Author: Paul Louis Metzger

Widow burning – or sati– is an ancient ritual practiced in India where a widow is burned on her husband’s funeral pyre. Practiced for thousands of years, this custom was banned by British colonial law in the nineteenth century. What stance – if any – should Christians take regarding this practice?  It is important to look at it from a human point of view – and not a religious one – as there are Hindus both for and against it, and both sides have evidence from ancient Hindu texts that substantiate their position. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, so the act of someone being hurt should evoke a response to alleviate pain. We are also told not to judge. In order to get an educated, Christian perspective, Dr. Paul Louis Metzger interviews Dr. Mrinalini Sabastian and her husband Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian about this controversial subject.

In response to J. Todd Billing’s piece, “On Moving Beyond “Incarnational Ministry,” Dr. Paul Louis Metzger concurs that there are common misunderstandings of the New Testament teaching on the subject. Metzger agrees with Billings that we are not “Jesus to People” – only Jesus is Jesus to people.

However, Metzger avers that it is not immersing oneself in the lives of those around us that is the problem, it is only when we stop there – not fully understanding why we are immersing ourselves – that problems arise. Rather than shying away from the term, we should embrace it as it is meant to be – understanding that to do the work of Christ we must be participants in an incarnate ministry – or else we stop short and simply move into the neighborhood, or we experience burn out by attempting to do the work of Christ without the power of an incarnate God.