Cultural Anthropology for Missions

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY FOR MISSIONS
M.M.NINAN
misconception that polygamy is due to sex perversion. It is not
connected to sex, but with social living in this part of the world.
God accepts a person as he is, where he is. Jesus lived in a
community where polygamy and slavery were norms. But he never
lashed out against it. These were acceptable starting points. It is
the direction of motion that is important in the culture. We are here
to get it started – to overcome the inertia and make sure of the
Jesus component.
Every culture has their own ideals. It is these that create guilt and
sin consciousness. No one thinks that drinking or dancing is a sin
here. But getting angry is, being impatient is, refusing to be
hospitable (even at the most uncomfortable time) is. It would be
unwise to try to create sin out of factors which he does not feel
guilty of. Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting. Let the Holy Spirit
bring about the building up and the direction.
Reinterpreting social customs and symbols in Christ is to be desired
if we are to embed Christianity permanently in a culture. In the first
century St.Thomas did that in Kerala, India. The Massai
experiment and the Nigerian experiments are probably worth
mentioning. As long as the church remains within the symbolism
and life style of the west it cannot have any meaning to them or
change the life of people. Many indigenous churches arose in
Nigeria just because the local Christians could not relate the
behavior of the missionaries with their daily life. If the church did
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