Gospel and Culture

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Gospel and Culture

• Missionaries must face many conflicts in a
  heterogeneous world. Yet God has chosen to use
  humans as the primary means of making Himself
  known to other humans. This is how He made
  Himself known to us. Now we must do the same for
  others.

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Concept of Culture

• Definition
• The more or less integrated system of ideas,
  feeling, and values and associated patterns of
  behavior and products shared by a group of people
  who organize and regulate what they think, feel,
  and do (Paul Hiebert, 1985, p. 30)

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Three Aspects of Culture

• Cognitiveshared knowledge (Conceptual content of
  a culturein categories, what exists and does not
  exist, assumptions, beliefs, and how to think)
• Westerners store knowledge in print
• Non-literate oral societies store it in stories,
  poems, songs, proverbs, riddles, dramas, and
  rituals to be seen and remembered
• Westerners believe reading is essential to church
  planting and bible study
• Affective Aspectfeelings, attitudes, beauty,
  tastes, likes, and dislikes, and way of endearing
  self
• Some religions encourage meditation, mysticism,
  and drugs
• Opera or rock concert?

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Third Aspect of Culture

• Evaluative Aspectjudging moral and immoral, high
  and low jobs, manners
• Whether beliefs are true or false
• What is emotional expressions of lifebeauty and
  ugliness, love and hate, appropriate dress and
  behavior
• Determines values and moralseconomic success,
  honor, fame, power, good will of ancestors or
  favor with God

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Three Dimensions of Culture
Hiebert (1985) p. 31
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Gospel Relates to all Three Aspects

• Cognitiveknowledge and truth
• Affective (feeling)awe and mystery before God,
  guilt or shame for sins, gladness for our
  salvation, comfort in fellowship
• Evaluativeformation of values and
  allegiancesare we loyal to Jesus?

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All three are essential in conversion

• Knowledge not enough
• Knowledge plus feeling of affections and loyalty
  must lead to submission and worship
• All three lead to discipleship and truth of spirit

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Missionaries tend to stress cognitive aspect
(Four Spiritual Laws, Romans Road)

• Most spend their time seeking feelings
  (excitement, thrills, affection, tranquility)
• Most present knowledge of Gospel with
  feelingmost want freedom from fears and feel
  forgiven and joy in salvation and need persuasion
  to respond
• Need ways to express feelings in art, literature,
  drama, dance, ritual, and festivals
• Ultimate goal is discipleshipnot just feeling
  good, but following Jesus

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Practical Aspects of Culture

• Behaviortaught mostly by culturegreetings,
  competition, goals
• Formal behavior defined usuallyinformal is freer
  to choose
• All cultures have ways to enforce their rules
  (gossip, ostracism, force) but violators will be
  punished
• Material objects (houses, baskets, canoes, masks,
  vehicles) each with style and function
• Tribal objects are formed by nature and
  conditions
• Material objects used to express creativity

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Symbol SystemsEverything is associated with
meaning, emotion, and value

• Form and Meaning
• Once created, becomes a part of the culture
  system and acquire meaning given to themword
  redhow many meanings?
• To be a part of the culture, it must be shared by
  human community
• Shared symbols make communication possible
• Communication first must be coded into common
  meaning into forms symbols understood
• Symbols make communication possible by turning
• Though only the symbol is perceived (behavior,
  speech, or product) the meaning is inferred
  because of shared set of symbols
• Because the shared symbols continue over time,
  they transmit knowledge and feeling

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2. Fusion of Form and Meaning

• Tomb in Mecca, Cross
• Form and Meaning is equated in ritual symbols
• Some images remind them of their gods
• Some believe their gods inhabit the idol
• Some equate the twothe idol is their god
• The West tends to separate form and
  meaningtraditional and peasant cultures tend to
  equate themmany explanations needed.

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Inconsistencies, competing theories and changes
in customs

• These undermine the internal harmony of a culture
• If a minimal cultural integration exists then
  organized social life is possible
• This the fear that change communicates

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Implications for Missions

• Significance
• The more integrated the culture, the more stable,
  but also, the more resistant to change
• When change introduced in one part of a culture,
  unforeseen side effects in other areas of culture
  results
• Culture Education
• If culture is learned, it must also be
  taughtchildhood years are critical in the
  formation of character, values, and culture
• Each culture has its own way to enculturate its
  young
• Pressing them by disciplining bad behavior
  (punishment, gossip, ostracism, withholding
  rewards)
• Pulling them by cultural heroes, ideal
  characters, and models for roles in society

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More Implications

• The Gospel and Culture
• If cultures are the way different people think,
  feel, act, where does the gospel fit? What
  culture must we adopt to become Christian?
• Just as God revealed Himself in history through
  the Incarnation, becoming fully human, while
  remaining fully Godso the gospel is to become
  incarnate in culture without losing its divine
  character

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Three Principles to Understand Tension between
Gospel and Human Cultures

• The Gospel Versus Culture
• Gospel must be distinguished from all human
  culturesdiving revelation not human speculation
• Equating Gospel and Culture is seen to Justify
  Western Imperialism
• Equating Gospel and Culture allows a Relativism
  of Sin
• Gospel IN Culture though distinct, must be
  expressed IN the culture
• Humans can only receive what is communicated in
  language, symbols, and rituals
• All Cultures can serve as vehicles for
  communication of Gospel within their culture

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Tension between Gospel and Human Cultures

• Gospel TO Culture
• Gospel calls all cultures to change
• The Kingdom of God is distinct from all cultures
  and judges them
• Not everything in culture is condemned
• All cultures have structures and practices that
  are evilslavery, cruelty, oppression,
  exploitation, war, infidelity, injustice,
  demonic, or dehumanizing evils.
• This is a constant struggle to keep a clear
  demarcation