For the last 20 years, I have lived in honor/shame cultures. I am constantly seeking to understand and explore better methods of sharing the gospel to unreached people groups in the context of their culture.
If we simply share the gospel message through the lens of our own worldview, we have a high tendency of confusing our audience with the descriptions of our own upbringing.
“The content of the gospel of Jesus Christ is timeless, but the way we communicate the gospel requires a deep reset.”
I am reading The Global Gospel by Werner Mischke. It is an eye opening exploration of how we clearly communicate God’s love to communities and individuals who live in honor/shame cultures.
“The tectonic plates of political alliance and culture affinity have been colliding, setting off tsunamis of migration and marketing, so that every city is now a globalized soup of different ethnicities and economies. Instead of being dissolved into a homogenized Internet sameness, the ethnic compression has brought an unprecedented yearning for identity— for a kind of collective respect— among the scattered peoples.”
“I believe that the basic social values, the worldview, of this generation is different from the dominant Western worldview of the previous five centuries. This presents an enormous challenge to the Church. How must we adjust in living out and presenting the gospel in this cultural melting pot?”
As the world is dramatically changing, we need to understand the worldviews of the unreached people groups we seek to reach.
“Don’t underestimate the significance of articulating the great story that is culminated by Christ and for Christ. It is a story of God reversing the shame of the nations to bring us near to him in celebratory honor.”
As you also have a heart for the unreached, I encourage you to buy this book and understand how to clearly communicate the gospel beyond your own culture. After all, two thirds of our world waits to hear and understand the gospel message in a way that they can understand and be transformed.
“Mercy can strike a match, but we need emissaries from many lands who are ablaze with the inexhaustible fuel of jealousy for God’s glory.”
