The world is full of thousands of cultures and sub-cultures. Each of us is influenced by his culture. Which culture is right?
Cultures differ 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 adopted by a group of people to the needs of life. 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 because it is the way we have lived from birth. Most people think the way they live is normal and that everyone else is strange.
No culture can be judged “right” or “wrong,” except by the absolute standard of the Bible. Apart from the Bible, a culture can only be judged to be relatively more or less efficient in dealing with its environment.
Though it was written in a particular cultural context, the Bible is above all human cultures. The Bible teaches a kingdom-culture that works in any country or with any group of people. The culture of God’s kingdom is greater than, and often in conflict with, human culture.
Scripture teaches that all the cultural systems of the world are marked by sin. Consequently, no human culture is perfect. Every culture, even the one each of us grew up with, is flawed, distorted and at odds with kingdom-culture, God’s way for approaching life and relationships.
The great journey of the Christian life is to rid ourselves of those parts of our human culture that are contrary to biblical standards and to internalize the culture of the kingdom of God. The Bible offers the only sure set of values and principles that will work in any and every part of the world. The Bible is the standard by which all cultures are measured.
Much of the New Testament grapples with the differences between human cultures and kingdom-culture. Jesus confronted the Jewish leadership because they valued their religious, Pharisaic culture more than the kingdom values that Jesus taught. Paul wrestled with the cultural attitudes of the Greeks and the Romans as he sought to introduce the kingdom of God to them.
God is cross-cultural
God is proactively cross-cultural. The greatest demonstration of cross-cultural ministry is the incarnation – Jesus leaving his native culture in heaven to minister to people of an earthly culture.
The Scripture commands us to be deliberately cross-cultural in our ministries. We are to make disciples of all nations (ethne = cultures). Though it may present distinct challenges, it is certainly feasible. We can be bold because Jesus has promised to be with us.
People today are not the first to struggle with cross-cultural ministry.
From the start, the Jewish people were to be a “light to the gentiles.” They were to have a cross-cultural influence. However, the Jewish people mistook their calling. They thought they were better than others. They believed they had an elite position or status among the peoples of the world. However, God’s intention was for them to have a positive impact on the nations and cultures around them. Their purpose was to reveal God’s glory. “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6).
We are to be intentionally cross-cultural
Jesus made it very clear. He intended us to be cross-cultural in our ministries. Acts 1:8 talks about increasingly larger circles of ministry that reach out to other cultures. There was Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
But it was not easy for the early church to overcome the barriers it faced in sharing the gospel with non-Jews. In fact, the first Christians struggled intensely with cross-cultural ministry. There was not only cultural tension between the Samaritans and the Jews, there was tension between the Jews and the gentiles. It required extraordinary measures, including an angelic visitation, visions, church councils and providential timing in order to overcome the cultural barriers that existed.
There’s no question that cross-cultural ministry complicates the challenges of evangelism, increasing possible misunderstanding and confusion. Many of us have struggled as we’ve attempted to be understood by people of another culture. But it is what we are called to do and when we do it with the spirit of Jesus, he is with us and will give us success.
Christ’s kingdom is multi-cultural
The salvation of 3,000 people at Pentecost took place in a cosmopolitan gathering. From the start, there was a mixture of cultures in the Christian family. The church from its inception became multicultural and transcultural. And ultimately in heaven, the church will include those purchased by Christ’s blood “from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
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