Cross-cultural
Missions
Stephen
Terry
Commentary
for the August 22, 2015 Sabbath School Lesson
“…go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19b-20a,
NIV
Sharing the Gospel across cultures can be challenging.
We have recently been reminded of this with the General Conference session of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church in San Antonio, Texas, here in the United
States. Because of differences of language and culture, concern was expressed
that some might be voting on important issues without a complete understanding
of their significance. There were even concerns about “cultural imperialism,”
as some regional delegations may be tempted to flex the muscle of new found
voting power based on the increasing numbers of members in their respective
territories. As is often the case, reality and perception may differ on these
issues, but the fact that they were raised at all illustrates the significant
role culture plays in the global mission of the Christian church.
In the past, western missionaries have often imposed
western cultural values as part of the message they were preaching. This made
for strange results in some instances. For example, male converts were tempted
to mimic the suits and ties favored by the missionaries, equating the dress
with holiness. This was in spite of the torrid heat of tropical climates, where
the natives normally wore little. Perhaps this wasn’t all the fault of the
locals. That many of the missionaries clung to this dress, in spite of the
discomfort, may have demonstrated that they, too, felt it was somehow holier.
This legacy still is with us today, as many local pastors in those areas still
emulate that style of dress.
We also see this cultural bias architecturally. As
congregations of believers are formed in these countries, they are taught that
their congregation is somehow lacking if they do not have a western-style
church as the focal point of worship. This results in similar problems as it
has in the West. Congregations end up burdened with buildings that they must
somehow maintain. Many are the churches in the West that spend far more on
maintenance than on evangelism. Why would we want to impose similar burdens on
worshippers elsewhere? Even simpler, less expensive churches can be a
tremendous burden to a “third-world” congregation where many do not even earn
the daily equivalent of what it would take to buy a can of pop in the United
States. The early Christian church, thriving in its vibrancy, met in small
groups in people’s homes.[i] Only later, when they
became an official religion of the Roman Empire in the early fourth century,
did they then begin to build dedicated structures for worship, often based on
adaptations to the Roman basilica.[ii] This was perhaps
initially a matter of convenience, for the church was growing so rapidly larger
buildings for meetings became necessary and those structures were made possible
once Christianity could be practiced openly.
Eventually, somehow, the church building itself began
being viewed as something holy and sanctified. This would hardly have been
possible with the house churches, because even though prayer and Bible study
took place in them, the remaining activities were likely mundane and carried no
special religious significance. Nonetheless, in spite of all of this,
Christians too often tend to promote the worship of edifices as memorial to
holiness. Some might challenge this idea as too extreme, but as has been
mentioned, a simple examination of most church budgets will reveal priorities.
If we want to find out what is most important in a man’s life, we might need to
only follow the money trail.
Imperialism is not the only influence on cross-cultural
evangelism, however. While some missionaries may have imposed their values on
other cultures from a certain belief that their western culture was superior,
others may have had less nefarious reasons. They may have simply been naïve.
Even in western cultures, children who grow up attending parochial schools and
socializing only with other church members grow up with a certain naiveté about
their own culture. Some have worked diligently to preserve this in their
children, equating naiveness with holiness. Too often, this results in a lack
of judgment and discernment in real world situations. While this can create
problems at home, layering other cultures over a naiveté about one’s own can
quickly exacerbate the problem.
For example, while I was serving in Vietnam, I had
numerous opportunities to visit our church’s mission in Saigon where there was
also a parochial school. I happened to walk up to a volleyball game being
played on campus. I was quite shocked at all the cursing and profanity being
spouted by the students during the game. The missionaries, blithely ignorant of
what was going on smiled and watched the game without understanding what a poor
example it was making of the church. Perhaps, because they only played
competitive sports with other Christian youth, the idea that filthy language
could be a part of the game had never occurred to them. If we couple that with
gestures from another culture and curse words that are based in foreign idioms
and slang, and the missionaries are like babes, lost in the woods with no
knowledge of what is going on around them. Maybe I would have been the same,
except I was raised in public school and along with a good basic education. I
also received an understanding of the language of the street. When I served in
Vietnam, I learned enough Vietnamese to shop in the local markets. Along with
that, being exposed to the rough life of a soldier, I also learned many of the
more negative words and gestures of that language. However, having knowledge of
these things does not necessitate using that knowledge in the way many do.
Jesus said that we should be wise in the ways of a serpent, but innocent as
doves.[iii] That Jesus would say
such a thing is indicative of how important it may be to not send naïve
individuals into foreign missions where the “wolves” reside.
Faced with such daunting challenges, some might feel the
church should avoid foreign missions altogether and focus our efforts here at
home. But while home work is important, Jesus’ expectation, as in the verses at
the top of the page, was that we would cross international borders and enter
other cultures, somehow finding a way to teach them the gospel. We are to do this
in spite of the cultural and language differences. Jesus himself modeled
reaching out to other cultures with His witness to the Samaritan woman at
Jacob’s Well, a witness that impacted her whole village.[iv] He shared his ministry of
healing with a Roman centurion, a man whose great faith He lauded.[v] He even healed a young
girl because of the faith of her Canaanite mother.[vi]
We might do well to ask ourselves how we are doing on
that front. How are we at bringing compassionate healing to those different
than us? Do we tend to equate the words “different” and “evil?” Do we find it
difficult to see all men and women as our brothers and sisters even within the
relative homogeneity of our own culture? If that is difficult for us, how do we
expect to impact the world and the many cultures it contains with the gospel?
On the other hand, are we more eager to make a difference somewhere else,
feeling that anywhere but home is a legitimate missionary field? For those who
feel this way, Jesus also gave an example. He first sent the disciples only to
Israel. They “cut their teeth” in mission work in a culture that was familiar
to them. Only after that did Jesus send them out into the wider world.
Based on that example, perhaps we can say that if a
person wishes to work in foreign missions they might do well to first work at
home to demonstrate their ability and learn something of the world. Knowledge
of the degradation of the world will help prevent situations like the one in
Saigon mentioned above. We do not need to become degraded ourselves to learn
what it looks like, how it acts, and what the results of depravity are. The
Holy Spirit will teach us all we need to know while working for lost souls.
However, this means we cannot remain aloof, simply giving lectures without
mingling with the common people to learn about their lives and their needs.
Once we learn these things in our own culture, we can do the same in foreign
lands. To do so, we need only learn their language and then continue doing
there the same work we have done at home. Once again, working intimately with
them, in their own culture and language, not sheltered within enclaves of our
own culture, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all the knowledge we will need
and more.
In San Antonio, at the General Conference session, a few
complained that the third world was imposing its cultural values on the West.
If so, perhaps that was a good thing in that it allowed us to feel what they
have been feeling for so many years. Maybe it will bring about a change in how
we do cross-cultural mission work. If we do not find the will to grow and
change, we could find that being on the receiving end of cultural imperialism
is painful. This might be particularly because we taught them how to do it so
well.
