When Does Biblical Contextualization Become Syncretism?

Ministry anywhere can be challenging, but Christians ministering to Native American tribes must navigate particular tensions. On the one hand, many Native people remain suspicious of Christianity because of historical trauma inflicted on their communities by Christian churches and denominations, and many of them promote traditional religious practices that they believe can help them heal from the past. But there’s also cause for optimism. Powerful conversion stories to Christianity, however sparse, are growing among tribal people. A new crop of young Native evangelicals carry a passion to reach their people. And many Indigenous Christian leaders are—day in and day out—faithfully loving and serving their communities. I recently had a conversation with one of those leaders, Ryan O’Leary, about what he’s seeing in ministry, including native-language revitalization efforts, racial reconciliation, and ongoing Native debates about religious contextualization and syncretism. O’Leary is a member of the Ojibwe tribe and president of the National Association of Native Evangelicals, an organization aiming to equip, unite, and encourage Indigenous Christians. He’s been involved in Native ministry for 25 years and has helped lead a number of justice-oriented initiatives. The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity. ible translation projects and some Native American ministries play a vital role in revitalizing Indigenous languages, most of which are considered endangered. How are those efforts going, and what kind of impact is it having on the ground? I think results are mixed. SIL Global has some powerful participatory language initiatives where they bring together people who want to learn Indigenous languages through conversational groups instead of in formal academic classes. Bible translation projects and other ministries also play a role. Wycliffe, the Bible translation organization, works with Native speakers to create writing systems for previously unwritten tongues. Some Native pastors alternate languages during sermons, like Jackie Holgate of Arizona’s Mountaintop Church, who switches between Navajo and English. And InterVarsity’s Native Ministries encourages students to sing in Native languages, among other discipleship measures.