06 cultural anthropology

Cultural Anthropology
for the Missionary

Dr. Robert Patton
Missionary to Suriname,
South America

What is culture?
 Culture - the pattern and way of
life by which people order their
lives
 We use contextual clues
 For the first 6 years, we have intensive
training from parents and others
 We go further for a life-long enculturation

What is culture?
 Culture - the pattern and way of life by which
people order their lives
 Later - peer groups become important, and we
tend to congregate with those of similar values,
which reinforce our cultural values
 Each individual is different in accepting or rejecting
portions of the lifestyle
 We overlearn these until they are automatic and
assumed to be correct
 Living with other cultural expressions
can bring stress

Why study anthropology?
 It attempts to deal with what people actually
do and think
 .Their total behavior
 .Their world view
 .It deals mostly with nonwestern people
 .The culture concept - how people meet their
needs within the restrictions imposed by
environment, etc. None intrinsically superior

Why study anthropology
 It takes a holistic integrative approach to
people
 It uses a cross-cultural perspective
 .Helps understand ourselves
 .Helps understand others in their culture
 .Understand the Bible in the patterns of other
times & places
 .Helps understand how best to
communicate the message of the
gospel

Anthropology focuses on
communication
 Quality of relationships
 Perception, felt needs, acceptance &
appreciation
 .Anthropology distinguishes between form and
meanings - what does the form communicate?
 .Anthropology communicates the world
view - assumptions, values and
associations & allegiances
 .Anthropology works with people in the field
where they live - not in isolation
 .Anthropology studies how culture changes

We see only dimly now…
 All perceptions are affected by
 .Culture
 .Personality
 .Experience
 .Sin
 .Only God sees perfectly

Our perception of reality
 We always filter reality
 We learn incompletely
 Experience modifies our mental maps
 We may change when confronted with
another model of reality
 There may be a paradigm shift to a
new perspective.
 However, we may keep a good portion
of the old view and compartmentalize
and shift back and forth

A Perspective on Culture -
Kraft
 Relationship precedes custom
 We need customs, but not someone else’s
customs,
 We need rituals, but not someone else’s
rituals.
 Culture is like a river - we see the top, but
most is deep beneath. The world-view is
below

Kraft
 His view - culture is structure.
 People work within the structure, either to
strengthen it or to change it. It is the force of
habit that sustains the cultural approach
 Culture is a strategy for survival belonging to
and operated by a society. It consists of
concepts and behavior that are patterned and
learned; underlying perspectives, and
resultant products.
 Culture is agreed upon patterns, and
is learned

Kraft
 The power of the culture is that we
have a propensity to live by habit.
 Different cultures represent the creativity of
mankind.
 We need to honor cultures. We need
culture to survive

Kraft
 Cultures can be used for good or ill.
 And remember that cultures are
infected with our sin-nature .
 It is people-choices if culture will be
used as instruments for God or
satan .

Culture is
 Complex
 Tightly integrated around the
world view
 A total design for living
 Adaptive to circumstances

Culture is
 Learned as if it were perfect:
ethnocentrism.
 We have a tendency to want to
impose our culture on others
 Makes sense to those in the
system

Culture
 Based on group agreement
 A legacy from the past, and links us
with the past
 A way to regulate your life
 There is explicit, conscious
culture, and implicit, unconscious
culture.
 There is an ideal culture and
actual culture

Culture Shock
 The rules of living change
 This is not just for missionaries –
anyone living in a new culture
 Many government and business
organizations have ways to help
cope

Culture shock: - our cultural
maps no longer work
 Inability to communicate - you must
practice it and make mistakes to learn it
 Routine things take much longer
 Changes in relationships - with other
people, our identity, etc.
 Great differences in concept of time -
what is appropriate varies in each culture
 Emotional and evaluative disorientation

Culture shock…
 Stress - often accummulative –
 50% of those above 150 points were sick,
and 80% of those above 300 were sick.
 Language learning is 50 points
 Many missionaries are over 400.
 Physical illness is common
 Psychological and spiritual depression is
also common

The cycle of culture shock
 Tourist stage - outside visitor stage
 Disenchantment - we are now cultural
insiders - many resign
 Resolution - we begin to learn new
cultural ways, though we often think
that our own culture is superior.
 Now it is key to develop positive
attitudes of appreciation and
acceptance - but if we remain aloof,
we will probably never come into the
culture.

The cycle of culture shock
 We want to become bonded to
the culture.
 Reverse culture shock - most
affects those best adjusted to the
new culture.
 We need to approach this as
learning another culture, and
learn from the natives

Getting over culture shock
 Get into the culture early before
forming routines that shut them out
 Be a learner, and they will help
those in need

Getting over culture shock
 Adjustments depend on the
differences between our original
culture and the new one
 Recognize our anxieties, identify
them, and learn solutions
 Build trust - have an interest in and
acceptance of the people to whom
we minister

Things to help culture shock
 Set realistic goals - you cannot
do as much in a foreign culture
 Take time out - avoid burnout
 We are not indispensable

Things to help culture shock
 Attitudes are KEY
 .Flexibility

 .Humor - especially at our

missteps
 .Forgiveness

 .Thankfulness

 Share burdens with others

The Incarnational Missionary
 Cross-cultural misunderstandings - a
cognitive block
 Come into the culture as learners -
this often opens doors to share the
gospel
 Anything that does not make sense
means that we don’t understand how it
fits into the culture
 Eventually we can become bi-cultural -
transmitting from one culture to
another

Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism - affective response -
my culture is civilized, others are
not
 The solution is empathy
 Be learners
 See others as individuals
 Remember that our reaction may be
defensive in nature

We need to respect all cultures,
but not cultural relativity
 Biblical norms are above all cultures
 We need to study the values of our
own culture and the culture we are to
reach, and then compare them with
Biblical norms.
 Our own ethnocentricity must be
shattered to accomplish this

We need to respect all cultures,
but not cultural relativity
 . Neither rejecting the new culture,
and becoming isolated, nor “ going
native” is the answer.
 We can never fully enter into the life
of the new culture, because we do
not enter with a blank slate

Integrate into the culture
 As insiders of the culture, we are
competitors for leadership and
resources, but not as outsiders.
 We can bridge the gap with our
culture, and protect our people from
misuse

Integrate into the culture
 Compartmentalization - in each
culture, do as that culture. But a lot
of tension, and it may seem that we
are hypocritical
 Better - integration, but accepting
the things in both cultures that
correspond to Biblical truth

Where we can, identify with
 Language
 Clothing & food - not too difficult
 Transportation - more difficult for
USA people
 Housing - especially loss of
privacy

Where we can, identify with
 Roles - depends upon what we are
assigned
 Attitudes - do we truly love the
people? I Cor. 13:3
 .Treat with dignity & respect
 .Give power and position of leadership
 .Trust them with material goods

Cultural assumptions of
western missionaries
 We live in a real world that exists
outside us, rational, orderly &
under natural laws
 Therefore science is important
 Biblical basis - God created a
universe that is outside of Him
and dependent on Him

Cultural assumptions of
western missionaries
 Eastern religion - the outside
world is imaginary, and people
just projections in the mind of
God
 Then appeals to history and
science are difficult
 Truth comes from meditation - we
are part of one universal spirit

Western thought
 There was a real shift between
biblical dualism - God vs. all
creation including spirits, humans,
enz. - to neo-Platonic world -
dualism between spirit and matter ,
soul & body.
 Thus there was a split between the
natural observable world and the
supernatural world

Western thought
 Originally science was a servant of
religion, but later became totally
separated.
 We tend to separate spiritual
ministries and social gospel
 Missionaries can actually spread
secularism, when the culture accepts
western science and technology but
rejects their religious teachings

West vs. animism
 Humans & non-humans - actually
comes from our Christian
perspective.
 But many cultures look at all nature
as alive, with animals and inanimate
objects having their spirits.
 Example Sranantongo language is
without a passive. You cannot say:
I was cut by the knife. You must
say: The knife cut me…

West vs. animism
 Americans look to exploit nature in
their domination of it.
 The Hebrews, in contrast, looked at
nature as good, and that humans
should care for it.
 Some folks believe that they are
basically overwhelmed by nature

Western values
 Values - usually materialistic –
 what one possesses
 physical health –
 rather than intellectual or spiritual
development.
 .Americans judge other cultures by
their technological development &
material comforts.
 They emphasize private ownership -
not group ownership . This can create
problems in considering missionaries
greedy

Peasant society values
different
 Peasant societies often believe that
basic resources like land, wealth,
health, friendships, power, status
and security are limited and of short
supply
 There is a suspicion of those
competing for them, and persons
are encouraged to keep the status
quo.

West vs. East
 USA loves analysis, fixing things.
 Many other places seem like things
are uncontrolled and not the blame of
one person, making planning difficult
 USA loves either/or - no in between.
 Also a sharp distinction between work
and play which is incomprehensible to
many

Western values
 Planning - we can plan in a rational
universe. We have the power of
choice, and the responsibility to
choose and make a difference.
 We tend to be pragmatic when it
comes to solutions.
 Other countries feel that it is more
important to be a good person and
build good relationships.

Western values
 We tend to treat the world as mechanistic
- both material goods and humans - as
things to be organized and used.
 Completing tasks is more important than
building relationships
 Doing and completing more important -
laziness is a major “sin” in this view
 Other countries - being and becoming
more important – Mary vs. Martha

Western values
 You quantify things, and bigger = better.
Others value balance and beauty
 Assembly line rather than the artist or
craftsman doing the whole thing
 Big emphasis on the individual and
individual rights & freedom
 Japan – “face” - dignity, harmony, respect
very important

Western values
 Personal identity is found through
achievement to find individual worth =
material goods
 Self-reliance - a fear to be dependent on
others.
 In Latin America and the Orient, the
emphasis is on the group, not the “loner”
 Southeast Asia - the relationship is
between the patron and the client. The
patron helps in all ways, and the client is
totally loyal

Western values
 Contractural groups - the rights of the
individual are above the group, and they
may leave the group.
 We tend to have superficial relationships,
may leave for a better job. We have
clubs as a basic organization.
 This is strange where the major tie is
kinship and you are born into the group

Western values
 Americans put emphasis on private
property to be used and disposed of as
wished
 Humanitarianism is strong - but often
institutionalized and impersonal
 Equality = equal opportunities . We favor
democracy where the majority also
respects the rights of the minority.
 But some cultures believe that humans are
not equal, but hierarchal , and that they are
based on “karma” and must atone for their
sins.

Western values
 Informality - this can be OK with kindness,
courtesy and unostentatious living,
 Be very careful not to belittle someone with a
higher rank in his own culture. Until you
know, be respectful and keep a bit of reserve
 Competition and self-reliance - later compete
for fame, status, money, etc and there is
little room for “losers” We must “play fair”

Western values
 Americans tend to be direct and confronta-
tional
 Japanese prefer to make decisions privately
and use meetings for public announcements.
Some will use a third party
 Americans will cooperate for common goals,
even with others with whom we may
disagree. Some interpret this as
opportunism.

Western values in time
 Time is highly valued and
organized. Time is linear.
 Others focus on the events on
hand. Time may be pendular or
cyclical
 .Americans are future oriented.

Western values
 .
 Traditional African thought focuses
on the past. There is the mythical
past, the recent past (remembering
recent ancestors), and the present
and recent future.
 Chinese think especially of the
present, and try to integrate all the
current happenings into the
situation.

Western values vs. others
 Americans focus on time, which
disappears, rather than space where
things happened, but many cultures
do the opposite. “We cannot go
back, but this is where...”

Western values
 Youth focus as active and
productive.
 Many cultures place an emphasis
on the elderly, and have no
concept of retirement

Western communication
 We emphasize visual rather than oral,
touch, smell, etc. Literacy abounds. I
see...
 Others emphasize sayings, proverbs, etc -
with interaction between the teller and the
receiver...
 We emphasize abstract knowledge instead
of stories, situations, etc. We need to
emphasize the personal and stories
 We tend to admire knowledge more than
wisdom

One of our tasks
 Missionaries need total
immersion to become
enculturated again - like a child
 Phil. 2:5, I Peter 2:21
 We must become like those we
will reach – but as Christians
 We must deny ourselves: Mt.
16:24
 Paul wanted to become all things
for all men I Cor. 9:21-23

Hall - Silent language - 10
areas of control in all cultures
 Subsistence - work
 Bisexuality - differences in sexes
 Learning - modeling, observation,
instruction
 Play - humor, recreation
 Defense - health, beliefs,
conflicts

Hall - Silent language - 10
areas of control in all cultures
 Language - just a conceptual model
of what we experience
 Time - attitudes toward time,
schedule
 Space & territory
 Exploitation - control and use of
resources
 Association - family, kin,

Tension in time…
Time-oriented societies –
West
 Lots of clocks, everybody wears
watch
 Anniversaries, historical records
important
 Scheduling toward a goal, achieving
the maximum within set limits
 Time = money. Rewards for efficient
use of time

Time concept in
Event-oriented societies
 Concerned for the details of the event,
regardless of time involved
 Exhaustive consideration of the problem
until resolved
 Let come what may - not tied to specific
schedule

Time concept in
Event-oriented societies
 Stress completing the event as a
reward in itself
 Emphasis on present experience
instead of past or future
 Participation and completion are the
main goals

Time…
 Jesus
 Time more an opportunity
 Event oriented
 .Americans
 Time-oriented
 Monochronism - do one thing at a time
 They want variety of things to do
 We must be willing to adapt to the culture
around us

Tensions in judgment
 American culture wants things
systematized - comes from Western
thought processes - Aristotelian
 Dichotomy - bring into right/wrong
 Judgments black & white. Specific criteria
are applied uniformly
 Security comes from knowing that one is
right, and fits into a particular role in
society
 Systematic evaluation of information
and experiences - sorting things into
clear patterns

Tensions in judgment –
eastern or third world values
 Holistic - whole is greater than the
parts
 Judgments are open-ended, and the
whole person and all circumstances
are taken into consideration
 Security comes from multiple
interactions within the whole of society
- one is insecure if confined to
particular roles or categories
 Details stand out as independent
points complete in themselves

Dual brain theory
 Left hemisphere  Right hemisphere
 .Verbal  .Signal-pictorial
 .Rational  .Emotional
 .Analytic  .Holistic
 .Digital  .Analogical

Dual hemispheres
 The healthy individual will use
both, but one often dominates.
 Left - verbal
 Right – pictorial

Jesus teaching
 Jesus tended to use pictorial
language and reasoning mostly -
which also fit well with the Hebrew
culture
 .Analogies

 .Parables

 .Jesus was receptor-oriented and
personal

Jesus teaching
 .Focusing on issues of the day -
healing on the sabbath, etc.
 He used very pictorial
illustrations in Mt. 23 - clean the
outside of the plate, strain out a
gnat and swallow a camel, etc.
 Personal case studies –
 The gospels are pictorial and
holistic with vivid images

Judgment methods
 Remember that people evaluate in
ways that are different from our
evaluation. We must be careful
 Dichotomists look at holistic as wis-
wasi, lacking principle and
inconsistent

Judgment methods
 Holistic - look at dichotomists as
rigid and legalistic and unfeeling
 .Mt. 7:1; I Cor. 4:3; Rom. 2:16; I

Cor. 4:4-5
 We have a tendency to remake
others in our own image. But both
parts of the brain are necessary I
Cor. 12:12-13; Ps. 133

How to handle a crisis:
Crisis Orientation
 1. Anticipates crisis
 2. Emphasizes planning
 3. Quick solution to avoid ambiguity
 4. Repeatedly follows preplanned
authoritative decisions
 5. Seeks expert advice
 6. Pessimistic

How to handle a crisis:
Non-crisis Orientation
 1. Downplays possibility of crisis
 2. Focuses on actual experience
 3. Avoid taking action; delay decisions

 4. Makes ad hoc decision on spur of
the moment from multiple options
 5. Shuns expert advice
 6. Optimistic

What is biblical?
 We must cooperate together and
try to understand each other’s
working methods.
 Jesus was often open-ended, non-
crisis in orientation
 We must have an unwavering
declarative commitment to the
gospel, and an open, questioning,
noncrisis-oriented lifestyle and
ministry: II Tim. 4:2.

What is biblical?
 Remember to be like Christ: Phil.
2:5-7; and Paul I Cor. 9:19-23.
 Be a servant & consider them
better than yourself

Tension over goals: Task
orientation vs. people orientation
 Task Orientation
 Focus - task and principles
 Satisfaction in achievement of goals
 Seeks friends with similar goals
 Accepts loneliness and social
deprivation to achieve personal
goals

Tension over goals Task
orientation vs. people orientation
 People Orientation
 Focus - people and relationships
 Satisfaction in interaction
 Seeks friends who are group
oriented
 Despises loneliness . Gives up
personal achievement to have
group interaction

Goal orientation
 Task orientation can be so busy that
tasks are simply one achievement
followed by another, and relationships
are seen only in connection with
completing work.
 Social relationships may simply be an
extension of work.
 They often prefer to work alone, and
social relationships are boring.

Goal orientation
 People orientation often use all social
occasions to build extensive networks of
relationships.
 They need the acceptance and stimulation
of the group, and expend a lot of energy
in maintaining those relationships.
 They may give up personal achievement
to achieve group goals.
 Quality of relationships is more important
than achieving task goals.

Goal orientation
 Task orientation - good for preachers,
teachers, Bible translation, administra-
tive personnel.
 Give them the chance to schedule
their own activities independently.
 They tend to be frustrated with fellow
workers and “frivolous conversation”.
 They tend to get upset by nationals
who spend long times talking, etc.

Goal orientation
 Person-oriented
 Our school system is not geared to bless
this type of individual
 In some cultures, a task oriented
missionary may not be the best for the
work
 Western culture has a dichotomy between
work and socialization . We need to
remember Phil. 2:3

People oriented goals
 Cross-cultural missionaries are to be
servants and minister God’s love to
others
 We must share lives with others: I Thess.
2:7-8
 Jesus gave priority to persons and their
needs and not to his own tasks
 Our attitude must be humble: Col. 3:12;
Ephesians 5:1-2

Tensions about self-worth
 Status focus - ascribed
 Personal identity is obtained by
position, birth, and rank
 Amount of respect is permanently
fixed; those with high status honored
despite personal failings
 Play your role; be willing to sacrifice
to achieve higher rank
 People associate with social equals

 Achievement focus - attained
 Personal identity is obtained by
one’s achievements
 Amount of respect determined by
one’s achievements or failures

 The Jewish rabbis were upset that
Jesus would associate with lower
ranks: Lk. 15:1 ff
 There is a tendency for achievers to
look down on those who achieve
less, resulting in envy and
depression

 Jesus rejects that of status: Luke
14:7-11; 12-14; 26 ff. We must be
willing to be a servant to others: Mt.
20:25-27; Phil. 2:3 ff.
 The achievers must be careful not to
despise others - like Martha
complained about Mary: Lk. 10:41-
42

 True self-worth: Rom. 3:10-12. Yet
we tend to judge others.
 Repentance does not make us
worthy, but it opens the door so
that we can get worth from God:
Rom. 3:21-24.

 Our attempts to find self-worth
separate us from each other, and
result in subjugation of the weak.
 But the gift of God’s worthiness
creates a servant attitude in us.
 .We must respect the values
assigned by the culture but not be
dominated by it: Phil. 2:5-8

Tensions concerning
vulnerability
 Conceal vulnerability
 Protection of self-image at all cost;
avoidance of error and failure
 Emphasis on quality of performance
 Reluctance to go beyond recognized
performance or enter the unknown

Tensions concerning
vulnerability
 Conceal vulnerability
 Denial of culpability;
 Withdrawal from activity to hide
weakness or shortcoming
 Refusal to see alternate views or
accept criticism
 Vagueness re personal life

Tensions concerning
vulnerability
 Expose vulnerability
 Relative unconcern over error and
failure
 Emphasis on completion of the event
 Willing to push the limits and go into
the unknown

Tensions concerning
vulnerability
 Expose vulnerability
 Ready admission of culpability,
weakness and shortcomings
 Openness to alternative views
and criticism
 Willing to talk freely about
personal life

Vulnerability
 Lk. 14:27 ff shows that we must take
account of our weaknesses. Be humble,
which eventually brings us to honor
 It is not good to cover up and not admit
mistakes. See how Paul admits that his
weakness leads to dependence on
Christ’s strength 2 Cor. 12:7-10.
 We should be willing to receive help
from others.

Vulnerability
 We should not become self-
righteous about others;
 If we focus on self-weakness we
can become casual about sin, or
critical of others
 Seek ways to show respect - like
using intermediaries.

Vulnerability
 Remember that God has chosen
the weak in this world to do His
work: I Cor. 1:27.
 Remember too that we will be
weak: I Cor. 4:10 Again
remember Phil. 2:3-4

Our task as cross-cultural
missionaries
 As missionaries, we must become
incarnate in the culture where we
are. We must become all things to
all men - accepting and working
in their culture
 We must realize that there are
problems in our own culture, and
good points in the adopted
culture.

missionaries
 We need to accept the fact that
God made us as we are, and He
will shape us to use us
 To become incarnate in another
culture does not require that we
sin - Jesus was fully incarnate as
a Jew, and yet without sin.

missionaries
 We should have a heightened
sense of morality when we see
the blind spots of our own
culture.
 We must have complete
submission to and dependence
on God Jn. 5:19

Part II – Cultural Orientation
 Culture definition - a way of
thinking, feeling, believing;
 It is a group’s knowledge stored
for future use... includes social,
economic, linguistic, etc.

Part II – Cultural Orientation
 .Culture is learned, not inherited
 .Culture is shared within a society
 .Culture is an integrated whole -
one part affects others...
 .Culture constantly changes

Culture can be broken down
into
 Technology
 Social
 Beliefs, ideology

Layers of culture
 Ideology, cosmology
 Values
 Institutions - education, marriage,
etc.
 Then artifacts, technology, etc...

Culture is vital
 One’s culture is more important
than race, nationality, and gender
in how you think, feel & act
 When you are acculturated in a
second culture, you are bicultural
 This becomes increasingly
difficult the older you are

There is also a supracultural
effect - outside the culture
 Source from God - by His spirit,
representatives, etc
 Freedom of spirit
 Light, the Word of God, the gifts of the
Spirit, etc.
 Source not from God - satan &
demonic
 .Spiritual darkness
 .Bondage

Danger from our cultural
blinders (or blunders)
 We as missionaries are usually
unaware of our cultural associations
and assume that this is the natural
(only natural) way to act, feel, etc.
 We must distinguish between our own
cultural biases which we assume are
right, and those that are scripturally
determined
 This is best acquired by both training
and experience. We need to have the
attitude of a learner...

Basic hermaneutic principles
 The Bible has supracultural
relevance
 .Categorical - cannot be changed
without losing validity
 .Principle - those characteristics of
the new life in Christ
 .It is possible to bridge the
cultural gap

Basis hermaneutic patterns -
three things about meaning
 Public meaning - within the latitudes set for
the author’s culture, language,etc
 User meaning - we attempt to find the
meaning, but not the intention of the author
 Remember that meanings are in flux
and change... Biblical repentance
meant a complete reorientation of life
and thought - not just remorse for
misdeeds.

Christ and culture
 When Adam fell, one different source came
into play, and it was possible to spoil culture
 All culture need transformation in
motivation if not in content
 God ordained culture but did not order
culture
 The gospel evaluates every culture in
terms of its own norms .

Work in the culture
 Seek to understand the culture from
the perspective of the people
 Encourage a minimal number of
critical changes rather than numerous
peripheral changes
 Seek the opinions of leaders and seek
their help
 Look for groups to work together -
people movements to Christ

Work honestly with other
beliefs
 Missionaries must be prepared to deal
with other religions not only at their
areas of weakness, inconsistencies,
and inadequacies, but also their
strengths.
 To deal honestly and sympathetically
with the best case that any form of
false belief can make, and then show
the desperate need that still remains
to be met by the true God and His
redeeming son - this is the more
excellent way.

Presenting the gospel in
another culture
 Many terms must be redefined totally
 We must be careful to give a complete
message. We must give enough OT
and NT background to put the text into
context so that it can be understood.
 Also it is very effective to answer
questions that are posed by other
religions but not answered.
 Look for redemptive analogies, eye-
openers, and points of contact

Messages are decoded
through 7 grids:
 Worldview - rarely evaluated - we must
encode messages with the other
worldview in mind
 Cognitive processes , or the way of
thinking - for example, does divine
truth come through subjective
experience or objective revelation?
 Linguistic forms - and remember that
the language reflects what the culture
sees as important

Messages are decoded
through 7 grids:
 Behavioral patterns - usually learned
informally as how one “ought to act”.
Most actions are OK for the Christian,
but some we have to stop...
 Social structures - the ways of
interacting.
 Media influence - the way of
channeling the message.
 Motivational resources - how people
make decisions.

In presenting the gospel
 Be very careful - some foreign
audiences may be enculturated to
give approval outwardly while
inwardly rejecting the message
 Decision making - there are two
aspects of grace - unmerited
provision and grateful reception ...

In presenting the gospel
 Make certain that they accept Christ,
not the missionary, or a better life,
etc.
 It is the Holy Spirit’s job ultimately
 The work of the missionary is to
communicate Christ so effectively that
the person has the opportunity to
accept or reject Christ, and that he
has relied on the Holy Spirit - II Cor.
2:15-17

When we present the gospel
 Some reformulation will occur in decoding. Our
job is to minimize this
 Syncretism - this is a particular danger in
a polytheistic society - add to the list of
gods.
 We must be careful to communicate the
uniqueness of Christ

When we present the gospel
 Sometimes there is a protracted
decision - it may be rejection, but
not necessarily. Jesus told them to
count the cost. There is a difference
from procrastination
 There may be symbiotic resignation
- it is not for me, but those under me
can decide for themselves

Our worldview is important!
 Some problems with western
worldview as seen by third world
believers
 Too rationalistic and preoccupied
with intellectual concerns of faith &
reason
 Molded by western philosophies
 Conformed to the secularist
worldview of the enlightenment
 Captivated by Western individualism

A perspective on Worldview

 Worldview = culturally structured
assumptions, values and
commitments underlying a
people’s perception of reality,
and response to their
perceptions.

Worldview - Culturally
structured….
 Assumptions
 Not reasoned, but assumed without proof
 Provides a lens through which reality is
perceived and interpreted
 Differences arising from different world
views are most difficult to deal with. This
makes conversion difficult, because
Christianity works at the world view
depth.
 People following their world-view
guidelines, function cognitively,
affectively, and evaluatively

Functions of a world view
 Structuring deep underlying personal
characteristics - the use of our wills,
emotions, logic & reason - we use
linear reasoning in the west, but
others use more concrete situational
reasoning...
 Patterning the assignment of meaning
 Evaluating - judgments about good &
immoral, esthetics, economics, human
character

Functions of a worldview
 How people respond to assigned
meanings
 .Explaining
 .Pledging allegiance
 .Relating - both the ‘in-group” and to
the outsider
 We pattern how to regulate
things, get psychological
reinforcement, and have
consistency in life.

Universals of any worldview
 There is a system of classification
 The nature of persons & a group are
defined
 Causality - what forces are at work in the
universe, and their results
 Time (many are more event-oriented)
 Space and what to do in it
 Relationships with the components of the
worldview & culture

Worldview and cultural
change
 When changes occur at a deep
level, there is often disequilibrium
in the culture, and unforseen
changes!

Monocultural worldview
 Ethnocentric - my way is the way
 .Absolutist
 .My perception of reality is true
reality
 .My view is superior

Monocultural worldview
 No respect for others ways
 Evaluates other’s customs from their
own culturally learned perspective and
world view
 Eclectic monocultural position - take
the best from other cultures, but still
one culture
 Reactionary monocultural position -
they reject their own culture, running
to another culture

Cross-cultural perspective
 Believing that there is a God and a
REALITY beyond our reality
 There is right and wrong in every
culture
 No culture provides all the answers to
life’s problems
 All cultures are deeply affected by sin
 Sociocultural adequacy - respect the
culture - different from absolute
relativism

Cross-cultural perspective
 All cultures are somewhat unbalanced
 west - very technological
 others - better in interpersonal
relationships
 There are many equally effective
approaches to solving most of life’s
problems
 All languages can communicate in all
human communication

Evaluating cultures
 You must evaluate the culture
understanding it from the inside
 The prophet is the insider, not an
outsider
 Outsiders must show love and
patience

Evaluating cultures
 There is a crucial difference
between rights and privileges of a
cultural insider and an outsider.
 Whatever judgments are made
are made concerning parts or
aspects of the culture, and not
the culture as a whole

Evaluating cultures
 The one who evaluates cultural
behavior should do so using
trans-cultural principles
 Human well-being - effective
strategies for dealing with the
challenges of life
 God’s intent - is also for the well-
being of His creatures

Evaluating cultures
 Only God is absolute - He does not
require everyone to have absolutely the
same manner of life.
 Relativity in the endowment & oppor-
tunities of people - talents, etc. For to
whoever much is given, of him shall much
be required. Lk. 12:48
 Relativity in terms of revelation Rom. 2:14
 Relativity in cultural patterns

God, Culture, and Human
Beings
 God is above culture but works
through all cultures.
 He, angels and demons are
supra-cultural;
 Angels & demons are
nonabsolute but supracultural .

Beings
 Human beings are now sinful and
limited - and interact with cultural
structures
 God communicates to humans via
human communicational vehicles
- speaking, dreams, visions, etc.

Beings
 God ordinarily uses cultural structures in
normal ways.
 However, He provides supernatural
trustworthy leading including inspiration
and revelation
 None of the Scriptures are written from a
western cultural perspective, and it is
helpful for westerners to probe the intent
of those biblical people and writers

Worldview of naturalism
 It may be atheism, secularism,
scientism, humanism, egotheism,
or communism
 The supernatural is dismissed as
irrelevant
 Nature - can be viewed as either
hospitable, or not.

Naturalism
 Human nature variably seen
 .Some as random collection of atoms
 .Some as inherently good
 .Some as restricted by the few
 .Communists say that the proletariat will
arise out of the party, but so far the party
has remained boss
 Time - they seem to have endless
time. But lots of time does nothing as
far as meaning is concerned...

Naturalism
 Approach - often the missionary is at
a handicap as lacking in philosophy
and science
 .Show that many naturalistic systems are
in conflict with each other
 .Be careful not to go beyond your
expertise
 .Definitions are important - they usually
do not understand theological terms

Naturalism
 Where will he go to find “true truth”
 .Science is too subscribed - borders
are materialistic
 .Philosophy - difficult
 .Religion - then which religion is true
 Be sympathetic with the problems
they face

Tribal worldview - polytheistic
animism
 .Man participates in maintaining the
system - not dominating it
 .The universe is moral and personal
because nature is personal
 .Probably 40% of the world have this
view, though nominally they may be
part of a religious system

Tribal worldview - polytheistic
animism
 It is anthropomorphic although
concerned with gods, spirits, etc.
 Boundaries between spirits, animals
and man are shifting and the
distinction between self and
surroundings are blurred so that you
are one with nature

Here is a typical worldview of
African animism
 God - the supreme being, originator
& sustainer of man
 Spirits - involved in the destiny of
man
 Man
 Plants and animals - part of
environment, living
 Other non-living things

Animism
 Concept of time - just past and
present. No concept of future,
but going back into the past again
 Ancestor worship - really
fellowship with the departed - but
also fear that if not placated, they
will retaliate

Animism - Summary:
 Supernatural deities and spirit
beings of all kinds, good & evil,
capricious but can be cajoled
especially by special persons
with secret knowledge
 Nature is animate, and has its
own power - and has influence on
man’s physical, moral, and
spiritual environment

Animism - Summary:
 Mankind is in nature, and not above
it, and we are somehow dependent
on those who stay behind to care
for us in the spirit world
 Time - past is more important than
future

Approach to Animistic
Cultures
 Missionary source - people want
to know who they are, what they
know, and what they do.
 Often they prefer a power
encounter to a truth encounter.
 We need to be secure in our
resources over satanic power

Cultures
 Content
 Define who the true living God is!
 Selection - God is creator, He
has been patient, He supplies the
good
 Work with narrative style
 Show how God has power over all
evil spirits

Cultures
 Application - put it directly
against the false portions of the
worldview - Example of Paul at
Athens
 Style - Christ and Him crucified -
not sophism and exhibitionism,
but with Spirit and power

Hindu-Buddhist world view:
 .Basis ideas:
 Karma - binds humanity to the
universe
 Maya - experienced kosmos is illusion
 Absolute being lies behind the world of
experience - atman (the self or soul),
the Brahman (absolute objectively
understood), or nirvana (highest good,
peace, void, bliss
 Technique for gaining liberation =

Puja – worship Woman
sewing clothes for idol

Folk Hinduism makes even
human offerings
 Children were thrown into the Ganges
River as an offering
 Other locations, babies were killed
previously in Suriname
 Sometimes children have been
dedicated to the gods

 Vedanta - the Upanishads are shruti -
what is heard, and smriti - that which
is remembered - gradually developed
from polytheism to monism.
 There is a sort of trinity - Braham,
Vishnu, and Shiva - all expressions
of impersonal Brahman

 All reality comes from Brahman and
returns to him.
 Atman in the person is really equal
to Brahman. The Indian greeting
salutes the divine within each
person

 How to come out of karma and be liberated
(moksha) from rebirths? Works, wisdom, and
devotion.
 Only Brahman exists - the illusion results in
thousands of gods.
 Ramanuja taught that there is some sort of
personality – release through Vishnu, who
manifests himself through avatars like
Krishna

Buddhism has a lot of
variations
 Replaced brahman with nirvana,
atman with anatta
 Hinayana - strict austerity and
literal interpretation of Gautama
 Mahayana - more freedom

variations
 Karma is still present, and
reincarnation
 Nothing has permanent existence
 Buddha looked at himself as the
greatest divine teacher
 Later there are other bohisattvas
(savior beings)

variations
 Behind everything is an
impersonal monism, the world of
experience is ephemeral, and the
person’s gaze must be turned
internal
 Everything comes out of Brahman
- gods, nature, etc. There is no
real personality as such

variations
 Time is cyclical - an endless
series of existences.
 It is almost impossible to live out
this type of belief except in
monasteries & retreats.

Reaching Buddhists
 Missionary source - we must not only
be people of goodwill, but also
integrity and credibility.
 They expect you will know your faith
and there’s.
 They will also expect to see some
marks of austerity in our lifestyle
 Message - be careful to define
carefully. Don’t build on a monist
foundation.

Reaching Hindus & Buddhists
 The creation must be distinguished from
sheer materialism of the west and the
illusion of the east
 Man must be created in the image of God -
not souls in bodies, but whole persons,
 The basic problem of mankind is rebellion
against God, not ignorance

Warnings…
 Be careful – Hindus & Buddhists will
accept Christ as another atavar or
bodhisattva. He is a real person in
history
 You may encounter a problem with the law
of non-contradiction, but they must begin
to see that true truth is non-contradictory ,
which is narrow, not broad
 .Remember - don’t offer religion. Offer
Christ. Keep a spiritual emphasis

Chinese thought
 Tao - force in the universe, broken into
Yang & Yin - positive and negative,
etc. Everything is one or the other.
 The universe swarms with spirits -
good (shen) and evil (kwei) Therefore
don’t disturb them - feng-shui.
 So also a man can be full of yang and
do good for the entire community .

Chinese thought
 .Lao-tzu - emphasized the tao.
 There are 3 different major things,
the way to heaven, the way of the
gods, and the way of man.
 The main thing is to embrace tao
and not impose your will on
anything. That is to be eternal

Chinese thought
 Confucius emphasized family
relationships. His main thoughts
were written by disciples in the
Analects.
 He believed that we should
concentrate on the practical and not
the supernatural, but that everything
would work out to develop the right
sort of person.
.

Analects of Confucius
 Often very condensed sayings,
conversations,
 His disciples later codified and
organized his thoughts
 Rites were very important
 People need to know their place and
role in society -

Confucianism and the roles of
people
 While juniors are considered in Confucianism
to owe strong duties of reverence and service
to their seniors, seniors also have duties of
benevolence and concern toward juniors. This
theme consistently manifests itself in many
aspects of East Asian culture even to this day,
with extensive filial duties on the part of
children toward parents and elders, and great
concern of parents toward their children.

Ruler and those ruled
 If the ruler lacks rén, Confucianism holds, it
will be difficult if not impossible for his
subjects to behave humanely. Rén is the
basis of Confucian political theory: it
presupposes an autocratic ruler, exhorted to
refrain from acting inhumanely towards his
subjects. An inhumane ruler runs the risk of
losing the "Mandate of Heaven", the right to
rule.

Chinese thought
 Each person needs to find Tao for
himself - right action, that keeps
things in harmony. Persons are
intrinsically good.
 Lao-tse said that the good is in
nature, but Confucius said to stay in
family relationships.

Lau viewed as a god; Taoist
priest

Addition of Buddhism to
Chinese thought
 A multitude of gods are added.
Shang Ti (God far removed) is
there, but Ti’en (heaven) and Tao
are more important
 Nature is Tao working through yang
& yin.
 Harmonizing these is important –
resulting in a good earth

Addition of Buddhism to
Chinese thought
 People are good, and can be kept
good by education and Tao.
 Keep in your station.
 Filial worship is important - the spirit
outlives the body
 Time - look back, where the
ancestral spirits join the Golden Age
of China. We should still plan foe
today and the future

Differences between India &
China
 India - negates the world.
 China affirms the world. People and
nature have the center stage.
 India venerates the saint; China the
sage - wise and practical, the sage
within and the king without (the spirit
fit for a king)
 China is pantheistic, but discovering a
tao which is the Supreme Spirit and
the Tao or inner law of the universe.

This amulet contains the
powder of a chosen baby who
died (amulet enlarged greatly)

Communistic changes to
Chinese thought
 Replace history with the future
 Replace tao with dialectic
materialism
 Change yin and yang into thesis
and antithesis
 Affirm humanity and the world

Communicating Christ in
China
 Missionary source- integrity and
goodwill important, but creditability is
vital.
 They feel that we offer much in science
but not in religion
 Represent Christ, not western culture
 You must really knows Christ and the
Bible
 .You must appear knowledgeable in
religious matters

Thoughts to approach
Chinese
 The Bible is a holy book of history.
 We had a golden age in Eden, but it
stopped when man was in rebellion
against God.
 Christ is the one who said: A am the
tao, and He is that perfect superior
man
 Filial piety can be helpful but also
enslaving

Monotheistic - Jewish & Muslim
 Worldview - an infinite-personal God
created the universe out of nothing
 Cause and effect are open-ended.
Universe does not exist apart from
God

Monotheistic - Jewish & Muslim
 The Jew believes that God made
man in His own image, so man can
work in the cause-and-effect
universe
 God has spoken in the space-time
situation - the Bible and Christ
 The universe we have now is not
normal, and there is a possible
solution on God’s side

Mohammad rebelled against
the polytheism around him
 Allah is one, eternal, mighty,
forgiving, compassionate, all-
knowing but indifferently assigns
people to heaven or hell
 .Allah of the Qu’ran is basically
unknowable
 The Muslim thinks of the trinity of
the Christian as God the Father,
Mary the mother, and Jesus

The mosque of the Prophet –
second most holy place

Mohammad rebelled against
the polytheism around him
 Muslims think that Jesus was talking about
Muhammed himself when he talked about
the coming comforter. This is the Holy Spirit
who will live in you.
 Angels exist and countless jinn exist
between man and angels - good & evil, who
must do Allah’s bidding
 There is inconsistency - man must abandon
idols, but he is weak and helpless
 There is fatalism, but no loving God

Witness to Muslims
 We must appear as persons of
goodwill.
 The problem is that we don’t meet as
strangers or friends –
 We must win with Christ-like qualities
 .Definitions
 .Sin - so radical it takes the death of
Christ
 .God is holy and self-giving
 .Trinity clarified

Witness to Muslims
 We should work like Matthew, showing the
history and miracles of Christ. It was only
then that the disciples saw that He was the
Christ
 Remember that 4 of the 6 muslim prophets
= Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses
 Organization and application of muslims is
often like Christian missionaries
 Debate can sometimes be of help, but
never lose your temper or show arrogance

Syncretic religions
 Hinduism often will incorporate other
religions within itself
 Roman Catholicism - may leave God
far away, and worship the Virgin and
the Saints (ancestral spirits...)
 Japan - many are both Shintoist
(national life) and Buddhist
(intellectual pursuits, etc)
 Chinese may have 3 different forms of
religion simultaneously -
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism

How to present Christ
 There is a difference in both worldview
but also in thinking processes between
the west and east as to which is
primary:
 West - conceptual, relational, psychical
 China - concrete relational, psychical,
conceptual
 Indian, - psychical, concrete relational,
conceptual

How we think
 We have a tendency to
intellectualize the Bible into our
western organized thought
 Northrup - east thinks more
aesthetically, west theoretically
and then checks a priori to see if it
corresponds to reality.

Paul’s thinking
 Paul shows that it is not that man
could not have authored the Bible,
but that he would not have done so,
because the gospel is foolishness to
man- but it is the wisdom of God and
the power of God.

Paul’s thinking
 But the Greek shows that the force
of arguments rested on logical
validity and historical fact.
 You must have solid thinking and
persuasion.
 We need to do our homework to
communicate, but also depend on
the Holy Spirit

Intuitional thinking
 Two forms of knowledge - higher
= Brahman.
 Reason does not invade with
logic, theories, doctrine,
explanations, or sensory
experience
 Lower - math, science, theology,
philosophy - all have relative
truth

Intuitional thinking
 Mystical experience
 Unity with the universe
 Deeper understanding of his own
personality
 Yoga, psychoanalysis, drugs
 Personal god - coming one with him,
but he is really impersonal: Krishna is
Ultimate reality and Arjuna bows in
devotion

Mystical or intuitional thinking
 Stress on the universal
 Preference for negative
 Minimizing individuals
 Emphasis on unity of all things
 Static quality of universality
 Subjective idea of personality

Mystical or intuitional thinking
 Supremacy of universal self over
individual self
 Subservience to universals
 Alienation to the objective world
 Introspective stance
 Metaphysical qualities
 Tolerance

Sometimes we are not totally
logical-rational too
 Eastern philosophy thinks that know-
ledge is transient and illusionary
 Christians should be able to under-
stand
 .Sometimes we jump logical gaps
 .Revelation sometimes comes by inner
illumination
 Knowledge comes from Jesus Christ
through the Holy Spirit

Remember also here
 We are now surrounded by this type
of thinking, acceptable in the USA
 We see this particularly in the
emerging church and also post-
modernism
 We see pseudo-Christianity with
facts about God without making it
personal through repentance and
faith in Christ

What we must do

 Avoid over-intellectualizing.
Christ is the way
 .Avoid oversimplifying with just
few premises and conclusions
 Communicate the mystery of knowing
God and the awe of approaching Him

We must take seriously the
biblical doctrine of illumination
 The Father reveals truth: Mt. 16:
[16] And Simon Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God.[17] And
Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath
not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.

 The Son reveals the Father
Matthew 11:[27] All things are
delivered unto me of my Father:
and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father; neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him.

 The Spirit leads us into all truth &
The Spirit bears witness with our
spirit: Jn. 16:[13] Howbeit when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all truth: for he shall
not speak of himself; but whatsoever
he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.

Approaching the eastern mind
 Christian truth is different from
the Hindu mystic’s idea of the
human mind,
 The mind is God’s creation, not
His emanation.

 The human mind is at enmity with God
Colossians 1:[21] And you, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled[22] In the body of
his flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in his sight.

Come to Jesus personally
 Matthew 11:28. Come on to be,
all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.
29. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest for your souls. 30. For my
yoke is easy; and my burden is
light.

 God works in real history and
through history
 The truth of God is understood in
the OT and NT in their historic and
grammatical senses.
 God’s word is more reliable than the
self-deception of intuition.
 We approach the Bible like any
other book, but aided by the Holy
Spirit

Concrete relational thinking
 Use myths, aphorisms, fables,
analogies, tribal lore
 Chinese & Japanese - uses the
concrete to occasion intuitional
apprehension.
 The rational or theoretical is all
but omitted

Approaches to concrete
relational thinking
 Remember the historical context - and
it is accurate history, as opposed to
the mythological or visionary system of
most religions. Tell the events.
 The bible uses truth communicated
through concrete illustrations,
parables, etc. Think of Nathan and
David.
 Remember that the Word became flesh

relational thinking
 Be able to distinguish and use types,
metaphors, similes, symbols, and
emblems.
 But be able to communicate them as
well
 .Baptism and communion were

concrete and simple

relational thinking
 Be careful of idolatry
 Places of worship must be clean
and orderly - they do not have to
be ornate
 Drama can be used as well as
illustrations and pictures

Conclusion:
 All people use all 3 methods of reality
 .Indian - to go back to Eden and direct

communion with God
 .Chinese - finding God in nature - but

confusing the two
 .Western - believing too much in the

rational mind
 .Each group has a priority order - we need
to look at how to present things
appropriately

Now let’s look at other aspects
to help us evangelize better
 #1 – Language
 The power of language is present in
all humans - separating them from
animals.
 Adam showed his superiority in
naming all the animals
 Any language can be used to convey
God’s truth

Now let’s look at other aspects
to help us evangelize better

 Less than 50% of people can write,
but all have fully developed language
to speak
 You need a complete set of linguistic
habits
 Every language has a complete
system which correlates with their
understand-ing of the world

Language
 Language word meanings are
assigned by the culture, and are
both individual and social in
character
 Language is the means by which
we acquire a world-view

Language
 You can also evaluate a
connotive meaning (emotional
response), depending on
 .Evaluation - good or bad
 .Activity - active or passive
 .Potency - strong or weak

Language shapes our thinking
 It is a fault to say that logic goes
before language
 Linguistic patterns themselves
determine how a man perceives his
world and thinks about it
 Linguistic patterns vary widely and
result in different worldviews
 Language shapes our ideas, and not
merely expresses them

Language shapes our thinking
 However, others point out that
this is superficial, and that there
is a basic universal logic
 But the ultimate factor in recep-
tivity is whether the Holy Spirit
has been allowed to prepare the
people.

Our behavior communicates
 What we say and how we say it are
both important. What we do is also
important.
 All behavior is potentially
communicative
 .Meaning is more difficult to pin down.
 Also there is informational content and
relational content - and about 35%
verbal, and 65% is non-verbal

Our behavior communicates
 .Missionary
 .Behave according to God’s
standards of scripture
 .Accommodate to the behavioral
patterns that are acceptable in the
respondent culture
 .Distinguish between supracultural
and cultural norms

How we behave…
 People must see Christ in our lives -
as they did in the early church
 Our response to strange behavioral
patterns tends to be automatic and
reflexive, centering on the emotions
and the subconscious

How we behave…
 Physical appearance - try not to be
offensive in style, hair, etc...
 Body gestures are important - some
are instinctive, but many are learned
 How we position things is important -
priorities, interaction, etc.
Americans love “their space” which
is usually about 3 or more feet
around us. This is very different in
many other countries

Behavior
 Be careful not to insist too much
on privacy.
 True missionary evangelism is
more than delivering the facts of
Christ - it is living out the
implications of these in everyday
life.

When there are things which
the missionary cannot do
 Avoid the situations which bring
them up
 Seek culturally approved
alternatives
 Explain beforehand why you
cannot participate

Ways of perceiving time
 Time seen differently
 West - time is linear, going and gone,
time to accomplish things. Symbol
hourglass
 East - time is cyclical - symbol wheel
 Other ideas of time:
 .Chinese - great value on past
 .African - long past, short future
 .Youth in USA - nownow

Time concepts…
 Remember that the way time is divided is
cultural - you may not agree, but you must
understand it
 Religious time may not be business time
 People are more important than
schedules
 The quality of the event is more important
than the starting and closing time

Social structure
 Western society puts great emphasis
on individual and individual freedom
 we tend to ignore the rights of
society
 Linguistically “I” is used in every
situation
 Often introduce with first name

Social structure
 Japanese - promote the ends of
the larger group
 Shows in how they are introduced

Social structure
 Remember - we are each made in
the image of God, but God said
that it is not good for man to be
left alone. Society is important
 Status - what position one holds;
 Role - how to act that out

What is the status of the
missionary?
 Paul at Athens was a foreigner
 .We are a foreigner - Sir, we
would see Jesus...
 .We are a guest
 .We are experts in religion

What contacts help us?
 USA may put a reformed drug addict or
so and get an audience
 .Our society is unusally open

 .The church is not built on that

person, but is already in existence
 There are exceptions, like Ko Tha Byu,
converted criminal of Judson working
among the Karens = but he ministered
to his people, not those who despised
him

What contacts help us?
 Prestige influence - are formal
leaders
 Personal influence - opinion leaders
-
 If either are gifted in speaking, it is
very helpful

Working through families is a
very effective way to go
 Societies vary as to the importance of
the family - extremely important to the
Chinese, to not so important in the
USA
 Kindred - directly related through both
parents, has a direct obligation.
 Lineage - ancestor-focused - usually
paternal or maternal, not both - many
countries

Non-kinship groups
 Some were households where the
leader had lots of say - so whole
families were baptized,
 Some are associations of common
interest - economic, recreational, etc.
 Vertical communications are often
difficult - particularly going from lower
class to higher class.

Non-kinship groups
 Higher class to lower has prestige,
but may not have much impact in
terms of persuasiveness, which is
most effective within the same class
 In Japan, using the local associations
can be very effective

Cities versus peasant and
tribal societies
 Rural - more homogenous,
traditional in values and lifestyle,
resistant to change, often
negative to outsiders.
 Not a big range of leadership,
and kinship predominates
 .Decisions are often group decisions
 Time taken before decisions made

Cities versus peasant and
tribal societies
 Effective communication based on
personal relationships
 .Initial approach to those who can pass
on information in the family grouping
 .Time allowed for internal diffusion of
new ideas
 The challenge of change must be
addressed to those capable of
initiating the change.

Totalitarianism
 Its nature is to control direction
and content of communication
 The Roman Catholic church is
totalitarian by design and so is
communism

Totalitarianism Some things to
remember
 .God wants all people to have the
opportunity to hear the gospel
and be saved
 .Government authority is ordained
by God and to be obeyed, even if
they do not recognize God
 But we are to obey God more
than man

Totalitarianism
 Primary responsibility to communicate
Christ is to the Christians in that society
 Mission agencies have a responsibility to
encourage and strengthen the witness of
Christians, and avoid activities which
would make it more difficult for them to
function
 Pray for the day that totalitarian societies
will be open to the Word

Thoughts about
communication
 The more closely communication
follows the prevailing social structure,
the more effective it will be
 People communicate more & more
effectively with people of their own
class
 Interpersonal horizontal
communication is most effective in
voluntary changes in attitude and
behavior

Thoughts about
communication
 Prestigious communication is from
the upper to lower classes
 Prestigious vertical communication
is best suited to effecting social
control

Thoughts about
communication
 The farther apart on the social
scale, the more difficulty in
communicating
 The farther apart on the social
system (city, rural, tribal) the more
difficulty communicating
 The more face-to-face, the more
difficult for an outsider to
communicate

Thoughts about
communication
 Try to communicate to responsible
members of the society to spread
the word
 The more heterogeneous the
society, the more varied the
communication must be

Thoughts about
communication
 In face-to-face societies, try to work
with someone in a leadership
position who can make decisions for
the group.
 In face-to-face societies, it is more
likely that communications will go
by family lines, and be group
decisions
 In face-to-face societies, you must
be willing to spend more time

Use of media to communicate
 All media are extensions of the person -
physical or psychic
 .Each of the media has its own impact,
vibrancy, and social consequences.
 We need to be careful of the media’s
impact on our lives and values
 Simple media are often very effective -
especially where people think concretely
 Remember our authority is from God,
Jesus Christ, and His Spirit-inspired
Word

Media & communication
 We need to be careful of the effects,
associations, and effectiveness of the
message and media.
 Books have more permanent effects
 TV may be more persuasive
 The use - for example is TV entertain-
ment or propaganda?
 Mass media has relatively little effect
on long held opinions, etc. Better face
to face or family influence

Media thoughts…
 Books, and especially the Bible - are
important.
 They should be attractive and well-
indexed or illustrated if possible.
 Tracts need to be attractive and speak
to needs - otherwise they are seldom
read

Media thoughts…
 Radio - economic, easy to listen to,
gives good retention - but often little
re-exposure
 TV - both eye and ear - but more
expensive, must be done carefully

Platform media
 Evangelists - follow-up is very
important
 Films - often the response is
deceptive.
 Also some illiterate people have
difficulty following the film

Communicatie methoden
 Group dialogue - cell groups - can
bring rapid growth.
 Radio cassettes can be very effective
if properly used - gospel recordings
 Video cassettes or DVD - different
from TV - can be very effective in pre-
evangelism, evangelism, etc.
 Slides can be effective, especially for
teaching

Mixed media:
 Choose media based on the objectives
desired:
 .Exposure
 .Attention
 .Comprehension
 .Retention

Mixed media:
 Choose on the basis of audience
preferences
 .Low speed, low transmission -

better for instruction
 .High speed, high transmission -

persuasion & reporting
 Look at reach, frequency, and cost

Media…
 Telephone can be used
 Computers have not been used
that much yet in the developing
world, but this will radically
change in the days to come
 .Direct mailing can be used
selectively

Media…
 People are important, not only
the respondents, but those who
reinforce the message
 Mass media is a supportive role,
but not usually a decisive role,
where personal contact is
necessary

We have the TRUTH, and we have
the responsibility to communicate it
 The Bible calls us to bring people
to faith and repentance
 The Holy Spirit can use us as His
instruments

We have the TRUTH, and we have
the Holy Spirit
 Only the Holy Spirit can convict
that the sin that sends us to hell
is failure to trust Christ
 Only the Holy Spirit convicts us
that the perfect righteousness is
in Christ.
 .Only the Holy Spirit can convict
that Satan and his evil spirits are
already defeated at the cross of
Christ

We are engaged in a great
truth and power encounter..
 The triune God is involved in
missions, and
 .He can do everything
 .Without Him we can do nothing
 .Mankind is helbent with self-
destruction

We are engaged in a great
truth and power encounter..
 The missionary is the servant of
God, and he can depend on
God’s help to make his pleadings,
reasoning, etc. effective
 People are still in the image of
God in their reasoning,
conscience, aspirations, striving,
hopes, fears,

What about psychology – see
basic problems
 Modern psychology based on the
following:
 Naturalism
 Determinism
 Mankind is intrinsically good

Psychology and the
Christian
 There must be no conflict with the
Word of God
 The treatment must be consistent
with the divine purposes and aims
 The treatment must be subject to
biblical principles and the
direction of the Spirit of God

Guilt vs. Shame
 Guilt - concerned with separate acts
violating rules or codes;
 Advance to health means removing
wrong acts & adding right ones;
 Emphasis on decision making;
 Emphasis on content of experience
in work, leisure, personal relations.
 Surmount guilt brings righteousness

Guilt vs. Shame
 Shame - concerned with the overall self;
 Shame is falling short and failing to
reach an ideal;
 Total response involving insight;
 Ability to live with some indecisiveness
(multiple possibilities),
 Emphasis on the quality of experience;
 Transcending shame brings identity and
freedom

Repressive vs. Suppressive
 Repressive (USA & Germany) –
 Internal controls important,
 Individual centered life,
 Search for individual soul,
 Stress one religion and monotheism

Repressive vs. Suppressive
 Suppressive (China & Japan)
 External controls important;
 Pattern of life is situation
centered;
 Religion adjusting to all powers –
polytheism

We need to be careful about our
appeals for salvation and sanctification
 Western - appeal to the
individual, even to stand against
persecution
 But non-western ideal may be to
also consider the family, which is
also very important

Remember…
 When we talk about self-supporting,
self-governing and self-propagating -
look out that we do not put “myself” in
the center, but Christ must be central!
 Individualism can be good - but Christ-
centered, not Western.
 The scripture emphasizes both self-
interest and self-abnegation,
individualism and communalism.
 The problem is one of emphasis

Remember….
 You can appeal to shame as well as
guilt - both are guilty before God.
 Shame culture - the problem is that
you get caught - but you are still
guilty
 We should deliver the message of
God in such a way to concentrate on
glorifying God, and not the
messenger.

Decision making
 Some cultures will feel that it is an
advantage to keep your options open
as long as possible, and change them
if necessary with the circumstances
 It is important to understand how
decisions are made in a society, and
who has the power to make them.

Stages in the conversion
process:
 Discovery: There is a person called Christ
who is the true God. He came into the world
to be the Savior and Lord of mankind
 Deliberation: There is a possibility that I (we)
should forsake the old ways and follow
Christ
 Determination: I (we) will repent and believe
in Christ. The next 48 hours are decisive,
and the individual needs support!

Stages in the conversion
process:
 Dissonance: Shall we (I) resist the
forces that draw us back to the old
ways, and follow Christ despite
difficulties?
 Discipline: I will identify with the
people of Christ in the church and live
in submission to His Lordship and
church discipline. This is absolutely
vital.

Remember
 There is a tendency to weigh as
such: Profit = reward - cost
 This is not necessarily wrong.
We need to minister to the whole
person while emphasizing his
soul
 People are persuaded by their
reasons, not ours...

Critical contextualization
 Some deny the old - reject
contextualization
 This leaves a cultural vacuum –
 Often filled with western culture
although then Christianity is seen as
a foreign religion
 Often this results in a syncretic
mixture of paganism & Christianity

 Be careful not to turn missionaries
into church leaders, and deny church
leaders the right to make decisions
 The problem is that many things are
associated with heathen religious
rites, since these are virtually all
pervasive

Uncritical contextualization
 This overlooks that there are
corporate as well as individual
sins like slavery & idolatry
 It opens the door to all types of
syncretism – neo-paganism
 By the way, that is what we see
with “post-modernism”

 Examine the beliefs in terms of their
old culture and in light of biblical
norms
 First try to understand the old ways
 Then study biblically the situations
 Evaluate customs critically in terms of
the bible
 We need to continually re-evaluate
and also pass them on to our children

Theological background for
critical contextualization
 Priesthood of all believers
 The Bible must have first place
 The faithful are lead by the Holy
Spirit
 The church as a discerning
community

The fourth self – a challenge
 Self-propagating, self-supporting,
self-governing churches - unity of
world-wide churches
 Self-propagating - they must be
taught. Otherwise they see
propagation as the responsibility of
the missionary

The fourth self – a challenge
 Self-support. The problem is that
the missionary started the program
with foreign funds, and that
sometimes national churches were
unable to continue that without
outside help
 Self-governing - give them the
right to make mistakes and learn
from them

Self-theologizing
 Consider especially with national
leaders after 3-4 generations
 The bible is the historical
document of God’s revelation to
humans
 Theology is systematic and
historical explication of the truths
of the Bible.

Self-theologizing
 But theology may be culturally
based to a certain extent;
 We are sinners, and can reject
hard sayings
 Our language also shapes our
theology

What we need:
 Clear exegesis - study the biblical
texts in their historical and
cultural context
 A clear exegesis of our own
cultural and historical contexts -
the needs of our own culture
 A good hermeneutic - making
things culturally relevant today

How to begin
 Start with the Bible, not our theology,
and the willingness to change if we
see that we are clearly wrong
 The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit
guiding into truth.
 Be humble!
 .The Christian community has a
responsibility to preserve truth

Develop theology within the
culture
 We don’t need to be afraid - this
will ultimately give more
confidence
 We need to apply the findings to
our everyday life
 Think long-term so that the
church does not drift - 50 or 100
years

Functions of theology
 Organize and make sense of our
experiences
 Maps for guiding our behavior
 It makes explicit theologic ideas which
we have
 It is apologetic so that we can make
ourselves clear to non-believers
 It is a model of reality to counteract
heresy

Steps to contextualization
 First - the missionary tries to make
things relevant - but we have a bias of
our own cultural assumptions &
theologies. We also want to develop
a rational organized system of thought
 But later every church must face the
issue of making the theology in view
of its own culture

Steps to contextualization

 .The missionary must truly understand
the culture, but later insist that they
hear the voice of God through the
scriptures, and encourage national
theologians.
 Every generation must come to grips
with the truth itself.
 If you don’t allow them to develop,
they will often go off and start their
own denomination...

Trans-cultural theology
 It must be Biblically based. Its
deepest concerns must be sin,
salvation, and God’s rule over His
people
 Outsiders can see the cultural bias of
your theology more clearly - we need
to listen to each other
 It must focus on God’s acts in history,
and especially on Christ
 It must be done through the Holy Spirit
and with humility

Initially missionary is spiritual
parent
 Relationship of dependency
 Then the person becomes
independent
 Then it is possible to become
interdependent as equals

Initially missionary is spiritual
parent
 Missionaries can leave, but they
can also serve as catalysts and
counselors.
 They must refrain from giving
answers, but seek the various
options and advantages and
disadvantages, but the national
leaders should make the
decisions.

The missionary and the national
Christian: members of a family
 We must not become policemen but
help the nationals enforce rules for
purity
 We must model forgiveness and
redemption
 We must be careful of what sins we
emphasize - and see what the
culture also emphasizes

The missionary and the national
Christian: members of a family
 We need to model confession and
forgiveness; otherwise we put a
barrier between ourselves and the
nationals
 See ourselves as saved sinners I
Tim. 1:15 (I am, not I was)

06 cultural anthropology

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06 cultural anthropology