Issues of Culture
by John Kimball, CCCC Director of Church Development
Every church has a culture. In some cases, the church’s culture is derived from ethnicity, while in other cases, it is derived more from the common history and experience of that particular body, from the church’s surrounding community, or even from strong personalities in the congregation. The culture of some churches is a direct reflection of a pastor (even one that may be long dead). Culture is the lens through which the life of the body flows, and it affects everything: music preference, worship style, preferred Bible version, Sunday school curriculum, chosen ministry programs, leadership structure — literally everything, including the kinds of foods served at church suppers.
A church’s culture informs us of what is important (dare I say, “non-negotiable”?). It fosters both theological and political convictions. It also stands in most churches as the silent “litmus test” for who is and who is not included in the church family. In nearly every case, when a congregation resists ministering to people in their own city, it is because of cultural differences. Those differences may be as obvious as ethnic variances, standard of living or even where someone lives; or they may be less noticeable feelings of discomfort. Cultural resistance is a powerful thing. In fact, most resistance to change is driven at least in part by an internal desire to keep culture consistent.
Understanding cultural differences is absolutely critical to effective local church ministry. When a congregation’s native culture resists the culture of those they are called to reach, ministry is hampered or even prevented. In a very real sense, it is imperative that local congregations adopt a “missionary” mentality if they are going to engage their local communities with the love and gospel of Jesus Christ. Think about it: missionaries spend time “acculturating.” They learn the language. They learn the customs. They listen to the music. They eat the food. And they actually live life among those they are called to reach. It is only when we have such a deep, heart understanding of a people that we can then effectively contextualize our ministry and our message to draw them to King Jesus. That contextualization is not changing the Truth (far be it!), but communicating that timeless Truth in such a way that the different cultural “hearers” can readily receive it, understand it, apply it and live it out.
It has been my experience that most church folks are amazingly unaware of cultural differences in their own communities. They don’t see them because, for the most part, they have their circles of friends and colleagues — and often these will be in the same or very similar cultural groups. In many cases, the only “cross-cultural” experiences we voluntarily pursue are temporary excursions (like going out for Chinese or Mexican food). Very few of us take the time to build relationships with those outside of our cultural comfort zones. Thus, our effectiveness for ministry and evangelism is greatly diminished.
Churches say they want to grow. But the reality is that growth only comes by way of those outside the congregation. In most cases for growth to happen we must engage those who are culturally different than ourselves. And this should be no surprise — after all, Jesus commissioned us to, “go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) The word translated “nations” is the Greek word ethne, which might be best translated today as “people groups.” As our communities change and even become more diverse, our churches must learn to engage souls outside of our native cultures. This has always been non-negotiable from Jesus’ standpoint.
