't take particular note of the arrows being shot at us by our real enemy, and so our little squabbles take precedent.

#2 - There's really no such thing as a casual Christian among Thai believers.

I made the statement while I was on the trip that, once you've accepted Christ, it's easier to make the decision to go "all-in" with that path, because again, there's the clear and present opposing force. In Thailand, if you step into the ranks of the spiritual battle, it's obvious that you have to be prepared to fight, or you're going to go down in flames. In the States, we have the capacity to just "get by", because again, we don't take note of the arrows coming our way. We feel like we can just kind of hang back and chill, as the case may be. We, in general, don't have to worry about being disowned by our family and friends, or coming under constant cultural pressure to be different, because of our choice to follow Christ. You just don't take the name of Christ lightly in Thailand. Unfortunately, we often do in these parts.

And just to make it absolutely clear, I'm not saying it's easier to follow Christ in Thailand. I just think the overt opposition makes it easier to make the daily decision to give Him everything you have. The overt opposition also makes the consequences of making that decision more severe, if that logic makes any sense at all.