ABWE - Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

Paul Atkinson, Director of Student Mobilization

I often observe people who struggle to deeply connect with others. Sometimes the failure to connect has to do with someone’s personality or inability to listen. But usually, a person’s failure to connect has to do with an inability to understand another person’s culture.

For Example

Recently, my wife and I did some survey work in India. From time to time, someone in our group would comment, “Wow! That’s weird! Why do they do that?” or, “Can you believe that!” as we drove to our different destinations. These comments were not meant in a critical way, but they were expressed instinctively from a lack of understanding.

Why It Matters

It is important to remember that grasping both language AND culture is crucial to a ministry’s effectiveness. The story of the gospel is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, you can still fail to communicate its message clearly if you don’t understand the landscape upon which those words are landing. This can be a huge problem for missionaries who eagerly jump into “organized” ministry and fail to first thoroughly understand the culture and language of the people to whom they seek to minster. It can also be a problem for the missionary who wants to give a Western presentation of the gospel in another cultural context. The missionary may feel good about his rehearsed presentation, but will his audience really hear the message?

While it may not seem surprising that this can be a problem for those on the field, I am amazed at how many people struggle with this in America.

For years I was involved in an inner-city ministry on the East Coast. As I traveled with college students I was surprised at the difficulty many of them had connecting with people from different backgrounds.

I have also seen this occur in some church outreach programs. Many times, these ministries fail to be completely effective because no one tried to understand the culture of the people or places they were trying to reach. You wouldn’t think culture could be that different three miles down the road. But it can be.

What Can I Do?

If you are preparing for cross-cultural ministry, seek out local opportunities that will introduce you to a particular culture or people group. Study the culture and language of the people you plan to minister to. Prepare now. It will help lay the groundwork of understanding, which will open doors for effective ministry in the future. Even if cross-cultural organized ministry is not something you are led to, do your best to really understand the people and culture that surround you every day. Don’t assume that people speak the same cultural language just because they live in the same neighborhood.

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