The average time it takes for a Japanese person to go from thinking about Christianity and thinking about becoming a Christian to actually making some sort of commitment is about eight years.
If the person has been exposed to Christian education in some fashion (ie Catholic School) or has otherwise had some form of alternate exposure to a Christian worldview in the process of their growing up, that time can be decreased to a period of about three years.
It may be the radical nature of the Christian world view that causes problems when compared to the options that are generally presented in the process of growing up.
3 comments:
I think that it's a lot harder cuz their life style is going to shrines or what not. It's like their roots and custom. To not go is like not being Japanese? I dunno.. it's like the Jewish traditions is actually doing what they do. Their religion is their way of life? I don't know if i got that right.
Yes I think you're right, those traditions are deeply rooted in Japan. The Japanese people are very loyal. In general religion always shapes your way of life, the decisions you make are based on what you beleive or are driven by. If you beleive that money is life's chief goal, all your decisions will be made to that end. But in Japan, all the options are completely different than Christianity.
I don't know about all over the world, I don't think it is instantaneous in most cases, (although I also think it could be). But in North America I would say the average time would be 6 mos. to maybe two years. But I also would say the difference is the fact that most North Americans have had a lot of exposure to the Christian world view. A large majority of N.Americans have heard of God, and nearly all have been exposed in some fashion to the Christian world view. We have holidays for Christmas and Easter, there are churches in most neighbourhoods, Western popular culture uses Christian themes form time to time. All these things add up, so that a person who hears the gospel in North America automatically has some understanding, an ability to grasp the concept. This is generally not there in Japan.
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