Visiting Other Churches...No. 9 

RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES

A twelve day visit to the Republic of the Philippines does not make one an authority on any aspect of its culture, but I can do what I have been doing in this series, share my impressions of visits to other churches. But this time it is religion in Manila and Cebu rather than Denton, Texas, which is 10,000 miles from where I now sit at the Ignio Aquino International Airport, awaiting a flight to India.

The name Ignio Aquino is now part of the history of this restive nation. A few years back he was shot dead as he stepped from a plane only a short distance from where I sit. Noting that the new terminal was named for him, I asked the boy who drove me from the Wycliffe translators' guest house if he had ever seen Ignio Aquino. "Not personally," he said. "What did you think of him?," I asked. "He was a hero who sought to overthrow an oppressive dictatorship," he responded, which seems to reflect the thinking of most Filipinos. An imposing memorial bronze statue on one of Manila's boulevards of Ignio being shot on an exit ramp would suggest this. "Wouldn't Ignio be surprised that his wife is now president and that the oppressive dictator is banished from the country!," I ventured, and we agreed that great men often accomplish as martyrs what they would not accomplish in life, which is true even of our Lord. "And it is Jesus Christ who made us brothers," I finally said to him. "You are the younger brother and I the older." He smiled with delight.

That conversation reveals two predictable things about this unpredictable country: Most everyone speaks English, and nearly everyone is a "Christian," if you do not use that term too strictly. While there are some 100 languages spoken among the thousands of islands, English is the second language. The newspapers are in English as are signs, advertising, books, and business.

This makes for less difficulty for the older mission-minded Christian who has neither the time nor the inclination to learn a language to serve in a foreign field. Here she can "hit the ground running" by being able from the start to communicate with people who will listen. She should of course learn the people's first language to some degree, but this is more easily done on a bilingual basis. It is interesting how people will use two tongues shifting from one to the other as if they were one language.

So a couple could retire here, live comfortably on $1,000 a month, and serve meaningfully in a strategic mission field. Better still, let those with special skills come and combat poverty, a blight to about half the populace, by teaching the people how to work with their hands. Productivity is the key to a nation's wealth, and non-productivity hangs heavy over the Philippines. The people will work, and they are intelligent, but there is too little to do. If 100,000 Christian business men and women came to this "third world" country and started profit-sharing small businesses, thus creating jobs and markets (wealth), it would help bring the Kingdom of God to the Philippines. This is the way to eliminate the oppression of "Smokey Mountain" in Manila where an estimated three million people live in indescribable poverty, eking out a bare existence by rummaging in mountains of garbage. There are so many of them and they are deemed to be of so little value that bulldozers sometimes grind them into the garbage with impunity.

Upwards of 95% of the 60 million population are Roman Catholics who date back to the Spanish conquests 500 years ago. Protestant Christianity is represented by every conceivable sect, both imported and indigenous, including Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Iglesiani Christo (Church of Christ in Cebuano), an heretical cult of several millions formed around a charismatic leader. As in most countries of the world, the Seventh Day Adventists probably have the most constructive mission program, building both schools and hospitals of high quality.

There are scores of churches and schools of the Restoration tradition, representing most persuasions. There is not only little cooperation between them but they're often warring factions, setting the naturally gentle Filipinos at variance with each other over such issues as instrumental music, cooperation, and blood-eating. The last named being the only non-imported issue that I was exposed to. The spirit is so spiteful that the trustees of little Cebu Bible Seminary (Church of Christ instrumental) had second thoughts about my teaching for them for a week after inviting me to do so, lest they be criticized for having "a non-instrument man," on the premises. They met in emergency session the day I arrived and after extended debate voted 4 to 1 that I should be tolerated.

I explained to them that where I came from I was often not tolerated for the opposite reason—having fellowship with them—and that I usually do not garner so many positive votes! They soon saw, I think, that my intentions were peaceful, and we had a good time together. And I do not fault them for their reluctance to have me around for I realize how vicious the sectarian spirit can be. From past experience they had good reason to suppose that anyone from an opposing faction would flay them alive. But my basic reaction was My God, what have we done to these humble Filipino people with our exported American factions!

I visited two "other" churches while in the Philippines. A Filipino business man, an evangelical Roman Catholic that I met on the plane, took me to the massive and aged Sancta Ninos church, which was crowded with people praying the rosary and lining up to pray at the image of Sancta Ninos (Holy Child), who is the patron saint of Cebus and worshipped by millions. I talked to several people who believe this doctrine, which was brought to the island 500 years ago by Magellan. "How can you worship something that doesn't exist?" I asked a young nurse. "There is no Holy Child, for he grew to be a man," I added. She was perplexed by my questions and conceded that the Savior in heaven is not a child, and would only say it was a tradition.

They seem to distinguish between the two, making the Holy Child a patron saint and Jesus the man the Savior. That the Roman church encourages and perpetuates such ignorance and superstition, century after century, is one reason for the plight of "the third world." Religion is often an obstacle to progress and enlightenment, and often opposes a Christianity that liberates.

When I stood with these poor deluded souls before the image of the Sancta Ninos, which they believe to be a mediator between themselves and God, I had the urge to quote that great truth from Scripture, "There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). When I did quote that crucial truth to Filipinos, they would only say, "It is tradition."

The other church I visited was the Union Church of Manila, and what a contrast it was to the traditions of Cebu. It is what a Christian church ought to be, fervent in Spirit, rich in fellowship, and strong in the Scriptures. Non-denominational and unsectarian, its lively service was all in English, and a full house for two morning services.

I especially appreciate the way the Lord's Supper was handled, as if it were following what we have suggested in this journal. Though individual cups were used, there was a single chalice on the table along with a sizable loaf of bread. The loaf, not crumbs or crackers, was lifted representing the unity we have in Christ, and the words of institution were emphatically proclaimed. Beautiful! —the Editor