WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

208 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
My wife and I returned to Asia in the mid-1970s. Seeing the need to
prepare mission candidates (both from the West and from Asia) for their work,
my colleagues and I had long discussions on culture and contextualization.
We studied the Scriptures and read books, papers and articles on culture and
cultural anthropology. One text-book was “The Church and Cultures” by Louis
Luzbetak8 . I also read books by Christian anthropologists Eugene Nida9 ,
Paul Hiebert10 and others, and articles in Evangelical Missions Quarterly. David
Hesselgrave’s book, Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally was helpful. 11 I
recognized the importance of understanding “worldviews”. The concept can
be complex as a worldview is a composite of beliefs from one’s culture, family
and religion and determines how one views and interprets reality. From this
worldview will flow a person’s values which in turn will influence behaviour.
There can be no behavioural change without transformation within the heart
of a person. I observed why missionaries like E Stanley Jones made an impact
because of their understanding of their host culture’s worldview. I remember
hearing Stanley Jones preach on “Conversion” defining it as a “change gradual
or sudden when one passes from the kingdom of self to the Kingdom of God.”
He was certainly passionate about the Kingdom of God. He wrote, “Jesus was
obsessed with the Kingdom of God…The Kingdom of God was the only thing
he called good news”. 12 Surely, that’s what we are called to advance among the
nations – the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom.
I strengthened my convictions about contextualization, rooting these in
the Scriptures. Jesus Christ, of course is our prime example. “The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). All New Testament authors wrote “in
context”. Paul was constantly ministering contextually and his messages were
relevant to his different audiences. For example, his sermon to the Jews in
Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:14-41) was very different from his message at the
meeting of the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31). Contextualization will affect not
only our message but our lifestyles and the ways we minister.
In 1978, at a Congress on Evangelism, I presented a paper and spoke on
“Culture and Religious Background in Relation to Conversion.” 13 By then,
“Contextualization” was becoming a much-discussed concept. The Evangelical
Missions Quarterly, January 1978 had an issue on Contextualization. In January
1978, there was also a landmark Consultation on “The Gospel and Culture.”
The Willowbank Report on the Consultation is a “must-read.” 14 One section of
the Report worth re-reading is on “Missionary Humility.” “Ethnocentrism” is
an obstacle we face in crossing cultures. None of us can claim to be “exceptions”!
Peter (in Acts 10) is a classic example. Dean Flemming writes about Peter’s
8 Louis J Luzbetak, The Church and Cultures, (Techny, Illinois: Divine Word Publications, 1970).
9 Eugene A Nida, Customs, Culture and Christianity, Tyndale Press, 1963.
10 Paul Hiebert, Anthropological Insights for Missionaries (Michigan: Baker Book House, 1978).
11 David J Hesselgrave, Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978) The 2 nd Edition was published in 1991.
12 E Stanley Jones, A Song of Ascents, (Nashville and New York:Abingdon Press, 1968), page 153
13 Jim Chew, Culture and Religious Background in Relation to Conversion, paper presented at Congress on Evangelism for Malaysia and
Singapore, 1978
14 http://www.lausanne.org/willowbank-1978/lop-2.html