While Paul and his co-laborers were among Christianity’s first cross-cultural missionaries, it is important to recognize that they crossed cultures in a more limited sense than many missionaries do today. They served in cultures dominated by Greco-Roman culture and the Greek language, which Paul spoke fluently. They did not have to learn languages or preach Christ in the context of a worldview radically different from what they knew.

The apostle grew up in the Roman empire in a leading city outside of Palestine.¹ He understood the culture well. He was a Jew, a highly religious and racist one, and a Pharisee² before his conversion to Christianity. As he obeyed Christ’s commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, his M.O. was always to go first to the Jews.³ Most of his labors, however, were among Gentiles whose general culture was familiar, though it differed from his own subculture.

Paul knew that for the Gospel’s sake, missionary laborers needed to take culture seriously wherever they serve. In 1 Corinthians 8-10, we find him arguing strongly that all believers must be ready to lay aside any “rights” or preferences that could cause unnecessary offense and make evangelism more difficult. He teaches that all believers have the responsibility to avoid speaking or living in ways that encourage misunderstanding among unbelievers or alienate them from hearing the Gospel. He emphasizes that Christians must lay aside any “right” or lifestyle choice that causes new followers or less informed followers of Christ to fall into sin and idolatry.⁴

To know which actions encourage or offend, we must know well the people we are trying reach. While there are generalities to human nature wherever mankind is found, there are also significant differences in worldview and the communication of values. Sometimes these differences are extremely different from our own.

Love and Humility Required

Much of 1 Corinthians focuses on love and humility and how these fruits of the Spirit apply to the believer’s personal life, local church relationships, and ministry. Most well-known is the “love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13.

In chapters 8-10, we see that this love and humility constrain us to have self-disciplined lives. Adjustment of our lifestyle to be unoffensive to those we are trying to reach with the Gospel and to encourage young believers is impossible apart from love and humility. In our flesh, we are simply too enslaved to comfort and convenience to be as self-disciplined as we must be.  

With these truths in mind, Paul makes this famous statement about dedicated self-discipline in ministry: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (9:24-27).⁵

Significant Investment Required

Devoting lots of time and energy to learning culture is a basic requirement for cross-cultural gospel workers, and there are no shortcuts. Significant worldview differences exist even within a given religious block (e.g., Muslims). And there are cultures within cultures, such as differences between urban and rural life. Language is the door to understanding culture because it helps us look at life through another person’s eyes. It has been said that “a person is a biographical history wrapped in skin.”⁶ I would add that language is the primary means to get to that biographical history.

Full-time support allows missionaries to give themselves wholly to learning the language and culture during their first term. I have often suggested that even those who are interested in bi-vocational or “tentmaking” approaches to missions raise enough support for at least a year or two so they can focus their best time and energy on language and culture acquisition. Few successfully acquire language and cultural understanding if they begin ministry while working in the secular workforce full-time.

Investigative Questions for Understanding

Here are some of the questions missionaries need to answer if we are going to serve well cross-culturally:

• How do men and women view marriage roles?
• What does the average person know or assume about Christianity?
• What do they do when they are afraid or in great need?
• Where is a good general starting point for the Gospel among this group?
• How do relationships work in their society?
• What is the real state of Christianity among them?
• What cultural values do they have that reflect Bible teaching, and which are at odds with Scripture?
• What issues or obstacles make it hard for the average person to consider the claims of Christianity?
• What do they consider the worst sins? The greatest virtues?
• How is their religious system similar or dissimilar from the teachings of the Bible?
• What do most people assume are the characteristics of a good leader?
• What questions about spirituality, religion, or philosophy are people asking?

How can we come to understand the answers to such questions? By taking the time and spending the energy to know the people. Let’s apply the grace of Christ to give us the love and humility we need to patiently learn and then let’s exercise the self-discipline necessary to apply what we learn to our ministries.

 

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¹ _{Tarsus, where Saul/Paul was born, is in modern Turkey on the Mediterranean coast (Acts 9:11; 21:39).}

² _{Acts 8:1-3; 22:3; Galatians 1:13-14}

³ _{Romans 1:16; Acts 13:46}

⁴ _{1 and 2 Corinthians are an inspired handbook about gospel ministry, the missionary’s life, church planting, cross-cultural issues, and relationships within the local church. These two books offer a wealth of devotional and practical truths to encourage missionaries.}  

⁵ _{Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2008 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.}

⁶ _{Michael Agar. (2002). Language Shock: Understanding the Culture of Conversation, p.238. Perennial.}