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Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been organizing my notes from last year’s studies in preparation for the coming year of seminary. Along the way, I’ve come across a few papers I wrote on a variety of topics, most of them mission-related. One, in particular, stood out to me as something you might be interested to read. So, I thought I’d pare it down, remove the academic language, and share some of my observations and conclusions. (If you’d like to read the full thing, you can access it here.) 

Since culture shapes perception, affecting the way we see colour, experience emotion, and even glean spiritual insight, today I’m going to take a brief look at how East Asians understand salvation. How does this change our ideas of what it means to share the good news of Jesus within the context of East Asia?

Living Harmoniously

Social harmony is a key value in East Asia. In general, people try to give one another the benefit of the doubt, embrace interconnected relationships, and avoid ‘inflict[ing] commotion’ [1] on those around them. Since Western culture doesn't seem to prioritize these issues, a significant portion of Christian teaching on harmony comes from Asia.

Community

In East Asia, personhood isn't defined in terms of individuality, but in terms of the connections between people. It’s relational. So, relationships within the church are often inseparable from the basic message of salvation. Loving one another is a concrete part of salvation, not an afterthought. [2] Salvation becomes an invitation to friendship with God, extended to all of humanity. [3] As we participate in relationships with each other (as the body of Christ), we live up to “being made in God’s image”—not just in our traits, but in our interconnectedness. Since East Asians naturally engage in a human form of interdependence, people see an invitation into relationships within the body of Christ as attractive (rather than threatening to their individuality).  

Many Japanese Christians often struggle with the idea of not worshipping their ancestors, fearing that their families will feel rejected, and they will be shamed. Those who attempt to cut ties with the cultural aspect of honouring their ancestors often return to their old ways of life after a time. Separation from their groups is too painful over the long term. However, some Japanese Christians have been successful in finding alternate ways of honouring their ancestors, without worshipping them—and this sometimes results in their families coming to Christ as well!

Interestingly enough, the faith of the Bunun tribe of Taiwan [4] has become deeply entrenched in their culture. They say, ‘If you want to understand us, you have to understand the church first.’ For the Bunun tribe, Christians are people ‘in moral community whose relationship to God is expressed both in and through their relations to others.’ To them, faith is society made sacred. Becoming Christian is seen as a decision in which the entire group participates. Describing this, one Bunun Christian shares, ‘We followed God collectively.’ In this way, new believers avoid ‘social dislocation’. [5] 

If we want to be effective in spreading the good news of Jesus within East Asia, we must provide support for community conversions so that entire groups, rather than isolated individuals, can make collective decisions for Christ. The degree of support provided has major repercussions for the longevity of new believers’ faith. We cannot overestimate the power of a community-oriented salvation.

Unity

East Asians are often ‘concerned about the human messenger as well as the message.’ [6] They see church unity as a significant dimension of harmonious living. 

The effects of unity and division are perhaps most obvious in the spiritual history of Taiwan and Japan. Prior to occupying Taiwan, the Japanese had observed that Christian inter-denominational friction could be problematic, so they allowed only Presbyterians to remain there from 1895–1945. [7] When other denominations re-entered following WWII, rather than spreading the good news of Jesus to people who didn’t know Him, they began to poach each other’s converts. [8] 

Thankfully, the history of the Taiwanese indigenous village of Ququaz is different. The village has a Presbyterian and a Catholic church, but there is no hostility or conflict between them. [9] In fact, when members of one congregation become ill, members of the other have been known to take care of them. [10] Given the villagers’ strong relational morality, it seems unlikely they would have been receptive to the good news of Jesus if there were conflicts between denominations (as there have been in the rest of Taiwan). Christian conflict would have brought into question whether the good news was actually good news.

Unfortunately, many Christians ‘promote their own kingdoms at the expense of the unified body of Christ.’ [11] This is the opposite of Jesus’ prayer for unity among His followers—when He asked that they would all be one so that the world would trust that God the Father had sent Jesus, and so it would know of His love. [12] This leads to a grim conclusion: without unity, Christians cannot transmit Jesus’ divine purpose and love, and we become living proof against our Saviour. 

Crises of unity pose a significant barrier to the good news of Jesus, and Christian cross-cultural workers must become sensitive to the potential damage they can do with their impatience or aggression. [13] Those in positions of authority are charged with safeguarding the community’s honour, so shame brought upon leaders will be dispersed throughout the entire community. [14] The shameful inability of Christians to live in harmony, regardless of denomination, has major repercussions for their witness. Jesus’ words echo today: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ [15] If we don’t demonstrate unity, we undermine the salvation message.

Reconciliation

Traditionally, Western Protestants have tended to focus more on redemption than on reconciliation, but East Asians prefer to focus on both vertical and horizontal reconciliation. Korean American professor Sung Wook Chung says, ‘The vertical is pregnant with the horizontal’. [15] In other words, vertical reconciliation between God and humankind results in an eager expectation that another form of reconciliation is about to be born. Barring extreme abuse, many East Asians ask, if Christians cannot be reconciled to each other, how can they say they are reconciled to God? As the apostle John remarked, ‘Whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.’ (1 John 4:20)

Paradox

The symbol of the yin and yang is helpful if we’re trying to understand how East Asians approach paradox. For them, harmony involves holding ‘on to two polar opposites without dismissing one in favour of the other. If there were no difference or polar opposites, then harmony would mean nothing.’ [16] Although Western thinkers attempt to hold opposing sides of a paradox in tension without dismissing one or the other, East Asians cradle them in harmony. Eventually, the two sides of the paradox may swirl together to create new insights—and we may begin to perceive something entirely new born out of polar opposites.

This is how Kazoh Kitamori, a Christian Japanese thinker, came to grasp a new reality: ‘divine love rooted in divine pain.’ [17] The pain of God, Kitamori said, occurs when Christ embraces people who defiantly cling to their sin. [18] God stubbornly refuses to give up His love for sinners even when they’re rebellious, and this is the thing that causes Him relational pain. [19]

Other thinkers from the West have suggested that God’s pain is caused by His compassion over suffering [20]—and the Western and Eastern approaches complement one another. Compassion and anger are not separated in the heart of God. As one pastor writes, ‘The two rise and fall together. A compassion-less Christ could never have gotten angry at the injustices all around him. Compassion and indignation rise together in his soul.’ [21]

Kitamori said, ‘God in pain is the God who embraces those who should not be embraced and reconciles the world to Himself.’ [22] God embraces the perpetrators—abusers, and paedophiles. The harm these violators cause to the innocent brings out in us a shadow of the anger God must experience at human sin. The cross joins together God’s love and anger [23]—He suffers not only with the victims, but at the damage the wrongdoers inflict on themselves. He suffers at one person He loves wilfully causing hurt to someone else He loves. Yet He makes the decision to keep loving both the abused and the abuser.

From the point of view of mission, the pain of God gives Christians emotional courage to embrace not only victims, but perpetrators. Christians can participate in God’s work, not putting aside the anger that naturally flows from horrific sin, but entering into the fellowship of His sufferings, 'embracing those who should not be embraced', and loving like Jesus.  

Apprenticeship

Since Christians in Asia have been persecuted more than on any other continent, [24] they must develop faiths strong enough to withstand great suffering. Apprenticeship models are used in a variety of contexts within East Asia. In Japan, pupils may remain at a ‘talent’ (i.e., apprentice) level for decades; [25] they don't become masters until the previous master has passed away. Attaining excellence requires lifelong commitment. In East Asia, apprenticeship tools such as narrative and hands-on experience are often used in discipleship.

Narrative

C.S. Song, a Taiwanese academic, wrote, ‘Story is the matrix of theology.’ [26] In other words, theory without story has no bones; it cannot move, and it certainly cannot stand. In Asia, people understand God through stories: [27] both laypeople and spiritual academics often prefer concrete stories over abstract theories. This is apparent in the fictional writings of people like Shusaku Endo (Silence, A Life of Jesus) and Ayako Miura (Shiokari Pass, Freezing Point, The Wind is Howling). Even academic books trace biographies to illustrate their various theoretical points. Although both Eastern and Western Christians use personal testimonies in witnessing, East Asians also use fictional stories as robust methods of evangelism and discipleship. Fictions have an advantage over personal stories: they invite readers and hearers to participate through imagining themselves as part of the story, rather than remaining as passive observers of historical events.

Practical Experience

Western academics sometimes call Eastern spirituality ‘applications rather than interpretations’. [28] This is because application, rather than abstraction, is more valued in these cultures. Asian ideas of God don't so much exist in the mind as in the hands. They demand action in order to be considered genuine. (This is similar to the Buddhist path to enlightenment, which includes correct intentions, words, and actions. [29]) 

The Taiwanese Bunun tribe prioritizes the actual over the abstract in their worship services. [30] A ‘good sermon’ is one they can apply directly to their lives. When pastors from outside their culture preach in abstract terms, the Bunun believe the pastor is elevating himself and putting them down; they say the ‘pastor’s heart is not here, not really in our church.’ Practical experience is built into the Bunun culture. Within a year of Christianity’s arrival at one of their villages, eight Bunun men had become Christians, been appointed as missionaries, trained, and sent to surrounding villages. They truly owned their faith, and soon built their own sustainable churches.

This isn’t always the case. In some places in Asia, missionaries have prevented attempts by the people to adapt Christian practice for their own cultures, claiming that decades-old churches are still too immature to do this. This is a systematic problem, and we should take heed. If cross-cultural workers clutch onto authority, this only stunts the growth of young churches and prevents them from fully embracing and understanding their salvation. [31]

East Asia has so much to contribute to our understanding of what it means to be a Christian—from inter-connected relationships and community conversions, to treating unity as a goal, not just a value. East Asian mentalities can give us emotional courage to reach out to people we might otherwise avoid. And, our methods of discipleship can be much more robust—especially if we use tools like narrative, poetry, and practical experience to deepen new Christians and provide them with a lasting faith.

NOTES

[1] Chia, Edmund Kee-Fook. 2021. ‘Asian Theological Methodologies’, in Asian Christianity and Theology: Inculturation, Interreligious Dialogue, Integral Liberation (Routledge) <https://www.perlego.com/book/2568131> [accessed 11 November 2025]: 57.

[2] Yang, Shu-Yuan. 2008. ‘Christianity, Identity, and the Construction of a Moral Community Among the Bunun of Taiwan’, Social Analysis, 52.3, pp. 51-74, doi:10.3167/sa.2008.520303: 66.

[3] Chua, How Chuang. 2012. ‘Perichoresis and Missio Dei: Implications of a Trinitarian view of Personhood for Missionary Practice’, Mission Round Table, 7.2: 4.

[4] Story of the Bunan tribe taken from Yang 2008: 52-68.

[5] Georges, Jayson. 2017. The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures (Timē Press). Kindle: 70 of 81 in e-book.

[6] Kim, Daniel D. 2016. ‘Contextualization and Evangelism’, in Ministry Across Cultures: Sharing the Christian Faith in Asia, ed. by Warren R. Beattie (Regnum) <https://www.perlego.com/book/2802324> [accessed 25 November 2025]: 44.

[7] Schmid, Joachim. 2012. ‘The Development of Christianity in Taiwan’, Academia <https://www.academia.edu/35897726/The_Development_of_Christianity_in_Taiwan> [accessed 11 November 2025]: 10.

[8] Ibid.: 11.

[9] Yang 2008: 53.

[10] Ibid.: 65.

[11] Sunquist, Scott W. 2014. ‘Asia’, in Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History, and Culture in Regional Perspective, ed. by Donald Lewis, and Richard Pierard (IVP Academic) <https://www.perlego.com/book/3009355> [accessed 1 December 2025]: Evangelical Future.

[12] See John 17:20–23.

[13] Kim 2016: 49.

[14] Vaughn, Brad. 2019. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission (IVP Academic) <https://www.perlego.com/book/1031880> [accessed 3 December 2025]: 19.

[15] Chung, Sung Wook. 2017. ‘Chapter 7: Salvation as Reconciliation: Toward a Theology of Reconciliation in the Division of the Korean Peninsula’, in So Great a Salvation: Soteriology in the Majority World, ed. by Green, Gene L., Stephen T. Purdue, and K.K. Yeo (Langham Global Library): 144.

[16] Chia, Edmund Kee-Fook. 2021. ‘Asian Theological Methodologies’, in Asian Christianity and Theology: Inculturation, Interreligious Dialogue, Integral Liberation (Routledge) <https://www.perlego.com/book/2568131> [accessed 11 November 2025]: 60.

[17] Chua, How Chuang. 2021. Japanese Perspectives on the Death of Christ: A Study in Contextualized Christology (Regnum Books). Kobo: 381–382 of 1252 in e-book.

[18] Ibid.: 352 of 1252 in e-book.

[19] Ibid.: 404–405 of 1252 in e-book.

[20] Ibid.: 500, 503–504.

[21] Ortlund, Dane. 2020. Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Crossway). Kobo: 88-89 of 205 in e-book.

[22] Kitamori, Kazoh. 2005. Theology of the Pain of God (Wipf & Stock Publishers): 12.

[23] Chua 2021: 419 of 1252 in e-book.

[24] Sunquist, Scott W. 2014. ‘Asia’, in Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History, and Culture in Regional Perspective, ed. by Donald Lewis, and Richard Pierard (IVP Academic) <https://www.perlego.com/book/3009355> [accessed 1 December 2025]: Persecution, Martyrdom and Political Influence.

[25] Ying, Kuang. 2018. ‘On Essence of Apprenticeship and Its Enlightenment to China’, in China’s Education Reform: Current Issues and New Horizons, ed. by Ruiquan Gao, and Guanjun Wu (World Scientific Publishing) <https://www.perlego.com/book/ 845276> [accessed 11 December 2025]: Behind the Phenomenon: Essence of the Apprenticeship.

[26] Song, C. S. 2011. In the Beginning Were Stories, Not Texts: Story Theology (Wipf & Stock Publishers): 18. 

[27] Chia 2021: 55.

[28] Vaughn, Brad. 2019. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission (IVP Academic) <https://www.perlego.com/book/1031880> [accessed 3 December 2025]: 7.

[29] Lopez, Daniel S. 2025. ‘Eightfold Path’, Britannica <https://www.britannica.com/topic/ Eightfold-Path> [accessed 9 December 2025]: Eightfold Path.

[30] Details about the Bunun are taken from Yang, Shu-Yuan. 2008. ‘Christianity, Identity, and the Construction of a Moral Community Among the Bunun of Taiwan’, Social Analysis, 52.3, pp. 51-74, doi:10.3167/sa.2008.520303: 54-66.

[31] See Philippians 2:12.