Yesterday, I came back to my apartment thinking about how incredibly strange Japan is. After Sunday service, I went with a group of people to see another gospel choir perform. The concert itself was pretty entertaining. But it was weird. Not a single member of the choir is Christian. And yet, they sang songs that said "[Jesus is] our Lord our Shepherd and king," and "We will praise [Jesus] for the rest of our days." There isn't a language barrier. It's not that they don't understand what they're singing because in the programs they passed out at the door, the lyrics are written in both Japanese and English. It's the strangest thing... to hear a completely non-Christian group of people singing praises to God and testifying of God's goodness to them.
I liked what heard... the group obviously had practiced a lot. It was a good performance. But it was just so... plastic... fake.
It's not just Hokkaido. All throughout Japan, young people are joining gospel choirs. Gospel choirs are springing up everywhere. Some of them led by Christians, some of them not. Regardless, they're popular.
A few weeks ago I heard that Christian weddings are incredibly popular in Japan. About 85% of all Japanese weddings are ceremonially Christian. Because the existing churches aren't well known and few in number, "Christian" wedding chapels are springing up everywhere. Often building these chapels are hotels, hoping to attract more customers to stay in their rooms. Hotels often ask the pastor of a nearby church to perform the weddings at their wedding chapels... but in case that isn't possible, they'll just hire someone else. It doesn't really matter if they're ordained, or a pastor of a church, or Christian for that matter.
I just find all this incredibly amazing. The increasingly popularity of Christian gospel choirs and weddings... especially when compared to the number of Christians in this nation: 1/2%.
I asked a few people how this can happen. The answer I got was that Japan is a country that doesn't feel like it needs God. Instead, they use religion (or God) to serve them. And so, one day, they can go and sing gospel (because it makes them feel good) and then the next day they can remember their deceased relatives by chanting Buddhist chants at the Buddhist temple, and then follow that with praying for success at the Shinto shrine. Basically, Japanese people can live without God. Plus, Japanese people have their basic needs met. So, Japanese people don't strive for God. They strive to become rich or famous.
To quote Ecclesiastes from the Message (a new Bible translation): "What's there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes -- it's business as usual for old planet earth."
"The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil."