Barriers from Without and From Within
There are a variety of barriers that Native Americans face that can make it difficult, at least initially, to accept Christianity as the way to living a fruitful life today, tomorrow and for all eternity. Barriers come both from without and from within. From without are the mistakes that have been made by those representing the Christian community going back many generations. From within are the barriers that may be unique to Native Americans in addition to barriers all people have to Christianity until God sovereignly reveals himself to them.
Barriers Native Americans Face When Presented with the Christian Message
- Spiritual Forces: As do all people, Native Americans have spiritual forces working against them.— Ephesians 6: 12 Romans 1:25 In Native communities spiritual forces are manifested through ritualistic practices that boarder on witchcraft and New Age philosophy.
- Paternalism: A practice used on aboriginal people of North America by dominated Anglo-American/Canadian government and church groups in carrying out the doctrine called, “Manifest Destiny”.
- Failed Policies of Organized Religion: In essence a policy of the 1800’s and early 1900’s to “Civilize” Native people that impacted and perpetuated the resistance Native people have to the true meaning of Christ’s message of love.
- Denominational Conflict: On most reservations and Canadian reserves, the existence of multiple denominations result not in cooperation but in conflict. This separates communities and hinders the acceptance of Christianity.
- Breakdown of Family and Community: Alcohol, drugs and suicide have torn down otherwise more healthy Native American values of family, community and related lifestyles. Learned patterns of alcohol abuse are passed on from generation to generation.
- Lack of Men in Church Leadership: In churches on most Reservations and Reserves, women assume leadership roles due to the low participation of men.
- Few Indigenous Pastors: Not only do many churches attended by Native Americans lack a Native American pastor, but many were founded under, and may still be influenced by “cultural imperialism, patronizing approaches and institutional dependencies” which inhibit church planting efforts. For this reason, Ralph Winter* stated that most Native American tribes are still “unreached” in that few churches attended by Native American’s are truly indigenous. —Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, 1999, p. 364 *Ralph Winter was the Founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission and coined the phrase “unreached people groups”. Note: Currently, only 1% of Native Americans call themselves Christians.
- Self Satisfaction: Native American Christians who are satisfied in their own abilities to meet their needs are complacent and lack the motivation to take the steps required to grow in their faith.
- Compromising Christian Walk: Some Native American Christians may continue in activities that, while acceptable in the general culture, are in conflict with the teachings from the Bible. Such activities include gambling, mixing non-Christian beliefs with Christian beliefs, and drinking or drinking to excess.
- Limited Financial Resources: Native American churches and para-church organizations like Overcomers Ministries often lack the financial resources to sufficiently support missions to Native Americans. In addition, churches with missions budgets rarely view Native Americans as an “unreached people group” in the same way as they view unreached people groups located overseas. As a result, churches often allocate relatively few dollars to support missions efforts among Native American. See ‘Few Indigenous Pastors’ above.