Voices from the past

A few years ago during a seminar hosted by a reputed theological college in Nagaland, one of the key note speakers was an elderly Reverend, who spent most of his life in the northeast, more precisely in the Garo hills. If fact, his parents were among the first western missionaries along with Rev. Clark to bring the Gospel to northeast. Having been born and raised in the Garo hills, he traveled frequently to what was then known as the Naga Hills; and over the years developed good relations with Naga church leaders. 

In the course of his presentation, our elderly Reverend shared his observations and opinions on the Naga people. From the encounters and experiences his family had with the Nagas, he came to experience first hand the belief and practice of values such as honesty, respect, equality, tolerance, forgiveness and sharing, which were all revered and part of the culture; but was however, limited and confined only to ones own family, clan, or village.

He stated that such positive and egalitarian values were rarely extended to the perceived ‘other’ – whether clan or village. In other words, he implied, seldom were these values practiced and shared beyond ones own kin. And therefore, in the initial stages, the role of the churches he said were predominately peace missions, where their objective was to universalize these positive values, by sharing them with the perceived ‘other.’ In those days, Nagas predominately consisted of village republics – concept of tribes came later – and so the primary focus of the Church then was to build understanding between villages.     

Sometime ago, another senior and respected Reverend, quite well known and looked up to in the Baptist circles and one of the key speakers during the 125 years celebration of Christianity in Nagaland had an interesting observation of Christianity in the Naga context. He made an incisive observation that, Naga Christians generally have a very narrow perception and concrete understanding of what salvation means to them. His insight on the general Naga worldview towards Christianity is remarkably very real.

Today, as one experiences the frailty of our socio-political reality and theological roots, the profound insights of two Reverends at different states of the Naga context provides an opportunity for some serious introspection. Nagas are still struggling today to overcome the narrow walls of ism and to build upon the ideals of inclusiveness and pluralism. Even far more challenging has been the struggle to engage on faith base issues, especially those which do not necessarily fall under the narrow and concrete Naga understanding of Christianity; and yet are broad views that fellow Christians from different cultures share. 

All these internal contradictions are issues that must be confronted, lest they destroy the very foundation of Naga existence. It is therefore time for Nagas to objectively and critically revisits the core of human values such as honesty, sharing, respect, forgiveness and to recognize that these values become meaningless, unless it is practiced and lived, not just within but with the perceived other. And as people of the Christian faith, Nagas need to return to the scriptures and realize that to be Christian, is to emulate the revolutionary values and principles that Jesus lived and died for. This implies dismantling the powers, the powers of civil religion, a civil religion that Nagas are so hastily building today.
 



Support The Morung Express.
Your Contributions Matter
Click Here