Putting the World in 'World Christian' the Importance of Understanding the Role of Culture

By: Eric Apgar

Putting the world in world christian the importance of understanding the Role of culture:

When God made people, he created something wonderful something that would grow, change, and learn as time progressed until what started off as a single man in a garden evolved into a rippling mass of color and texture that encompassed all that humankind is today. With billions and billions of differences, people today have changed the world dramatically in many facets according to their beliefs and their values the two things that define us and our existence on this planet. With such an expansive variety of people, it has become more important than ever before to learn and understand what people define themselves as if we are to have any hope of reaching and loving the people in this world. To live in the world and truly be a Christian is to be a World Christian the very best of whom was Jesus: a man who could walk and talk to any nation because he loved them enough to care how they defined themselves and we must do the same in the interest of carrying on his magnificent work. In my opinion, there is no such thing as the role of culture in being a World Christian because the idea of culture embodies what it means to be a World Christian in the first place. Being a World Christian is being someone who understands what it is to have values and beliefs and how to interact with someone based upon those key ideas. I think that a facet in spreading God's message in which the modern church has become woefully inadequate is the area of culture. We have become so caught up our own sense of right and wrong and one minded purpose that we put the focus of missions on the wrong aspects, causing us to push people away and not understand why, when in fact we are completely ignorant in how they think and process information. Specifically, I believe that an understanding of culture is an understanding of a mindset. When you know someone's background, why they believe what they do and what lies at the root of their identity, then you understand the person and the thoughts and feelings and emotions that make up who they are. This is absolutely critical in terms of showing God's love. I think that when someone enters the mission field with the

goal of bringing them to Christ or saving their soul that they have already failed. Bringing people to God should be done the way that Jesus did it and God does it by forming a relationship with someone, which in turn, allows you to understand who they are. Paul Hiebert said (on the subject of the culture of India) More than any other culture, Indian culture is based on deep beliefs in purity and pollution, which touch every area of life......The people are concerned about deep, inner pollution, the defilement of self.......Keep in mind that India is known for its personal cleanliness and its public filth, and America for its public cleanliness and its personal filth. ([1] Hiebert, 425)

1. Paul G. Hiebert. Clean and Dirty: Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings in India Pages 423 424.