Kenshin: Christ’s Call to All Believers?

Japanese churches face a critical shortage of pastors. The average age of pastors in Japan is approaching 60 years of age, and 75% of pastors are now over the age of 55.¹ It is well-known that Japanese society is suffering from acute 少子化 (shoushika, reduced birthrate). But one governor of a Japanese seminary lamented recently that the Japanese Church is suffering from 少師化 (shoushika, a play on words that means something like “reduced pastor-rate”).

How might we address the problem?

One response is to pray for more pastors to fill gaps in the status quo. Prayer is certainly the right place to start—after all, God is the one who will solve the problem. But, as I pray, it is hard to escape the sense that the prevailing model of church leadership in Japan (one pastor doing most of the work in one church) is straining to breaking point.

Some are now suggesting a greater focus on “tent-making” workers, or the merging of smaller churches to save resources. Other churches I have been involved with are busy training shintodendoushi (layman evangelists) or shintosekkyousha (layman preachers) to ease the burden on pastors.

Without denying the validity of these proposals, I wonder whether we should reconsider the call to Christian service. Particularly, could the language often applied exclusively to paid church workers in Japan be extended to include all Christians?

Could a wider application of kenshinsha help?

Many readers will be familiar with the word kenshinsha (献身者). This is the term often applied to pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and seminary students in Japan. Kenshin is a common Japanese word, which means devotion, commitment, or dedication; it has positive connotations of self-sacrifice.

When the suffix -sha is added to kenshin, the word logically denotes a person who is characterized by kenshin. But this is not a common Japanese word. When it is listed in dictionaries, it is frequently marked as a Christian technical term (or “jargon”).

But who is really a kenshinsha?

In a recent newsletter from Japan Bible Seminary (November 2012), the cover article (entitled “Kenshin”) said that, “The Lord Jesus Christ is the true kenshinsha.” This is a profound and helpful observation. Jesus is the pattern for all our kenshin. Every other kenshinsha is such because they follow Jesus Christ. It would seem natural, therefore, that every Christian is called to be a kenshinsha.

But this is not the way the word kenshinsha is typically used. It does not have an exact English equivalent, but in Protestant contexts, perhaps the closest term would be “full-time Christian worker” or “clergy”.

The evangelical New Dictionary of Christianity

(新キリスト教辞典)² explains the typical process for becoming a kenshinsha as follows:

1. An individual Christian makes a personal decision to kenshin.

2. He (or she, depending on the denomination) makes this decision public.

3. He receives a recommendation or endorsement from the church.

4. He enrolls at a seminary.

Kenshinsha are frequently asked to give kenshin-no-akashi (a personal testimony) and are encouraged to look back to their own kenshin as a defining moment in their Christian walk.

Once someone has become a kenshinsha, they will typically no longer be referred to as kyoudai (brother) or shimai (sister), but as shingakusei (seminary student), and then later, sensei. A kenshinsha is frequently defined in contrast to ippanshinto (literally “ordinary believers,” but similar to the English “laity”).

Kenshinsha are often thought to be in some sense set apart from the laity. In many Japanese churches a kenshinsha is expected to make greater personal sacrifice than someone who is not. This includes sacrifices in the areas of finance, time, and individual preference in favour of serving others.

So, in normal Christian usage in Japan, not every Christian is a kenshinsha. But if Jesus is the true pattern, and all Christians are disciples of Jesus—would it be better to say that all Christians are equally kenshinsha?

Biblical case for a wider usage of kenshinsha

I have sometimes heard Japanese pastors and teachers teach that there is a sense in which all Christians can and must be kenshinsha. But unfortunately this biblical call to the whole Body of Christ is often misheard because of the use of kenshin terminology for a special class of Christians.

There is certainly some support in the Bible for the idea of particular individuals offering themselves to God as an example to others. For example, Judges 5:9, part of the Song of Deborah, says, “My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord” (ESV).

The New Revised Bible in Japanese speaks here of mi wo sasageru monotachi (those who offered up themselves) using language reminiscent of the word kenshinsha. (For those who know Japanese, this is the kun-yomi of the kanji.)

It is also clear that church leaders and teachers will be judged with greater strictness because of the position that they are in (James 3:1), and that they are called to set an example to the Church (1 Tim. 4:12).

But typically, the call to offer oneself to God in Scripture is an exhortation addressed to all Christians, and not to specific individuals only. (Romans 12:1 is one example.)

Some, no doubt, are called to be examples to the flock. In many churches, such people will be pastor-teachers. But as we preach the gospel, should we not call all believers in Jesus to lifelong commitment and to discerning God’s will for their lives, without suggesting (even implicitly) that only some are truly sold-out disciples?

What might this mean in practice?

If every Christian is a kenshinsha, the focus of pastoral guidance becomes enabling and equipping each believer to commit him or herself to the place God has called them, using the gifts God has given them. Then we wouldn’t have to be locked in to a particular model of kenshin and be subject to frustration when our young people don’t fit that mould in sufficient numbers.

Perhaps we might also consider a wider spread of possible “outcomes” for those who do enter full-time Christian service. These may include the presumed biblical gifts of evangelist or teacher. But other possibilities abound: youth workers, music ministers, camp workers, etc.

Many Japanese seminaries will not accept applications from “laypeople” to study their main courses. This is because such people haven’t taken the step of kenshin. However, is this a good reason to deny theological training to any Christian who is gifted, called, and desiring of it? Shouldn’t we expect and hope that graduates of seminaries might go into business, professions, or work in government? Can’t we pray for seminary graduates who will serve as homemakers? Such Christians may indeed have a greater impact for Christ in Japanese society than pastors have traditionally been able to have.

I have heard the suggestion (from a Japanese pastor) that many of the common expectations of kenshinsha reflect Buddhist, rather than Christian, culture. For example, asceticism and commitment to poverty are typically expected of Buddhist holy men. There is no doubt that many Japanese pastors are extremely overworked, and their families are impoverished relative to the wider society and even the church. Depression, mental illness, and suicide are real problems among Japan’s kenshinsha and their families. These concerning trends may be alleviated if the burdens of Christian service were shared more widely. Young people may then be reassured that they will be supported properly if they do follow a calling to be a pastor.

In conclusion

The proposal here is not new theologically. Luther wrote about the priesthood of all believers (although he never used the exact phrase). The idea has been developed in North American and European contexts, particularly in recent years as “every-member ministry” or the “abolition of the laity”.³

I am not suggesting that we do not need pastor-teachers in the church. I am both a missionary and a pastor-teacher of sorts, and I am both called and blessed to be so. But I long to see every Christian brother and sister following the true kenshinsha, the Lord Jesus. Maybe the present crisis of “reduced pastor-rate” in Japan is just the stimulus we need to refocus that call.

As the church goes through this process of rethinking the call to service and seeing it as addressed to all the people of God, one by-product of that might be that God raises up more pastors, as well as more willing servants in every walk of life. Let’s keep praying! 

1. “Praying for Japan, Spiritual Needs,” Asian Access. http://www.asianaccess.org/opportunities/pray-japan-needs2.html
2. 『新キリスト教辞典』 宇田進編、いのちのことば社、1991年 [New Dictionary of Christianity (Word of Life Press Ministries, 1991).]
3. R. Paul Stevens, The Abolition of the Laity: Vocation, Work and Ministry in Biblical Perspective (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2000).
4. Photos by Kevin Morris (OMF)