“The gospel is like a seed, and you have to sow it…. Now, when missionaries came to our lands they brought not only the seed of the gospel, but their own plant of Christianity, flower pot included! So what we have to do is to break the flowerpot, take out the seed of the Gospel, sow it in our own cultural soil, and let our own version of Christianity grow.”
— Dr. D.T. Niles of Sri Lanka
Quote taken from Beyond Church Planting.
So true! Having lived in the Czech Republic for 7 years and having made numerous trips to Holland (my country of birth), I see why Americans coming over to assist in ministry assume Christian thought is the same everywhere.
Breaking the pot sounds like a good way to let the seed die.
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24