WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

4 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
“back home”. Ministry tools and materials were those imported from the West.
As a result, Christianity was viewed as a Western religion by the local people.
Missionaries were also oblivious to cultural differences when they sought
responses to the Gospel message. Thousands of “decisions for Christ” were
being reported in some Asian countries. Although some people were genuinely
converted, there were obviously many “decisions” that were questionable.
Having teamed up with missionary colleagues in evangelistic endeavours, I
soon learned that many who responded by saying “yes” did not truly understand
the Gospel. “Yes” could also mean “Yes, the story sounds good” or “Yes, I will
believe because I don’t wish to offend you”.
During one of my “follow-up” efforts to contact about 5,000 young people
who had made some kind of decision for Christ (those who had said “Yes”
when an invitation was given), we found that less than 200 were responsive to
spiritual matters. We remained in contact with these responsive ones, and many
continued to grow in faith. Later, some became church and mission leaders.
In a South Asian country, a person saying “Yes” could mean that he
believes in Christ as one of many gods. In another, a “Yes” could mean “Yes, I’m
listening though I don’t really agree”. To say “No” is to offend. Similarly, a nod
in many Asian countries does not always express an agreement to the message.
It is polite to keep on nodding especially when an older person is speaking.
It is therefore essential for any person wishing to engage in cross-cultural
witness to study the culture and the language of a people. It takes time to learn
and understand the society we wish to reach before our ministry and message
can be relevant.
Culture, however, is complex and trying to define it isn’t easy. It has
been defined as “the integrated system of a people, their language, habits,
customs, and social organisation - those things that give them an identity and
distinction from the many thousands of other peoples of the world.” 2
Within a culture, there are customs of behaviour and relationships. These
include how people greet each other, talk, eat, dress, work, play and do business.
Within a culture or country, there are also institutions which express
these beliefs and values – including temples, churches, mosques (religious
buildings), government, law courts, schools, family institutions, clubs, business
places, shops, factories and so on. Not all these institutions may be appropriate
to a cultural context, but they are there all the same.
Culture may be obvious and visible, or it may be less obvious and not
talked about. It includes how people communicate, how they relate (there is
usually a “pecking order”), what they expect of different people (different people
have different roles). It includes concepts of space (how close we may draw to
2 The Navigators (1990), Scriptural Roots of Our Ministry, page 123.