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Gospel and Culture

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Title: Gospel and Culture Last modified by: Don Fanning Created Date: 6/22/2003 11:31:13 AM Document presentation format: On-screen Show Other titles – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Gospel and Culture


1
Gospel and Culture
  • Missionaries must face many conflicts in a
    heterogeneous world. Yet God has chosen to use
    humans as the primary means of making Himself
    known to other humans. This is how He made
    Himself known to us. Now we must do the same for
    others.

2
Concept of Culture
  • Definition
  • The more or less integrated system of ideas,
    feeling, and values and associated patterns of
    behavior and products shared by a group of people
    who organize and regulate what they think, feel,
    and do (Paul Hiebert, 1985, p. 30)

3
Three Aspects of Culture
  • Cognitiveshared knowledge (Conceptual content of
    a culturein categories, what exists and does not
    exist, assumptions, beliefs, and how to think)
  • Westerners store knowledge in print
  • Non-literate oral societies store it in stories,
    poems, songs, proverbs, riddles, dramas, and
    rituals to be seen and remembered
  • Westerners believe reading is essential to church
    planting and bible study
  • Affective Aspectfeelings, attitudes, beauty,
    tastes, likes, and dislikes, and way of endearing
    self
  • Some religions encourage meditation, mysticism,
    and drugs
  • Opera or rock concert?

4
Third Aspect of Culture
  • Evaluative Aspectjudging moral and immoral, high
    and low jobs, manners
  • Whether beliefs are true or false
  • What is emotional expressions of lifebeauty and
    ugliness, love and hate, appropriate dress and
    behavior
  • Determines values and moralseconomic success,
    honor, fame, power, good will of ancestors or
    favor with God

5
Three Dimensions of Culture
Hiebert (1985) p. 31
6
Gospel Relates to all Three Aspects
  • Cognitiveknowledge and truth
  • Affective (feeling)awe and mystery before God,
    guilt or shame for sins, gladness for our
    salvation, comfort in fellowship
  • Evaluativeformation of values and
    allegiancesare we loyal to Jesus?

7
All three are essential in conversion
  • Knowledge not enough
  • Knowledge plus feeling of affections and loyalty
    must lead to submission and worship
  • All three lead to discipleship and truth of spirit

8
Missionaries tend to stress cognitive aspect
(Four Spiritual Laws, Romans Road)
  • Most spend their time seeking feelings
    (excitement, thrills, affection, tranquility)
  • Most present knowledge of Gospel with
    feelingmost want freedom from fears and feel
    forgiven and joy in salvation and need persuasion
    to respond
  • Need ways to express feelings in art, literature,
    drama, dance, ritual, and festivals
  • Ultimate goal is discipleshipnot just feeling
    good, but following Jesus

9
Practical Aspects of Culture
  • Behaviortaught mostly by culturegreetings,
    competition, goals
  • Formal behavior defined usuallyinformal is freer
    to choose
  • All cultures have ways to enforce their rules
    (gossip, ostracism, force) but violators will be
    punished
  • Material objects (houses, baskets, canoes, masks,
    vehicles) each with style and function
  • Tribal objects are formed by nature and
    conditions
  • Material objects used to express creativity

10
Symbol SystemsEverything is associated with
meaning, emotion, and value
  • Form and Meaning
  • Once created, becomes a part of the culture
    system and acquire meaning given to themword
    redhow many meanings?
  • To be a part of the culture, it must be shared by
    human community
  • Shared symbols make communication possible
  • Communication first must be coded into common
    meaning into forms symbols understood
  • Symbols make communication possible by turning
  • Though only the symbol is perceived (behavior,
    speech, or product) the meaning is inferred
    because of shared set of symbols
  • Because the shared symbols continue over time,
    they transmit knowledge and feeling

11
2. Fusion of Form and Meaning
  • Tomb in Mecca, Cross
  • Form and Meaning is equated in ritual symbols
  • Some images remind them of their gods
  • Some believe their gods inhabit the idol
  • Some equate the twothe idol is their god
  • The West tends to separate form and
    meaningtraditional and peasant cultures tend to
    equate themmany explanations needed.

12
Inconsistencies, competing theories and changes
in customs
  • These undermine the internal harmony of a culture
  • If a minimal cultural integration exists then
    organized social life is possible
  • This the fear that change communicates

13
Implications for Missions
  • Significance
  • The more integrated the culture, the more stable,
    but also, the more resistant to change
  • When change introduced in one part of a culture,
    unforeseen side effects in other areas of culture
    results
  • Culture Education
  • If culture is learned, it must also be
    taughtchildhood years are critical in the
    formation of character, values, and culture
  • Each culture has its own way to enculturate its
    young
  • Pressing them by disciplining bad behavior
    (punishment, gossip, ostracism, withholding
    rewards)
  • Pulling them by cultural heroes, ideal
    characters, and models for roles in society

14
More Implications
  • The Gospel and Culture
  • If cultures are the way different people think,
    feel, act, where does the gospel fit? What
    culture must we adopt to become Christian?
  • Just as God revealed Himself in history through
    the Incarnation, becoming fully human, while
    remaining fully Godso the gospel is to become
    incarnate in culture without losing its divine
    character

15
Three Principles to Understand Tension between
Gospel and Human Cultures
  • The Gospel Versus Culture
  • Gospel must be distinguished from all human
    culturesdiving revelation not human speculation
  • Equating Gospel and Culture is seen to Justify
    Western Imperialism
  • Equating Gospel and Culture allows a Relativism
    of Sin
  • Gospel IN Culture though distinct, must be
    expressed IN the culture
  • Humans can only receive what is communicated in
    language, symbols, and rituals
  • All Cultures can serve as vehicles for
    communication of Gospel within their culture

16
Tension between Gospel and Human Cultures
  • Gospel TO Culture
  • Gospel calls all cultures to change
  • The Kingdom of God is distinct from all cultures
    and judges them
  • Not everything in culture is condemned
  • All cultures have structures and practices that
    are evilslavery, cruelty, oppression,
    exploitation, war, infidelity, injustice,
    demonic, or dehumanizing evils.
  • This is a constant struggle to keep a clear
    demarcation
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