"I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some." - I Cor. 9:22b (NAS)
What is Culture?
Here's some (but
certainly not all) of the things that a culture
consists of:
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You should see by now that your participation in culture is inescapable. We are all part of a culture. And when we evangelize, we cannot communicate the Good News without packaging it in culture; because even when we speak, we are using the language of our culture. When we present ourselves and our message to a culture, in a way that is sensitive to and meaningful in that culture, we are practicing cultural engagement. Y'shua (Jesus) was a great example of this, because He came to Earth, engaged His local Jewish peasant culture by speaking the local dialect of Aramaic, lived as a Jewish peasant, taught from the Jewish scriptures, and captured their peasant lifestyle in His parables. By engaging His culture, Y'shua communicated the message, "I am one of you. I understand you."
What is the World?
Paul says, "Do not be
conformed to the world" (Rom 12:2), and John says, "Do not love the
world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him." (I John 2:15 NAS). These verses contain a stern
warning: stay away from the world! But what is the world? Is the world the sum
of all non-Christian culture? (Some Christians seem to believe this, since we
see that Christians have created their own culture, the Christian
Ghetto.) But surely this can't be. If that were the case, then we should
not be conformed to anything outside of the Bible. If you take that to its logical
conclusion, it means that we can't eat Mexican food, speak English, or wear
pants, because you won't find any of those cultural trappings in the Bible.
Wouldn't that be ridiculous?
So what is the world? Let's continue in I John: "For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride
of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world" (I John 2:16 NAS).
In a word, the world is sin. We are not to be conformed to or love the
sinful ways of the world, a world which is ruled by Satan, which spawns evil
values, ideas and philosophies. So it is the sinful ways that we are
to stay away from - not the cultural ways! Cultural characteristics such
as food, language, music style and dress style should not be immediately rejected
by Christians. They should be examined carefully in order to evaluate their
conformity to Christian boundaries. Most cultural expressions are morally neutral.
Common Ground
In order to reach a culture, we must communicate the message, "We are one of you. We understand you." This is the message all of the advertisers send their target groups. They do it for money. We must do it for God. We must establish common ground. If we don't have anything in common, we can't have relationships, and without relationships, how can we communicate the Good News? I believe that (as soon as we're mature Christians) we should immerse ourselves in our target culture. We should go out and meet non-Christians where they are: in the bars, at parties, in the streets - just as Y'shua did! This is what missionaries are doing all around the world. We should free ourselves to listen to, know, and enjoy secular music. We should free ourselves to become familiar with the latest happenings in our society and pop culture.
The last thing we as the Church need to do is slip into a Ghetto mentality. If we limit our travel to home and to church, if we listen to a lot of Christian music, if we only watch Christian movies, we will lose touch with our culture, and seriously endanger our ability to reach the world.
Specialized Congregations
Birds of a feather flock together. That is why I believe that the best way for the Church to reach our culture is to specialize. Our Western culture is made up of a multitude of sub-cultures, or social groups. We have teens, young adults, baby-boomers, seniors, Arabs, Jews, Latinos, goths, punks and computer geeks - all with their own distinct musical tastes, dress styles and dialects. We have to understand that the most effective way to reach these groups, is through their own kind. No one expects a 30-year-old to be comfortable in a congregation of young teens, or of seniors. The 30-year-old will feel out-of-place. The same goes for most groups. No church can reach the Arab community like an Arab church. No church can reach young adults like a young adult church. These congregations must "speak the language" of their target groups by mirroring their music styles, dress styles, and cultures.
Not only should we reach out to non-Christians through their culture, but we should also encourage the newly-saved Christian to express his faith and worship God in the ways of his culture. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean you have to get a haircut, wear a suit, and eat with a fork and knife. The Good News and American middle-class culture are not a package deal! We must encourage new disciples to be real, and to redeem their culture and use it for the glory of God.
Some Notes:
Just as Y'shua sent his disciples two by two, we must split up in order to become
more effective in reaching our culture. But, in order to learn about each other,
and combat any tendency to create animosity in the Church, the Christians from
a few of the various groups should occasionally schedule a meeting (the non-Christians
of the groups should not be expected to attend). This should probably occur
at least once a month. Also, a large meeting between various congregations in
the city can meet at a Unity Festival, in order to display
their unity and cultural diversity. (For more on meetings and schedules, see
my Suggested Organization page.)