In Your Bible Read This
Genesis 11, 1-9; 1 Thessalonians 1.1 to 2, 16
Here Is Your Memory Verse
I said,"Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll
- I have come
to do your will O God. " Hebrews 10.7; Psalm 40, 6-8.
Afterwards Talk About
This
Describe your culture to each other, thinking about it
according
to the headings in section 2.
Something To Do Before
Next Time
If you have been a believer for a while you may have
forgotten what it is
like to be outside Gods family. Go and visit some bars,
dance halls,
markets, sports events. Listen to the people, look at their faces,
learn
something and see how many conversations you can have.
Written Diploma Work
Look at point 3 about the need to adapt. Write a 2 page essay
saying what you think the five headings mean. How would you
practically go about the process of being understood by strange
new people.
Meditate Word By Word On
This Verse
Hebrews 10, 5-7
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray For El Salvador -
Operation World page 207
- 6,000,000 people, 80%
poor after war, earthquake and suffering.
- Evangelicals grown
from 2% to 20%
-
- Be sure to
teach this lesson to others.
- Always pray and
prepare well adding
- your own verses and
stories to bring it to life.
A True Story
A group of Westerners with a missions
vision went to a far away land uninvited, and without consulting
with the national church. Even local believers were suspicious,
and the missionaries soon became isolated from fellowship. For
years they kept their own language, culture, food and ways of
working and worshipping. Even today anyone who comes to their
church services feels an outsider after a while and moves on.
Sadly but not surprisingly, the work has
not grown very much. The faithful missionaries blame the people
for being hard hearted. But is that the whole truth?
1. Jesus, Gods
Missionary
When the Son of God responded to Fathers
call in Psalm 2 and came into the world, he crossed the ultimate
culture barrier. He left the purity and perfection of his home in
heaven to come to a world stricken with sin, sickness,
selfishness, demons and poverty. How did he come?
He came to Jewish people as a Jewish
baby boy with Jewish parents. Jesus chose to be born like
most people -poor not rich, religious or powerful. He lived
in the family of an ordinary working man and learned about
the people. Like everyone else he knew heat, cold, hunger and
Roman cruelty.
When it was Gods time he
ministered as a Jew to Jewish people in their own language,
respecting Jewish culture and customs. He was so one with the
people that when soldiers came to arrest him, they had to be
shown which man was Jesus. Jesus raised and trained ordinary,
local people. After his resurrection he left them to it,
trusting these friends to do the work.
Can You See The Difference?
The people in the first story brought Gods love but
expected people to enter their culture. When Jesus brought
Gods love he fully entered into our culture to win us
for heaven.
2. Is Culture A Barrier
Or A Carrier?
What is culture? Its an integrated
lifestyle of language, habits, customs and social organisation
that gives people identity and distinction.
Culture is about behaviour, body language,
relationships and greetings. It is how people talk, eat, dress,
work, sing, play and do business.
You can see a culture in architecture,
religious buildings and in the chosen systems of government, law
and schools. You can see culture in the respect or lack of it.
for officials and in attitudes towards privacy and time.
Is Culture Good Or Bad?
Genesis 11, 1-9 and all chapter 10 shows us that culture
originates in God who scattered men into nations, and for
centuries since then it has evolved. Today Jesus sends us to
make disciples of every ethnos, or cultural group and on the
last day people from every culture will be worshipping around
Gods throne.
Culture is a great carrier of the
gospel, and not a barrier at all. Why? Because once the first
locals receive Christ they can then take the good news to
their people in ways they understand best. Like Jesus, the
missionaries can then withdraw and support the locals.
3. Good Missionaries
Always Adapt.
Love for a people means a big change in
order to relate to them. Watch out if you think you know better!
The gospel message never changes, but the ways of presenting it
must be adapted otherwise no one will understand why you are
there and what you are trying to say.
In order to see conversions to
Christ and change from serving false gods there has
to be:
Rapport, between the people
and you.
Communication of your
message.
Understanding by the people,
"Yes, this means the same to me as to you."
Transformation of the new
believers life to confirm true conversion.
Partnership in the gospel.
4. Key Number One Is
World View
A persons world view is how a man or
a woman views God, himself and eternity. Conversion and change
has to happen here before culture slowly begins to conform to Gods
word. Before you speak to the people you are called to you must
take time to understand how they see life. Their world view might
be religious and involve God or gods, or it might be secular such
as Marxist atheism. From this foundation come all their beliefs,
practices and values, good or bad.
5. Paul Got It Right And
So Can We!
In 1 Thess. 1 and 2 we read how a pagan
people turned from idols to serve the living and true God. Paul
says that the gospel came to them not simply with words, so lets
learn 3 things that were also involved.
-
Lifestyle That Brought Rapport.
-
They saw at least 12 qualities in Pauls
life, so they imitated him, even accepting suffering. 2.3-8;
10-12.
-
-
Communication And Understanding
-
They welcomed and understood the
message enough to turn from idols, 1.9
-
-
Pauls Way Of Doing Ministry
-
He worked for a living just like them,
2.9
-
He ministered in Holy Spirit power, 1.5.
In the 1700s the Moravian
missionaries even entered leper colonies to become lepers to win
lepers and become slaves to win slaves. Today in the Philippines,
missionaries choose to live amongst the poor to win them for
Christ. In the Sahel missionary Keith Smith lives in a Fulani hut,
has a Fulani cow, eats Fulani food, dresses in Fulani robes,
speaks Fulani language and is just beginning to win the Fulani
for Christ.
- World's Most
Unreached Peoples By Name
- Taken from the
Joshua Project Unreached Peoples List
these people have no church and as yet
no cell, church or mission has committed themselves
to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.
China (4)
|
People Name |
Language |
Population
|
Miao, Qiandong (Hmu Southern) |
Miao, Qiandong Southern |
500,000
|
Miao, Xiangxi (Ghao-Xong Eastern) |
Miao, Xiangxi Eastern |
80,000
|
Nunu |
Bunu, Nunu |
60,000
|
Palyu |
Palyu |
10,000
|
Shan (Tai Yay, Sha) |
Shan |
237,000
|