MISSIOLOGY
VII. Culture and Missions
The First International Congress on World Evangelization brought together
evangelical leaders to Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974 to discuss issues related
to evangelism. From this meeting came the Lausanne Covenant, a declaration to
be more intentional about evangelizing the world. The Second International
Congress on World Evangelization (also known as Lausanne II) was held in Manila
in 1989. A number of occasional papers have been developed by leading
evangelicals working in conjunction with the Lausanne Covenant. The Willowbank
Report is one of occasional papers prepared by the Lausanne Congress. This
report, prepared by recognized leaders in world evangelization, examines Gospel
and Culture. Some of the primary points presented in the report of Gospel and
Culture are given below, together with some additional ideas on this topic.
A. Definition of Culture
The Willowbank Report says the broad definition of culture is “the
patterned way in which people do things together
19.”Culture includes the beliefs,values, customs, and institutions
that hold a society together
20.
B. Cultures in the Bible
When the Gospel is proclaimed, it is presented to a particular
people in a particular place at a particular time. In order for the Gospel to
have maximum impact, it must be contextualized—presented in a way that can be
accepted by a particular culture. The Bible is Gospel—Good News to those who
want to know that God is actively working throughout history to bring
redemption to mankind. So the Biblical writers and prophets proclaimed the word
of God in the languages of the listeners: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. They also
were sensitive to the cultural understanding of the listeners. For example, the
Book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians, so it has many references to
the Hebraic writings of the Old Testament. Due to the Jews being taken captive to
Babylon, the common language of the Hebrews became Aramaic. So some Scripture
is written in Aramaic. Paul the Apostle wrote to Greeks, so he explained things
in his letters in a way that Greeks could understand.
The Willowbank Report refers to the concept of dynamic
equivalence. That is, in presenting the Gospel, missionaries should seek to preserve
the truth of Scripture while using language and concepts that are familiar to
the listener. In planting churches and initiating worship, essential Scriptural
mandates must be maintained. But in matters where Scripture is silent,
indigenous churches must be given freedom to develop their own organization and
styles of worship.C. Cultural Barriers to the Gospel When a missionary
proclaims the Gospel , a listener may perceive two threats to his culture:
1.2.The Message of the Bible, and The Culture of the Missionary.
The Message of the Bible inherently is divisive.
Those who follow the truth are divided from those who do not.
Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). But
many listeners are willing to follow the truth, if it is presented in a way
they can understand and accept. God has placed a longing for eternal life in
people of each culture,and if people can understand that Jesus is the way to eternal
life, they respond positively to the Gospel. If people see the Gospel merely as
requiring that they change their culture, they are unlikely to respond positively.
Don Richardson says that within cultures, there is dormant
spiritual understanding that can be awakened by redemptive analogy. Around the
world, preachers use analogies when proclaiming Biblical truths regarding
redemption. An effective preacher, if speaking to farmers would use analogies
from agriculture, if speaking to doctors, would use analogies from the field of
health and medicine. Jesus spoke in terms that his listeners understood: he
spoke of masters and servants, sheep and shepherds, sowers and reapers. In a
similar way, while serving as a missionary to the Sawi tribe of Irian Jaya,
Richardson used a redemptive analogy to lead many in the tribe to receive Christ.
According to the Sawi culture, in order to have peace between two tribes, a
father must allow one of his children to be raised by a man in the enemy tribe.
This child was a “peace child.” When Richardson presented Jesus as the peace
child offered by God to bring peace between God and man, the Sawi’s believed.
Now seventy percent of the Sawi’s are Christian. Richardson wrote about this
experience in his book Peace Child. He has written about redemptive analogies
being used to help win people to Christ in various other cultures. People are
more likely to believe in Christ when they see that the Gospel enhances their
culture rather than destroys their culture. A second threat is that listener
may think that a missionary is trying to force his culture on converts. If a
missionary considers his culture to be superior to that of the listener, he may
consciously or unconsciously communicate this. Naturally the listener balks at
changing his culture to that of the missionary. Paul and Barnabas understood
that in order to reach the Greek Culture with the message of the Gospel, the
Good News should not hampered by adding Hebrew cultural and religious
requirements (see Acts 15:1-31).
To be effective, a missionary should identify with the culture. He
will never be completely identical with those born into the culture, but he can
seek to understand people, to listen to them, to learn from them, to laugh with
them, to cry with them. An effective missionary is humble. Christ set the example
for humility—giving up his glory in order to get on a human level (see
Philippians 2:5-11).
Serious threats to a prospective believer are the religious and
civil laws in some places. A convert to Christianity may be ostracized,
persecuted, or even killed. Missionaries in such places must be
patient.Converts must be sure that Jesus is the way to eternal
life before they are willing to make such a sacrifice for Christ.
D. The Response of the Convert
When a missionary has done his best in presenting the Gospel, he
should leave the results to God. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a person of
sin and give eternal life.
When a person receives Christ, he may reject his culture. As he
seeks new patterns of living, he may then try to adopt the culture of the
missionary. The missionary should not encourage converts to adopt his culture.
Rather, converts would do well to remain in their culture and be a witness to
those around them. However, new Christians should be cautioned against
accommodating Christianity to culture,changing Biblical teachings so as not to
clash with culture. Christians are to adapt to Biblical mandates.
E. Organization and Worship
Missionaries should give Christians freedom, under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit and Scripture, to develop an indigenous church and style of
worship.Missions thinkers such Henry Vann, Rufus Anderson,and Roland Allen
promoted the idea of indigenous churches that would be:
-self-governing - not controlled by the missionary or a foreign denomination,
-self-supporting - not relying upon foreign capital, and
-self-propagating – reproducing and multiplying in number.
What is to prevent such churches from becoming syncretistic—blending
Christianity with false beliefs?
Some churches will depart from the truth, but if indigenous
churches are to multiply, they must be given freedom.There are safeguards to
keep churches on the path of truth. The Apostle Paul set an example when he planted
churches in various places.
_ First, he remained with them long enough to instruct them in the
essentials of the faith.
_ Second, he left them under the supervision of elders—the more
spiritually mature men in the church.
_ Third, after leaving them, he later communicated with them by
letter or visited with them, seeing how they were progressing.
He encouraged and exhorted them to stay on the correct path. The
Pauline Epistles reveal Paul’s instructions to the churches.
_ Fourth, he relied on Scripture. Paul was thoroughly trained in
Old Testament Scripture,and he encouraged others to follow Scripture (see 2
Timothy 3:14-17).
_ Fifth, he relied on the Holy Spirit (see Acts 16:6). The Spirit
guided Paul, and the Spirit guides believers in churches around the world.
F. The Process of Change
A missionary should prayerfully determine which parts of a
person’s cultural patterns must change when the person becomes a Christian.
Some things must immediately cease (for example, polytheism).
Other things may take time to change (e.g. societal castes). Some
things may not necessarily change (e.g.dress codes).
19 See “A Definition of Culture” at the link:
http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=14322 (Link no longer available.)
20 See “A Definition of Culture” at the link:http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=14322
( Link no longer available.)
21 Don Richardson, “Redemptive Analogy,” in Ralph D. Winter and Steven
C. Hawthorne, eds., Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement, The Notebook, (Pasadena, California: William Carey
Library,1999) 285-289.
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