Rev. Motoi MUNAKATA, pastor of the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ), raised the question in a context of reflecting on past conduct of sins by churches in their outer mission with regard to their interfaith relations.

"The history of Christian mission was, in many cases, a trinity of the cross, guns and abacuses for invasion, particularly against indigenous peoples, [and it was] taken for granted [they should be] killed unless they converted to Christianity," said Rev. Motoi to the audience of 80 people. "[We] cannot go one step beyond without [an] apology for this."

Why do churches commit such sins ?
The theology of salvation was the first reason Munakata identified in his examination. It says that one cannot be saved without believing in Christianity. He or she who do not believe is not worthy of living and shall perish. He said that the notion is still alive as a motive for evangelism, citing as an example a pamphlet for evangelism that was sent to him recently stating that the Christian population in Japan is less than one percent of the entire population and the rest are "at a loss in perishing."

He said that while churches have been saying that the width, depth and height of God's grace cannot be measured, they have been "measuring them with their own theology and limiting God's grace" and by saying that there is no other salvation but through Christianity.

"God's grace saves all people. The Bible teaches us that God has blessed all of us from the beginning and that Jesus was crucified for all. Jesus prayed for forgiveness of the unbelievers trying to kill him before he died on the cross for all (Luke 23:34) and God is the one 'who justifies the ungodly' (Romans 4:5)", said Munakata, former chairman of the NCCJ's Committee on the Buraku Discrimination Issue, calling the last judgment "the last discrimination" and "religious violence" against those who do not believe in Him. (Buraku refers to residential areas and persons who are said by the general population to be polluted and are socially avoided.)

"Churches have not forgiven unbelievers in the way Jesus did on the cross," he added.
The second reason Munakata identified was the issue of holiness. Here the Theology ofDlfference in Elevation, as he called it, justifies discrimination between the "pure" and the "polluted" when it comes to qualifying for salvation. That theology is evident in the traditional definition of holiness, i.e. a work or a condition in which one is segregated and excluded from unrighteousness and irnpurity, for his/her own purity "naturally produces discrimination" between priest/ minister and other people in general. But, "The Holy God is the one who loves all and accepts it" (Matthew 1 1:28, John 3:16).

"The phrase 'he descended to hell' in the Apostle's Creed means that Jesus reaches his hand to the bottom of hell and accepts all things," he said

"Theology without Jesus tends to make Christianity go for victory, rule and reigning," said Rev. Munakata, noting that the U.S. air bombings on lraq earlier this year "can never be done with Jesus."

"Such attitudes of churches for evangelism should be fundamentally transformed " he concluded. "All are sharing the Earth, which is a God's grace."