MISSIONS AND CULTURE

The early missionaries (eg, in the nineteenth century) did a wonderful job of reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They sacrificed themselves to make Christ known and, for that, they are to be highly commended.

Some missionaries, however, made the incorrect assumption that British or American culture was civilised and godly, while the people they were trying to reach lived in un-civilised, un-godly cultures. The result was that, along with the Gospel, they imposed a foreign culture.

In all cultures, there are things that are good and things that are not so good. Even in Aussie culture, we can identify some good things(eg, a sense of fairness, equality for all, mateship) and some bad things (eg, alcohol abuse, gambling, negative attitudes towards authority.)

Missionaries are now much more conscious of their own cultural blindspots. This enables them to see redemptive features in the cultures where they are working. In other words, they find the customs and rituals that actually point to Christ. God loves diversity and He has an infinite range of expressions for His truth. The Word of God then clarifies and explains these things, pointing people to God the Father, creator of all things, and to Christ, the one and only Saviour.

Christian missionaries should indeed bring new culture wherever they go. But it must be Christian culture, not the culture of their home lands. And they should pray constantly for wisdom to understand this vital difference!