Ministering to Your Culture: How to Get Started

I had just returned home from England where our youth choir had given concerts in churches and schools, and I’d preached several times. The phone rang in the office of my Mississippi church. It was a fellow in the next town over.

“We’re beginning an amazing ministry to England,” he said, without any idea that I had just returned from there.

“What we’re going to do,” the young man said, “is to invade that country with the gospel of Jesus. We’re going door-to-door and show those dead churches how to do evangelism, how to build great churches. We’re going to bring the dead back to life again.”

I said, “Uh, my brother, have you ever been to England?”

The fact that he had not did not seem to bother him. He was sure that the approach to Kingdom-building that had worked for him in rural small-town Mississippi provided a template workable anywhere, in any culture.

The conversation went downhill from there. I recall telling him that several ministers in the London area had told us how they resent know-it-all American evangelists arriving in their country with all the answers. One said, “We do not mind their coming to help us. What we hate is that they are not interested in anything we have to say, not in learning the customs or traditions. And if we don’t get behind them and support them, we’re opposing Jesus.”

Arrogance is not the exclusive property of young ministers, although I can tell you from personal experience, it seems to find the ideal elements for incubation in those who are uninformed but zealous, untrained but certain. I will spare you the numerous stories of my own presumption and foolishness in judging faithful workers in the Lord’s vineyard for not producing more fruit when I had very little idea what I was talking about.

There is a way to make an impact on any culture, thankfully.

And there is a way to begin. May I suggest that way is: Begin by enrolling as a learner.


What does a learner do? He asks questions.

There are several questions we will want to ask again and again as we begin the process of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world where He has sent us.

What?

“Tell me about yourself. What do you do?”

“How does your church worship? Tell me about your town.”

“What do people do for fun in this town.” “How are decisions made?” “Who are the employers?” “Where do people work and live?”

“What are you doing that is really working?”

“What have you tried that didn’t work?”

You are learning the elements of the culture.

Why?

“Oh, that’s an interesting approach. May I ask why you do that?”

“Why do all the people go to this arena on Saturday nights? What do they get from this activity?”

“Why do the people of your town put up with delinquency? Have they done anything about it?”

“Why do they root for this team, but not that one?”

“What would happen to someone who tried to change the culture? Why?”

You are learning the history of the people.

What if?

“What if your church were to stop doing that?”

“What if you went into that community and knocked on doors and offered to help?”

“What if someone were to build a school here?” “A church there?” “A community center.” “A rehab program.”

“What if we were to go to the mayor and asked what we can do to help with this problem?”

“What if I wanted to make a difference here? How long would it take to be accepted?”

You are learning the (probably unseen) prejudices and fears of the community.

Who?

“Who is making a difference for good in the community? Let’s go see them.”

“Who has tried something and had it fail? Let’s see what they can teach us.”

“Who is the problem?”

“Who are the influential people, the newsmakers here?”

“Who is allowed to join this group?”

“My name is Joe. Who are you?”

You are learning the avenues and dead ends of the culture.

What now, Lord?

It’s time to pray.

Even if you knew all there was to learn about the community where you’ve been sent to minister, had the full confidence of all the leadership, and had the means to do something world-changing, you’re not ready.

The question is not: “Where can I make a difference?”

You can always find a way to make a difference. The question is: “Where does the Holy Spirit want me to begin?”

Until then, you take a job and go to work and get to know people and wait on the Lord.

Trust Him. He knows.

If it is true that every smalltown of this country has a uniqueness about its culture–its ways of doing things, its history, its powerbrokers and its scapegoats, its pride and its shame–how much more true it must be of entire countries where we the Lord’s people go to bring the gospel.

It can be done. But not by nightfall.

Go as a learner, as a student. Respect the people and honor those to whom honor is due. Wait on the Lord. Build friendships. Stay faithful. Encourage the ones doing good and treat the others carefully. And plan to stick around. This is going to take someone who will be “the Word made flesh,” who can “dwell among them.”

3 thoughts on “Ministering to Your Culture: How to Get Started

  1. Dr. McKeever:

    I appreciate this article. Last night, I had to go down to our church facilities to pick up something. As I walked down the hallway of our educational building which has a church’s traditional layout, I thought about the hypocrisy of our ministry. Here we are trying to conduct a church in a community that is completely different than it was 30 years ago. Anyway . . . not sure if what I said made sense. I do agree with your words, though

  2. We have the same God, same redeemer ‘Jesus’, same hope, same destiny. For must of us tradition or costume is not an excuse to avoid each other. Paul explained, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,” Colossians 2:16…You could also include songs, service format, church structure and whatever… that OK with me. It is when costume and tradition supersede God’words and instruction, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8

    I do not have a ministry, yet I enjoyed visiting other denominations when I am out of town.

    Let remember that our citizenship is in heaven first and foremost….Thank God that most missionaries are open minded….

  3. This is fantastic. Fraught with wisdom. It never hurts to take a step back and figure out how to be all things to all men. I love your advice. It is particularly helpful for me in my current hometown. Talk about worlds colliding 🙂

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