When Ruth & I went to East Africa as missionaries 35 years ago, we were expressly told during our field orientation that we were not to hold hands in public, not even on our mission station. Men were allowed to hold hands in public, but for any man and woman to show affection in public was taboo, even for those who were married. That was one of the first cultural differences we learned going to Kenya. It wasn’t the last.
Wherever we are in the world, we are in cross-cultural ministry. America is a mosaic of cultures. We minister in hundreds of widely diverse cultures. Cultural shock and cultural adjustments are part of life for all of us.
Anyone who has served in another country has become aware of cultural differences as soon as he landed at another country’s airport. Many of our international staff experience a variety of cultures as they move throughout their own countries. There are cultural differences between rural and urban peoples and among various tribes or language groups.
Christians around the world who have worked with American teams, have quickly learned that Americans are different. Americans can be passionate and directed, impatient, linguistically-challenged and often make snap judgments. At times, they tend to be loud-mouthed and insensitive.
Cultural distinctives are demonstrated in marriage customs, the way hospitality is shown to strangers, patterns of business behavior and communication, as well as the unique characteristics of food, clothing and houses.
Culture is the particular solutions to the needs of life adopted by a group of people. It’s the common way of looking at things and approaching life. Culture rests upon our deepest beliefs and assumptions. Culture includes all a society’s values, perspectives, taboos and behaviors.
A person’s culture is so deeply ingrained that typically, a person may have difficulty explaining it to an outsider. We often take our own culture for granted since it is deeply ingrained from birth. Most people think the way they live is the norm and everyone else is strange.
Many people are ethnocentric. They have a prejudicial preference for their own culture over all others. Ethnocentrism is cultural pride. It is prejudicial because the strengths of other cultures are often not appreciated.
The attitude, “We are the people who have figured life out the best,” or, “Our way of doing things is the best” is all too common. It’s a form of racism. This pride and arrogance is perhaps strongest among those who have the least experience with other cultures.
There can be no ethnocentricity in Christian ministry. Ethnocentricity is the mindset that my culture is better than anyone else’s culture. Remember, the only culture that is pleasing to God is kingdom-culture. All other cultures are flawed and distorted by sin.
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