A Missiology of Western Culture

By -
First, some definitions:
1. Missiology -- The study of Christian missions; an area of practical theology that investigates the work of Christian missions.

2. Western Culture -- The societies, nations and peoples of the Western World (primarily Europe and North America), birthplace of the Enlightenment, imperialism and industrialization, and now heirs to the major cultural shifts caused by these .

Admit it. When you think of a missionary, what image or thought first pops into your mind? Do you picture a person who travels to a faraway, foreign place to teach people about Jesus?

Okay, so what kind of work do these kinds of missionaries have to do? First, they have to learn the language and figure out some things about the culture. Right? For example, in some cultures it is considered extremely rude to cross your legs in a way that allows someone to see the bottom of your shoe. In other cultures, it is rude to visibly use a toothpick. In other cultures, you should burp if you enjoy the food. If you want people to listen to you, it is crucial to learn some of the cultural norms so you don't offend people. This requires time, research, observation. You have to ask lots of questions and listen to insiders.

Then, as you figure out the language and the culture, you have to determine ways to communicate the good news of Jesus to the people of that culture. It's not just as easy as opening up the Bible and reading it. You have to think and act like a student of culture and of the Bible who seeks to make the gospel message understandable within the context of this foreign society.

What would it look like if we decided to act like missionaries here in our own culture? What if we thought of ourselves as foreigners who need to learn a language and culture in order to communicate the gospel in ways that connect with our society? What might we do differently?

I want to explore this picture in the coming days.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 4:1-7 & The Confusing Apostle Paul

By -
Image
Does Galatians 4:1-7 confuse anyone as much as it does me? After studying this for some time, I am prone to agree with the words of 2 Peter 3:16. "There are some things in [Paul's letters] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures." I hope I'm not one of the ignorant and unstable people. But I'm in the camp of folks who can say that Paul's writings are occasionally hard to understand. Let me clarify what I'm having a hard time clarifying. I don't really think it's difficult to understand Paul's point in Gal 4:1-7. The broader context makes it clear. Paul says that the Law of Moses is inferior to the promise previously made to Abraham. Gentile Christians, he writes, are descendants of Abraham because they share the same faith in God (3:6-7) that Abraham had (Gen 15:6). They therefore don't need to obey Jewish rules and customs. That's his point. from Anthony...
Read more

Love It or List It: We Sold Our Church Building

By -
Image
On October 8, 2023, we held our last worship service in our home of 59 years. We're moving on to a temporary location while we wait for God to reveal where our more permanent home will be. It's been a journey for which there is no solid road map, but we feel blessed by what's happening. We formed a giant circle for the final song at our longtime, northeast Fresno home. In late January, our elders announced a shock decision. We would be selling our church building and moving on. Among the elders, it was an uncontentious and unambiguous decision. They 100% believed it was in the church's best interest to put our property on the market and find a new home. Many congregations have hard choices to make about aging properties that are oversized for today's churches. Selling seemed the most desirable option to our board in our circumstances. I wrote about that decision back in January. You can read about it here . I had an inside seat to their decision-making process. As a...
Read more

In Memoriam of Larry Locke, My Father

By -
Image
My dad Larry Locke took his final breath this afternoon. He was in the comfort of his own home in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was as beautiful a spring day as Middle Tennessee can provide. Lovely breeze. Chirping birds. Blooming flowers. But Dad had been unable for weeks to notice the glory of God's created world. He was ready to go and be with the Lord forever. Over the last 2+ years, Larry had struggled with dementia and previously undiagnosed depression. A lifelong runner, he had never spent a night in the hospital prior to this sickness. The loss of his vitality was a blow to all who knew and loved him. While his first hospitalization returned him to a level close to his old self, subsequent declines and hospital stays left him a shadow of the man we knew. His time for this life would number 76 years. Larry Locke was born in 1942 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. His father, W. H. Locke, owned a small diner. His mother, Pansy Worley Locke, had done office work but as a mother was mos...
Read more