I am often asked if missions destroys culture. My answer depends on the kind of missionary that we are talking about. For example, the early settlers to America decided to share Christ to the Native American tribes, but before they learned the Gospel, they experienced short hair cuts, collared shirts, and English lessons. They were also forbidden to dance or play drums. Today, one percent of Native Americans consider themselves Christians. The tribal dancing and singing were rituals of their old religion, which is why the English settlers desired to eliminate them. However, God can redeem culture and when Christians worship God through their cultural expressions it is very meaningful.*
If we identify with our host culture, learn the language and eat their food, we will find a wealth of material for pointing people to Christ. Paul was a missionary who sought to identify with the people he went to. When he spoke to the Greek philosophers, he first spent the day walking through their statuaries and looking at their monuments. He discovered an altar to the Unknown God and used it as a bridge to reach the people. He stated that the God they worshipped unknowingly, could be known through Jesus Christ (Acts 17: 23). Even the statement, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) is a line from a Stoic poem that Paul used to communicate Christ to the philosophers.
Paul did not destroy the culture, but by confirming the Greek’s cultural values he pointed them towards Christ. We should aspire to do the same thing by discovering what is important to the people and respecting what the Holy Spirit has already been doing before we arrived, as well as the culture of the people we are entering into as guests.
*Twiss, Richard. One Church Many Tribes (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1996).
