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Mission Challenge: "Changing Culture"
By Ann Dunagan
 Why should we go
overseas and try to change other people's culture? Aren't ALL
cultures equally valid?
Eliminating the uniqueness
of international culture is NOT the purpose of world missions! As
Christians, we bring the cross-cultural, life-changing message of Jesus
Christ and His forgiveness for man’s sins. Our purpose is not to
propagate Western or American culture, but to present the Gospel in a
redeeming, yet culturally sensitive way to whatever people we may meet.
I will never forget an interview I had with a very strong Christian
teenager who attended a public high school. (And YES, by the
way, it is possible -- although challenging -- to be a strong
Christian teenager in the public schools!) This young man led a
lunchtime Bible “club” and worship time which grew to reach 250 of his
fellow classmates! He was writing a school research paper on Christian
missionary work and specifically how missionaries do not try to
CHANGE people’s culture.
Disagreeing with his conclusion, I asked this young man a question:
“But don’t you try to 'change the culture' of the people
you are trying to reach? Just look at the typical ‘culture’ of
the teens in your high school before they come to Christ! Look at the
way they dress! Listen to their music, their foul language, and the way
they address their teachers! What about the videos they watch and the
R-rated movies they sneak into? What about typical teenagers involved in
premarital impurity, or the girls who've had abortions? Aren’t all of
these a part of teen 'culture'?”
I went on to explain to him, “CULTURE IS LIFE! When you share
Christ in your high school, of course you don’t want your
friends to stop being American teenagers -- that’s who they are! But you
do want Jesus Christ to totally transform the way they live and
the way they make their decisions!”
Societies that have developed isolated from the Gospel and God’s laws
are filled with sinful cultural elements. As Christians, our job is to
bring the light of Jesus to every precious culture. Through His Word and
His Holy Spirit, God will show people the changes they need to make to
redeem their cultures back to Him.
NOTE: This article was written ten years ago. The young man in the story is Brent Earwicker and he and his wife, Virginia, are now working with us in ministry. They were on the last outreach to Moroto/Karamoja and experienced God absolutely transforming sinful elements in the Karamojong culture (such as tribal hatred, violence and drinking blood) – by the power of Jesus Christ!
Our Mailing Address:
Harvest Ministry
P.O. Box
727
Hood River, Oregon 97031
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© Copyright 2007: Harvest Ministry - Jon & Ann
Dunagan
The purpose of Harvest
Ministry is to help fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to "Go
into all the world to preach the Gospel." Harvest Ministry is passionate
about winning souls, and is committed to going wherever the harvest is
most ripe, and wherever the Lord directs... Primarily, this is
accomplished through International Gospel Outreaches (especially in East
Africa and other third-world countries), National Evangelism Team
Support (N.E.T.S.), and encouraging other Christians to become actively
involved in world evangelism.
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