A Japanese pastor urged Christians in Asia to focus on relationships to make disciples for Christ.
At the afternoon workshop of the Everyone Asia 2024 conference conducted on July 5, Nobuyoshi Nagai, president of Kakudai Mission Institute, lead pastor of Tohoku Central Church, national director for Alpha Japan, and vice chairman of the Japan Pentecostal Council, gave a lecture around the topic of "Challenges for Discipleship in Asia."
Born in Fukuoka, in 1961, Nobuyoshi Nagai first reviewed the 475-old history of Christianity in Japan. After Christianity was introduced in 1549, it was banned from 1612 to 1873, during which more than 100,000 Christians were said to have been martyred. “Right after World War II, missionaries from all over the world came to Japan.” He shared that his father, who was 16 years old in high school, went to a church to learn English for six months and then became a Christian.
Christians now account for less than one percent of the population in Japan, making the Japanese people the second largest unreached people group. There are around 9,000 churches in total.
He later showed some statistics about Christianity in Japan: according to the Joshua Project, 0.57% are Evangelicals; the average age of the pastors in Japan is 62.2, according to Tokyo Christian University.
Although more than 30% of Japanese favor Christianity, the average length of time a Christian stays in the church is 2.8 years. “There are some seekers staying in the church for more than ten years... Many Christians leave the church within three years.”
Confronted with such reality, Pastor Nagai offered suggestions about making disciples.
“Come, see, and meet Jesus is the beginning of the Christian faith, but I think we need to make an effort to make people follow Jesus.”
Mentioning that the Christian faith is about relationships, the pastor explained that there are three relationships of a disciple based on Acts 2:42-47.
“Prayer, meeting at the table, breaking bread, and praising God. This is the relationship with God.” The pastor said, “This relationship is two-way: God invites and chooses us, and then we respond in worship and prayer.”
The second relationship is with others, which includes the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, having everything in common, and eating together.
“In Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and any other Asian country, this classroom is very important.” The Japanese pastor said, “We have to include the discipleship program in living together.”
“This is also two ways.” He said, “We serve, teach, and love each other.”
However, the relationship with the world is only one-way. “So we love the world, serve the world, and evangelize the world.”
“According to Acts 2:47: ‘and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’” He continued, “We need to focus on those three relationships to make disciples.”
“So pray for Japan and Japan will be saved!”
