I Am Kerflumoxed! (Don't know what to feel.)

Something just happened that leaves me absolutely stunned. I've never had anything similar happen. I don't know what to feel at the same time as having very mixed emotions. (Figure that one out!)

We have a family of four (the U.s) in our church, saved through our ministry. They've been saved for a few years but not ready for baptism for awhile after they saved. There was an idolatry issue, since her parents, whith who they live, have a Buddhist idol shelf in the home. This is a very typical situation in Japan.

I haven't asked them about baptism for several years, and that is my fault, in retrospect. I should have been talking to them about it periodically. I did feel led last week, though, to write a letter to the U.s saying I was praying for them to be baptized soon--thinking of course that I would continue to press the issue if they said no.

At any rate, there is another family (the K.s) who attends only our evening English service but not the morning Japanese service, and are not members. In the morning they go to the local Japanese equivalent of the SBC, where the new pastor doesn't even believe in Hell. But they are good folks, love the Lord and have been a blessing to us and our church folk. Both parents graduated from a pretty good Bible school in the States, though not a Baptist one. However, they have not been in full time service for many years.

This morning I got a phone call from Mr. K. saying they had gotten a phone call from the U.s saying they wanted to be baptized. So Mr. K. trotted over and baptized all four of the U. family in their bathtub.

Tomorrow we have a Ladies' Bible Study in the morning at which Mrs. K. and Mrs. U. and her junior high daughter S. will be. Mrs. F. will also be there, a lost lady.

So now what do I do? What do I feel? What do I say to the two families?

 

Thanks for the good word, Ulsterman. I'm praying hard for wisdom. The thing is, the Japanese are extremely sensitive people. Remember the term, "loss of face." This is an everyday reality in Japan. The whole society is based on it. If I handle it wrongly both families are gone.

Not to debate, but we do have the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. I'm sure that Mr. K. will immediately bring that up if I seem at all to be rebuking him.

 

Thanks for the input. I have to run.

 

Thanks, exscentric. This is good advice.

My main problem was thinking I had to immediately face both wives at this morning's Ladies Bible Study. I had a real hard time sleeping last night because of that, and not knowing what to say. The lady who received baptism wasn't able to come, and God gave grace with the wife of the man who did the baptism. (She seemed a little sheepish at first.)

So now I have more time to pray and wait for the Lord's leading. I know He has His purpose in all of this, and all things will work together for good, since all concerned love the Lord.

Both families are good folk, and I'm sure meant no harm. Their motives were good, I have no doubt.

 

Thanks, Tom. The wife and I are struggling with this.

 

Yes, they are private people, especially when it comes to us foreigners. (They are extremely nationalistic.) I've had problems before with believers who were too shy to give their testimonies in public, something I require when I baptize. So to answer your question, I believe both things are true with this family: the desire for privacy (instead of a public profession), and the fact that their pastor is a foreigner.

As an example of their privacy syndrome, PTA meetings here are known to serve whiskey. Also, much business is conducted in bars after work. This is not strictly for recreation. It is because most Japanese feel they can say what they really feel when they are a little soused, and it won't be held against them. "It was the demon sake," they can say if they later find out someone was offended.

 

Thanks, brother.

Not much will happen for awhile. We have a Japanese missionary to Thailand coming on Sunday, so we are focused on that right now. In the meantime, our folks have time to consider the whole thing, and I'm praying the Holy Spirit will do a real work in their hearts.

 

The Lord has used me to take the family who was baptized through some very hard times. Since I hold the things learned in counseling to be sacrosanct (as I'm sure you do), I don't feel at liberty to say much more about their situation. Suffice it to say that it was only a few months ago that the husband told me they had resolved their compromise.

The Japanese, contrary to the Western image of them (Zen and all that), are extremely slow spiritually. And by "spiritually," I mean in every sense of the word: Biblical, secular, philosophical, etc. They are a very practical people, extremely good in business, which is why you no doubt have many Japanese products in your home. But they take an extremely long time to work through spiritual things.

Story time. On our island, a woman's husband died, who she loved very much. The Buddhist priest took her through the rites, and at one point said, "You need to buy a kaimyo for your husband." This is a special new name for the spirit of the dead person so that, among other things, his spirit can avoid Hell. So she spent the equivalent of thousands of dollars for the best kaimyo her yen could buy. Bon festival, the festival of the dead, rolled around in August the next year. The priest told her, "Now your husband will be released from hell for a short period to roam the earth. You need to comfort his spirit with offerings and dances at the festival." She said, "But wait, I thought I paid him out of Hell!!" The priest was dumbstruck. This seemingly obvious conflict, when she truly understood it, started her on the path to faith in Christ.

 

Well yes to these, but it's even more complicated.

(1) The K. family has not joined our church. They love my exegetical Bible teaching in our English service in the evening. (Morning services are Japanese.) In the morning they go to another church.

(2) I don't know if he is ordained or not, though he graduated from an American Bible institute and at one time tried church planting and has tried various ministries since. So I have to find out if he is ordained, and if not then tell the U. family that their baptism probably would not be accepted by any church, much less ours.

(3) I have to tell the U. family that their baptism cannot be recognized by our church. Therefore they are not members of our church--so whose church are they members of? (I don't think Mr. K. has thought of these things.)

(4) There is the trust issue. Why didn't either family think to contact me? Didn't they think that we might even want to see them baptized at the very least?

(5) We have a lost lady coming right now, asking all sorts of good questions. I wish so much that she had seen a baptism. It would have been such a great testimony. Now we have to be very careful what she learns about it and how.

Thanks. You are absolutely right. The wife and I slept somewhat better last night, though she went to bed with a migraine, the first in months.