Observing Non-Christian Worship

[Afterthought]

Is there justification for Christians deliberately observing (as opposed to paritcipating in) non-Christian ceremonies? So, for example, if a Christian desired to see Jewish worship, is it allowable for the Christian to deliberately go in and observe rather than participate in it? I use "deliberately" to distinguish from those cases when such worship is public and set before one's eyes or if a Christian's job forces one to be in such places.

I suppose a reason must be given by the Christian for desiring to do such. Generally, (and especially with Jewish ceremonies) the reason is either (a) evangelism (e.g., "My friend won't come to church unless I go with them to their service"), (b) education (e.g., "How did the Jewish Passover in the Bible look like?", or for apologetical purposes, or mere curiosity), or (c) "I must become all things to all men to save some" (which is related to (a), but seems to me to cover a large enough territory to be treated distinctly).


A follow up quesiton may be, "What about culturally or religiously participating in these services or holidays?" Especially for those Christians who came from a Jewish background (Romans 14; or Paul's various visits to Jewish synagogues; or becoming all things to all men): participating (a) religiously or (b) merely culturally and ethnically (viewing the holidays no different than a civil day that a particular nation has; I suppose it's impossible to participate in a service merely culturally), since that is the person's background?

 

[au5t1n]

e.g., "How did the Jewish Passover in the Bible look like?"

This may be beside the point, but Christians won't learn anything about the Old Testament by observing modern Jews.

or Paul's various visits to Jewish synagogues

Those synagogues were the legitimate churches in those cities before Paul arrived. Paul first went and preached to the existing church in a city. Had they believed his doctrine, the synagogue would have remained the church in that city, inviting Gentiles in, etc. When they rejected his doctrine, he had to start another church (or Presbytery in some cities) by necessity. In light of this, I don't think Paul's visits to synagogues can be used as a warrant for anything in particular with regards to Christians and modern synagogues.

 

[Jack K]

Observe? Yes, with care. One needs to be able to separate observation from participation.

Participate religiously. No. We worship the true God only, and only as he ordains.

Participate culturally. Depends. The line between religion and culture is often hard to determine and requires discernment and wisdom. The particular situation and the individuals involved need to be considered. But participating humbly and joyfully in a another's cultural observance while refusing to join in his worship of another God can, if one is able to separate these things, be an excellent witness to Jesus.

BTW... a Jewish Passover is a religious observance, not just a cultural one. Not something to participate in.

 

[Pergamum]

Observing other religious rites and studying other religions has long been a step of missionary preparation.

 

[Heath]

I observed many religious rites and worship services in college when I went on a "vision" trip to LA. Looking back I don't know that the trip was as beneficial as I did at the time but it was a great blessing to me then. I was a new Christian and had very little wisdom at the time. We also did some things like work at soup kitchens, etc. but the thought was that the thoughts and philosophies of the world often percolate in LA before spreading across the country.

If this particular post was in a different part of the forum, like theology - reasons for observing other religions, I would probably have left it alone but I think that the end result of observing can be beneficial. There may also be some negative aspects of observing but I will leave those to others.

So, some of the beneficial justifications I can think of are:

1. In observing we lose some of the misrepresentations we had of the religion as a whole. This helps as we talk to members of those religions as we won't attribute some things that are incorrect.

2. In observing we see the real people. Muslims sounds rough but when we have faces to put to that and have seen them "being muslim" we can be more human and humble in our conversations and thoughts.

3. In observing we open doors to others to visit our churches. It humanises us to them.

4. In observing these services it made me less angry at the people and more aware of the enemy.


Like I said, I was a new believer at the time. I was a few years from being reformed. If I took the same trip now I might see it differently but that was my experience at the time.

BTW, we visited with and observed Muslims, Buddhist, Hare Krishna, Scientologist, and a few others I cannot remember.