Understanding Culture
It would be a difficult task to
remove the cultural influence that shapes the worldview of a person. “No one
can ever divorce himself from his culture.”[1]
When considering strategies for fulfilling God’s call to take the Good News to
the nations, it is essential to consider the cultural component. If any one
person already has difficulty objectively looking into the impact culture has
on his life, how much more the church as it makes in-roads into new territory
and peoples. Lloyd Kwast suggests using the “man from Mars” method in seeking
to understand the impact of and the values associated with cultural studies.
The “man from Mars is able to visualize successive levels of understanding the
real heart of a culture. His will be an objective view, looking from the
outside-in.” on this alien culture.[2]
One of the first observations about a people is their “behavior,” seen in their
speech, language and non-verbal responses to stimuli (the message). An
objective summation of behavior is that “culture functions as a patterned way
of doing things.”[3]
Perhaps a better way to describe it is “the super-glue which binds people
together and gives them a sense of identity and continuity that is almost
impenetrable.”[4]
The communicator of the gospel can expect any number of setbacks from a group of
people who will view his message a strange or even alien to who they are as a
people. The gospel may at times be considered heresy, an attack on their
cultural identity and a means of upsetting the apple cart.
The introduction
of the gospel message to any culture will be an intrusion on presently held
values and worldview. Jesus as an example, stepped into history with an intent
to disrupt the culture (cf. John 2:13-22). The nation of Israel had established
a way of life, cultural values, even prescriptive for religious activities. The
“man from Mars” would have noticed “pre-set values for making choices within
the culture; a series of should’s or ought’s that determined behavior.”[5]
It would be helpful for the evangelist to study preset values as he or she enters new culture
or expanded circles of influence.
Another
consideration is “cultural beliefs.” People have opposing beliefs, often
closely related to cultural influence. On a practical level, personal beliefs
may be observed in “stated creeds.”[6]
Many religious institutions have used creeds as means of both membership and
discipleship for decades. Still, any one person may have questions about truth
and reality that can best be addressed
if the proclaimer of the gospel is aware of at least some of these
presuppositions and worldviews that have determined cultural identity. “Sometimes
people who share the gospel cross-culturally fail to take the problem of
worldview into account and therefore disappointed by the lack of genuine change
their efforts produce.”[7]
It is therefore recommended that cultural values, worldviews, behaviors,
presuppositions be challenged; this may at minimum take time, but definitely investment
in resources and training in multicultural engagement. The apostle Paul was a
master at challenging worldviews. His mantra was “Become all things to all men”
(1 Cor. 9:19-23). There will always be challenges and resistance to new ideas;
even the personal worldview of those presenter. The “man from Mars” himself
must check his own presuppositions. But if there is to be success, then an
assessment of the target audience is necessary. Moses and Joshua are a testament
of such an application (cf. Num. 13; Josh. 2). A proper understanding of the target
audience will yield greater return on investment and increased moral for those doing
the team.
[1] Lloyd E. Kwast, Understanding Culture, Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement: A Reader, (Pasadena, Calif: William Carey Library, 2009): 397, accessed
September 11, 2018, https://youtu.be/Eq-R19SdvXE
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