Abstract
While insider movements are common in the Muslim and Hindu world, they are rare in the Buddhist world. This case study summarizes the formation and development of an insider movement among Buddhists in Thailand. The key principles in the movement are presented and analyzed. Among them are the importance of reaching entire families, avoiding Christian practices that can become a stumbling block to others, promoting the priesthood of all believers, C5 contextualization, and the powerful testimony of a family following Jesus and being transformed by him.
Keywords
Introduction
Thailand boasts the second-largest number of Buddhists in the world after China. The mantra “to be Thai is to be Buddhist” is deeply ingrained in most Thai people. The first Catholic priests entered Thailand over 500 years ago (Smith, 1999: 9). Around 200 years ago, the first Protestant missionary arrived (Smith, 1999: 14). But after all these years, just around 0.3% of the ethnic Thai have become Protestant Christians (Visser, 2008: 163), only 0.6% of the Thai population are Catholic, and barely 0.2% are Pentecostals and Charismatics (Lorgunpai and Fongvarin, 2020: 156).
Considering these numbers, it should be kept in mind that “42% of all Christians in Thailand are tribal” (Visser, 2008: 77) and that at least one-third of all churches in Thailand consist of tribal people (e.g., Karen, Lahu, Akha) and do not have a worship service in the Thai language (Lorgunpai and Fongvarin, 2020: 159). That means the number of ethnic Thais who have become Christians is much lower than the national statistics suggest. Christianity is spreading particularly slowly in Thailand, especially among the ethnic Thai.
In the first part of this case study, the formation and development of an insider movement among ethnic Thai Buddhists in Northern Thailand (NTM) are presented. In the second part, the movement is analyzed, and practical applications are suggested. At the request of the people involved, all names have been changed.
The formation and development of the movement
The NTM has no official leaders. It was initiated by Greg, who was sent out as a missionary by a US-based mission organization. In 1991, Greg moved to Northern Thailand with his wife Liz and their children. His plan for the first year consisted of three things: observation, learning the language, and avoiding contact with the larger expat community. He was intentional about entering the local community as a learner and gained many Thai Buddhist friends. His foremost objective being observation, he learned critical insights about Thai culture.
In 1994, Liz was diagnosed with cancer. Greg and Liz intentionally chose to stay in Thailand rather than seek medical care elsewhere. At this point, they already had a sizeable group of Thai friends around them, but only a few were new believers. As Liz’s symptoms intensified, their Thai social circle became aware of their family’s need, and provided assistance however they could. This caused a profound bond between Greg’s family and their Thai friends. Owing to the circumstances, Greg could not do any formal ministry. They had no meetings except for a prayer meeting every Wednesday night.
While helping Greg’s family during Liz’s illness, their Thai friends received an in-depth view of Greg and Liz’s life. Many became believers by seeing Greg and Liz going through that difficult time, but still having hope and joy amid all the difficulties due to their faith in Jesus. Many of the subsequent movement’s most influential members emerged from those trying times, including Bu and Dom. Greg and Liz did not disciple these young believers by starting Bible study groups or preaching the Bible, but by living among them. Greg and Liz were an authentic part of Thai society. Liz often shared one hospital room with 15 other patients. She had the opportunity to share Jesus with many other patients, and even some hospital staff became believers. Seeing how Jesus can give hope amid severe illness impressed Greg’s Thai friends deeply and was proof enough to them that Jesus is real and able to help, even in grave hardships.
In 2000, after six years of fighting cancer in Thailand, the family moved back to the United States, where Liz died. By that time, around 30 of their Thai friends had become believers. Greg returned to Thailand in 2005 to determine if he should relocate there. He found that almost all of the former believers were still committed to following Jesus. They had even matured in their faith and desired to share Jesus with others. After Greg left Thailand, some had joined a Thai church while others had not.
Greg relocated back to Thailand in 2006, and in 2010 he married a local Thai believer named Gaew. In 2014, Gaew’s father, the spiritual leader of the extended family, passed away. After his death, his family members, who were not believers at that time, went to a spirit doctor to summon the spirit of the deceased father to appoint the new spiritual head of the family. This would be determined by inquiring as to whose spirit house the spirit of the deceased would now inhabit. Being part of the family, Greg was invited to join. While Greg never advises someone to visit the spirit doctor, he was led to attend this particular event, knowing how important the event was for the family and believing that the one in him is stronger than any spirits in this world (cf. 1 John 4:4). While waiting in line, Greg witnessed that every time the spirit doctor manifested the spirit of a deceased person (cf. 1 Sam 28), it was a somewhat chaotic and hostile scene. However, when it was Greg’s family’s turn, the deceased father’s spirit shared peacefully that he did not need a spirit house to live in because his Father had already prepared a place for him (cf. John 14:2). Then he calmly suggested Greg to be the new spiritual leader of the entire extended family. Greg saw God’s intervention behind this and accepted the role.
From then on, Gaew’s family members came to Greg when they needed advice, wanted to celebrate an important event, or sought help. Furthermore, Greg intentionally visited all family members, who were spread all over the nation, to build relationships, even with those he had not met yet. Greg counseled all of them, believer or not, with biblical counsel. Little by little, the family members realized the wisdom in the counsel that Greg provided. Twelve family members became firm believers. Most others were very sympathetic toward Jesus and even shared the biblical counsel with their Buddhist friends.
The family was greatly affected by Greg’s witness. Many who were estranged reconciled, and the family’s dynamic shifted from one of primarily conflict and tension toward respect and enjoyment of one another’s company. Other family networks saw the change that Jesus brought into this family and started asking about the source of the change. This gave the new believers plenty of opportunities to share Jesus with others, and many second-, third-, and even fifth-generation believers resulted.
Now, in 2023, Greg and Gaew are involved in six different social networks, in different provinces all over Thailand, with varying numbers of believers. In the strongest and oldest network, which was born out of the time of Liz’s illness and includes Bu and Dom, Greg knows around 130 believers personally. Notably, most of these believers have led numerous others to Jesus, whom Greg has never met. Greg can only estimate the total number of believers in all six networks combined. Based on encounters with fourth- and fifth-generation believers and the reports of key people, he estimates that around 2000–3000 people have become believers through his witness and the people he has discipled and influenced.
Evangelism in the NTM
Like many bi-vocational Thai pastors who have an admirable vision for bringing Jesus into the marketplace and are modeling it through their life, so evangelism in the NTM is not done through special evangelistic events, but sharing Jesus happens in the midst of daily life, in the context of extant relationships. When non-believers request advice on how to solve problems or how to handle family issues, they obtain biblical counsel from the believers in response. Often, the change in the lives and families of the believers is observed by non-believers. Being asked what caused the change gives the believers a chance to share how Jesus transformed their lives and families. They affirm “that the greatest influence in a person’s coming to Christ is the witness and life of a friend or family member” (Ott and Wilson, 2011: 226).
Bu, who is running a family business, explained that many of his customers ask him about his faith in Jesus, which gives him a chance to share Jesus with them. Hence, evangelism is not a scheduled or planned activity, but a natural result of everyday life.
Another distinct marker of believers in the NTM is that they do not emphasize the strict delineation of categories or dichotomies (e.g., believer and non-believer). Rather, they emphasize the overall direction of a person’s spiritual journey. Is a person heading toward Jesus or away from Jesus? Does the person want to grow closer to Jesus or not? A person who hardly knows about Jesus but faithfully obeys the teachings they are currently familiar with would be considered healthier than someone who has much biblical knowledge but does not apply it in life.
Thus, evangelism is understood as the process of helping people on their journey to Jesus. This makes it challenging for members of the NTM to define the exact point of conversion for any given person, because it is viewed as a process, and one that is usually a long journey.
Hilderbrand (2022: 71) convincingly explains how the Thai cultural concept of krengjai, “in simplistic terms, a Thai person will always error on the side of politeness and submission in an interpersonal situation” fosters that some Thai people pray a sinner’s prayer to please the Christian without having any desire to follow Jesus.
To prevent insincere confessions, the believers in the NTM remove the requirement for people to verbalize a decision for Jesus at a specific time or place, or at another’s behest. Instead, they await an unprovoked self-identification with Christ (e.g., “I stopped making merit a long time ago because Jesus forgave me already” or “I pray to Jesus alone”). This ensures that no one is pressured into falsely identifying themselves as followers of Jesus, but that everyone who claims to follow Jesus does so out of a deep and personal conviction. As such, “praying the sinner’s prayer” is not practiced in the NTM.
The character of the meetings
Greg installed no new forms of meetings (e.g., Bible study, church service) outside the meetings that existed within the social networks already (e.g., family meetings, friends getting together regularly, business meetings). The only exception to this is the prayer meeting they had until 2000, when Greg’s family moved back to the USA.
In the NTM, almost all discipleship and evangelism happen at meetings when family or friends come together naturally. In accordance with their Thai culture, these meetings typically include a meal together; hence, Jesus is often discussed at the meal table or while sitting together after eating. In this kind of setting, the believers discuss how Jesus would address a problem or how he wants them to live daily life.
Likewise, in the NTM singing worship songs is not a common practice. Dom explained that obeying Jesus and living a God-pleasing life is understood as the worship God seeks.
Discipleship of new believers
No specific follow-up is done when someone becomes a new believer in the NTM. Since every new believer in the movement is already in a relationship with another believer, no new meetings are added, but whatever form and frequency of meetings existing before the conversion are preserved. Discipleship typically happens at the meal table or whenever the believers come together for other reasons.
When Dom meets new believers, he encourages them to read the Bible and pray often but does not pressure them to do either. He is aware that many Thais dislike reading and may read the Bible with “the wrong pair of glasses,” that is, via their Buddhist worldview; consequently, he enjoys assisting them in comprehending what they read in the Bible during informal meetings.
Greg likes to use the PIE format for discipleship and when asked to give advice. He shares one passage from the Bible concerning the relevant topic, gives one biblical illustration, and then shares one example from his life. This simple three-step format helps believers remember the content and enables them to share the advice with others.
Independence
From the beginning, Greg offered no financial support and tried not to create any dependencies on his person. Apart from the personal financial support for Greg and his family, no extra funds were raised to support the NTM. Therefore, no patterns of financial dependence have developed within the movement. Indeed, the Thai community around Greg and his family helped to meet their financial needs during Liz’s illness.
All six recent social networks that Greg is involved in are independent of each other. Most third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation believers do not even know Greg. Assuming the whole movement has 2000–3000 believers, Greg knows only around 300 of them personally, which indicates that he only initiated the movement by discipling a few Thai believers who then made disciples who then went on replicate (2 Tim 2:2).
Contextualization
According to Smith (2009: 17), the greatest obstacle to evangelism in Thailand is that Buddhism has become the national and racial identity. To be Thai is synonymous with being a Buddhist. Christianity is perceived as “the religion of the white man” (Johnson, 2005: 180). Hence, changing religion is often seen as a betrayal to one’s culture and heritage.
In light of this, within the NTM the barrier of the term Christian is avoided by using a C5 approach of contextualization. Based on the works of Travis (2014: 664), I define a Buddhist C5 believer as a Jesus follower who keeps his identity as a Buddhist, rejects sinful cultural and religious practices, but uses local cultural and religious forms that are biblically acceptable or are reinterpreted by giving them a new meaning that is consistent with the teachings of Jesus. In the NTM, many believers call themselves followers of Jesus or children of God rather than calling themselves Christians.
Richard (2015: 304) rightly emphasizes that becoming a follower of Jesus should fundamentally not be understood as a change of religion but as a “holistic transformation of [the] individual, family, and social life.” The core of following Jesus is about growing in Christlikeness rather than identifying with a particular religious label.
According to Dom, most Thais view their Buddhist identity as more of a cultural identity based on a sense of collectivist belonging as opposed to a religious identity based on the strict adherence to a set of religious rules and beliefs. Therefore, when believers still call themselves Buddhists, it has more to do with signaling their continued solidarity with their wider social network that identifies as Buddhist, and is not indicative that they have individually embraced Buddhist religious beliefs or practices. Dom himself tries to avoid both Christian and Buddhist labels because of the potential misunderstandings, instead choosing to only state that he “believes in Jesus.”
After studying the biblical terms used for the believers in the New Testament and pondering the importance of taking on a Christian identity, Pennington (2017: 172) concludes with the controversial statement that, “you do not have to become a Christian or adopt Christianity. Christianity and Jesus are not the same! Just follow Jesus.” In the NTM, hundreds of Buddhists embrace and express this paradigm of following Jesus without taking on the identity of a Christian.
One fundamental principle in the NTM is ministering among the people and not to the people. This necessitates the contextualization of the message by the one that endeavors to share, rather than expecting the people to change their ways of being in order to better fit with that of the messenger. This entails that the messenger should enter a community, take on their cultural ways, and present the Gospel within the existing cultural and social framework of the people he or she is among.
Accordingly, most believers in the NTM use local cultural and biblically acceptable Buddhist forms, which they reinterpret and imbue with a new, biblical meaning. Consequently, the NTM fits well into Travis’ (2015) definition of an insider movement as: multiplying networks of Jesus followers in inside-led fellowships where the Bible is obeyed as the word of God, spiritual transformation occurs, and insiders remain part of the families and socio-religious communities of their birth, bearing witness to Jesus, their risen Lord and Savior.
Thai scholar Mejudhon (2005a: 160) states that generally, “the longer they [Thai believers] are Christians, the fewer Thai Buddhist friends and relatives they have” and advises that “new converts should be encouraged to continue identification with their community” (2005a: 164). The C5 approach assists the believers in staying within their social context and keeping the relationships with their Buddhist friends and family members, which enables them to share Jesus with them.
Syncretism
Bennett (2020: 403) is concerned that various forms used in insider movements “threaten to introduce confusion around the central teachings of the Gospel.” The concern about syncretism, that is, the blending of religious beliefs, which can lead to heresy, is common among opponents of C5 contextualization. However, syncretism is not about what religious forms and rituals are performed but about what happens in the believer’s heart. In other words, a Thai believer can perform Buddhist rituals without sinning if the believer’s heart is rightly placed in relationship to God. At the same time, it is possible to be syncretistic by performing Christian rituals but having wrong beliefs in the heart.
As an example of Christian syncretism, Bu, who attended a Thai church for many years, mentioned that many Thai Christians do not understand the concept of being saved by grace. While attending church, he met many Thai Christians who understood Christian activities (e.g., going to church, worship, ministry) as the Christian way of making merit to be saved, thereby revealing that they have only substituted their previous ways of making merit with culturally Christian rituals instead of grasping the meaning of being saved by grace through Jesus alone. Whether going to a Buddhist temple to pray is syncretistic depends on the heart’s motivation. The argument can be made that if it is done to acquire merit, it is syncretism, but if the believer uses the temple as a location to seek Jesus and to spend time with him, then it ceases to be problematic.
The believers in the NTM focus on having the right heart attitude behind an action rather than on the form of rituals and practices that are performed. While many reinterpreted Buddhist forms and rituals are performed in the movement, continuing to adhere to sinful Buddhist religious beliefs is strictly rejected (e.g., any belief claiming that salvation can be found apart from Jesus). As new believers are exposed to Bible stories and biblical counsel, their preexisting Buddhist worldview is progressively replaced by a biblical worldview. Any time a situation arises in which Buddhist teachings contradict the Bible, those teachings are addressed and corrected.
Influence from the Christian community
The influence of Thai Christians has been and continues to be a challenge to the movement. Greg shared that on a few occasions young believers in the movement would meet other Christians who invited them to church. Enjoying the church, these new believers became overly involved in church activities and spent all their free time with their church friends and at church activities. This naturally led to alienation from their non-believing family and friends (cf. Mejudhon, 2005a: 160). Some believers stayed in the Christian church culture, but others realized the rift it caused and stopped attending church to spend more time with unbelievers.
Both Bu and Dom were long-time members of a Thai church. They preached, led small groups and Bible studies, and participated heavily in church events. Both left the Thai church because all the church activities were overwhelming. No one in the movement is discouraged from joining a Christian church, but the potential problems (e.g., overcommitment, cultural siloing) are discussed so the believer can make an informed decision.
Many believers in the NTM do not have a problem simultaneously attending church and maintaining relationships with C5 believers. However, this tolerance is usually not reciprocated by Thai Christians. Both Bu and Dom affirmed that many Christians hold a negative view of believers who do not attend Sunday church service regularly. These individuals are generally viewed as being spiritually weak or not committed enough to the Christian faith. Furthermore, C5 contextualization practices are often misunderstood and condemned as heretical. This makes it challenging for the C5 believers to build friendships with Thai Christians.
Communicating the message clearly
According to Johnson (2005: 193–95), the Gospel must be conveyed in such a way that the listener can understand it in light of his or her worldview. One problem is the common usage of Christian vocabulary and phrases (sometimes referred to as Christianese), which is often unintelligible to Buddhists. Another aspect is the adoption of royal language to give God the glory due to him as King. Some of that terminology, especially the Christian vocabulary, can be very difficult to understand for many Thai Buddhists.
Greg intentionally never learned the Christian terms but uses common Thai language and simple Buddhist terms to explain the Gospel and disciple the believers. Using easily understandable terms and concepts has enabled new believers to share the Gospel with friends and family in easily reproducible ways, reducing friction and increasing the speed at which the Gospel message is passed on.
Structures of leadership, ministry, and teaching
As far as possible, existing structures of authority are affirmed and accepted within the NTM. Thai culture is historically very hierarchical, with defined roles and established authoritative norms. Many believers in the movement understand the specific circumstances in which God encountered them first as ordained by God. Therefore, new believers in the NTM are not encouraged to exit their personal context, but to bring Jesus into their personal life and context. This paradigm is based on 1 Cor 7:17–24, where Paul urges his audience to remain in the situation where they were when God called them. Thus, believers in the NTM accept the existing family authorities and seek to obey their imperatives, so long as it is not a sin for them to do so. No new, separate “Christian” leadership structures are established.
Teaching is usually done by giving biblical advice when a specific situation arises, mostly in small groups or one-on-one. Preaching does not exist in the NTM.
By not introducing paid and professional clergy into the movement, Greg focuses on the importance of every believer being part of the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). This puts the burden of ministry on the shoulders of every believer rather than having only paid and trained clergy being engaged in ministry. Emphasizing the priesthood of all believers and lay leadership is one of the 10 key characteristics of almost all movements worldwide (Garrison, 2007: 189).
The power of the testimony of a transformed life
A recent study showed that encountering “a dissonance between the actions and teachings of Christianity and Buddhism” was one major factor for numerous Thais to become Christians (Hilderbrand, 2020: 334). Many became believers because they observed Christians filled with deep joy and authentic love for each other (Hilderbrand, 2020: 335), in markedly greater degrees than they had experienced previously. This reflects well what Jesus taught his disciples, that the world would recognize them by their love for each other (John 13:35). Jesus chose love as the hallmark that identifies a genuine disciple.
Problematically, however, family members seldom have an opportunity to observe the transformed life of the new Christian. Travis (2015) states that, “for most of the world, a change of religions is not simply a shift in personal beliefs; it means separation from family, community, and society.” Unfortunately, this is frequently the case in Thailand. Mejudhon (2005b: 217) remembers that a Thai pastor once complained, “when our church gets one weak Christian, we get two hundred strong enemies from the new convert’s social networks.” Mejudhon (2005b: 217) calls this statement a “plain fact” and describes in detail the family dynamics that often happen when Thai Buddhists become new believers (2005b: 217–20). Unfortunately, the family usually perceives the desire to change one’s religion as a betrayal that causes a deep rift between the new believer and their family. Occasionally, it causes alienation from the family, which robs the family of the chance to observe the new believer’s life and hinders the believer from meaningfully sharing Jesus with family members. While such a drastic development happens in some families, it should be noted that the opposite phenomenon has been true in other cases. Many Thai Christians have drawn their families to Jesus through their life’s witness (Hilderbrand, 2020: 335).
According to Greg, the C5 approach of the NTM has minimized the number of relationship breakdowns significantly, though some believers are still opposed by their families for following Jesus. On the whole, new believers are not separated from their families but intentionally seek to stay in their social networks to witness to those who do not yet know Jesus.
Garrison (2007: 227) reports that in most church planting movements, “the Gospel flows through webs of family relationships.” This is precisely what happens in the NTM; the Gospel flows through family networks and transforms and restores them. This emphasis on interpersonal relationships helps explain why the NTM does not gauge its success by the number of new believers it attracts, but rather by the degree to which its members follow Jesus’ Great Commandment (Mt 22:37–40), that is, how well family members, friends, and neighbors are loved.
Ecclesiology
Traditionally, a local church (ekklesia) is defined as a “fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ committed to gathering regularly for biblical purposes under a recognized spiritual leadership” (Ott and Wilson, 2011: 7) or something similar to this.
Consequently, the believers in the NTM would not be considered a church because they do not have regular church meetings and meet without formal spiritual leadership. Indeed, Paul’s warning to not neglect meeting together comes to mind (Heb 10:25). However, this admonition is placed in the context of the necessity of inspiring one another to love and good works (v. 24). While the believers in the NTM do not meet together on a regular, defined schedule, they still meet continually according to natural occurring relational rhythms and express their worship of God by learning to obey him better and applying what they learn to their lives. Likewise, they seek out opportunities to serve and encourage each other and share God’s love and the Gospel with others who do not yet know him.
Pennington (2017: 69–75) differentiates in his book Christian Barriers to Jesus between the church and ekklesia. While he associates church with buildings, regular events, clergy, and Christian culture, he understands ekklesia in terms of people, living a life that worships God, the priesthood of all, and servant leadership. In his understanding, people can follow Jesus without joining the established, traditional church—but not without being part of an ekklesia. He defines being part of an ekklesia as having incarnational fellowship with other believers in some kind of “culturally appropriate expression of the ekklesia”.
Antonio (2020) rightly states that the most crucial characteristic of the ekklesia is ultimately found in being the people of God, which is ultimately realized by believers having an authentic relationship with the living God. While the believers in the NTM do not meet regularly for church meetings, they still value the importance of the fellowship of believers and an authentic relationship with God. No believer is left as an individual believer (“just Jesus and me”) since every believer is already involved in a relationship with other believers. Shared meals, family celebrations, and other natural meetings become their “church meetings,” where they discuss their faith, try to find biblical solutions to problems, and serve and encourage each other. When a believer faces complex challenges, the other believers come together to seek God and discuss how to help best and solve the problem. In this manner, they express being the ekklesia in a culturally appropriate way. All of this is accomplished without traditional church buildings, professional pastors, or weekly scheduled meetings.
Keeping things reproducible
Reproducibility in everything the disciple maker does is needed in order to see ongoing multiplication (Ott and Wilson, 2011: 81). By not introducing foreign forms, church buildings, clergy, and difficult-to-reproduce methods of evangelism and discipleship, Greg enabled the people he discipled to make disciples by copying what he had modeled to them. One important emphasis here is a focus on relevant life issues instead of discussing complicated doctrines without practical implications.
No foreign smell
When Garrison (2007: 252–53) lists the seven deadly sins for movements, he mentions “the smell of foreignness,” which can cripple a movement. As mentioned, this smell of foreignness is a significant barrier for Thais to follow Jesus. The NTM has overcome this barrier by avoiding western forms and dependencies on the West. Apart from Greg, who now works mainly in the background, no other foreigners are involved in the movement, making it thoroughly Thai.
The importance of deep life-sharing
Dicks (2023: 66) argues that, “interpersonal relationships are the most significant context for people encountering Jesus.” Therefore, authentic relationships are vital “that facilitate deep life-sharing” (Dicks, 2023: 65) because shared joy and pain build openness and trust, which are two critical ingredients for sharing the Gospel (2023: 70).
In the NTM, it was the suffering of Greg and his family during the time of Liz’s cancer that birthed strong Thai disciples, who later became the key people in the movement. Even today, the stories of that time are shared in the movement as a powerful testimony of Jesus’ faithfulness and comfort in times of uttermost pain and suffering.
Personal reflection
Jesus prayed for his disciples that they might be one, just as he is one with the Father (John 17:11). The deep rift between Thai Christians and C5 believers deeply troubles my heart. My hope is that C5 believers and Thai Christians will seek reconciliation, and I am convinced that the Thai church and the NTM believers have important lessons they can learn from each other. It would benefit both parties to learn from and help each other become more fruitful, so the kingdom of God can grow even faster in Thailand.
Those who serve across cultures are responsible for deculturalizing the Gospel, while those who serve locally are responsible for contextualizing it (Watson and Watson, 2014: 17). Following this wisdom, I would rather not assume the role of telling Thai believers what the ekklesia should look like in Thailand but would love to see how C5 believers and Thai Christians come together to discuss this topic by studying the Bible and humbly learning from and listening to each other.
While it is beautiful to see how God heals and transforms whole families in the NTM, I think God’s vision of his new humanity, his ekklesia, includes reconciliation on a level beyond family ties. Paul encourages reconciliation and unity between Gentiles and Jews, men and women, slaves and free people (Gal 3:28). Unity in diversity and reconciliation, where the world usually divides, is a beautiful expression of the kingdom of God and should be displayed in the ekklesia of God. I hope that in the future of the NTM, this unity and reconciliation will not only be reflected on the family level, but way above that on a level that includes racial and cultural divisions in Thai society.
While I do not believe that singing worship songs is necessary to be saved, this practice can benefit some believers. Singing spiritual songs has been done since the beginning of the ekklesia (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16), and it is a spiritual discipline that helps many believers abide in Christ. Perhaps the NTM will develop acceptable ways to sing worship songs for people who might benefit from it.
Summary
Greg’s unique life situation is certainly not reproducible. However, his ministry principles, which significantly minimized barriers to multiplication, are. So, what are the key insights to be gained from studying the NTM? Key lessons are the importance of reaching whole families, avoiding Christian practices that can become a stumbling block to others, the emphasis on the priesthood of all believers, and the powerful testimony of a family following Jesus and being transformed by him.
While listening to story after story about how Jesus transformed the lives of so many Thais and hearing how Jesus made broken lives new, Matt 13:33 was on my mind. The NTM is a living, contemporary and powerful example of how the kingdom of God can spread naturally through social networks like yeast spreads in dough if we remove barriers and unnecessary cultural burdens from our Gospel message.
To close, if I had to pick one thing that has left the most profound impression on me, it is how God used the hardship and pain of Liz’s cancer to create strong Thai disciples who started a movement because they had seen amidst pain and suffering that Jesus is real. This is a powerful testimony of how God can and often does create something good and beautiful out of every situation, no matter how evil and painful. I am excited to continue to bear witness to how God, who always brings beauty out of ashes, will transform the spiritually barren land of Thailand into a glorious symphony of praise, to his glory.
Footnotes
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
