Bible teachers need to work hard to understand culture
When we are trying to communicate the Bible to people, we need to consider both sides of the bridge. Firstly, and most importantly, we need to understand the word of God well, spending time and effort in understanding what God is saying in this particular passage. And secondly, we need to understand the people being communicated to, their culture and the worldview they have.
How do we do this? How do we get to know the culture of our listeners? ‘Culture’ is one of those words that we all kind of know what it means but find hard to define. The culture of a group of people is a set of shared beliefs and assumptions that are behind how they think and act. It includes all kinds of things from language to food to attitudes and values. We often think of the culture of a group of people as being seen in the art they produce, like music and dress, but these are really expressions of a deeper set of beliefs.
If we cannot see the culture of a group of people directly, how might we work out what it is? In short, we need to pay attention. Ask yourself why things are the way they are. For example, in Australia sport is the largest religion. Every news bulletin or news website has a large amount devoted to sport, more than in many other countries. People in offices and on the street will talk about the latest match, and the major sporting teams in any city will be prominently advertised with many wearing their colours. Once you notice these things, you will start to notice more and more.
The hardest culture for you to see the values in is your own. That sounds a little odd, but you often don’t think hard about your own values unless they are compared to different ones. You see your own culture when you get to know someone who comes from a different culture. I love to ask new migrants what the first thing they noticed about Australia was that surprised them. This surprise often indicates a cultural clash, something different from their own culture. One of these, for example, was how children behave in classrooms. In Asian cultures, where anyone in a position of authority is greatly respected, classrooms are quiet and attentive. In Australia, which is often anti-authority, classrooms can be rowdy and disrespectful.
Likewise, when trying to communicate to someone from a different culture from your own, it helps to get to know them first. Ask questions. Ask about their lives and note how things are different from how you would do them. Ask about their opinions on things like parents and money; all of this will help you see the values and worldview behind how they think.
Culture is a hard thing to define and it varies even between different groups who have always lived in the same place. For example, my church has many people in professional jobs from broadly Asian backgrounds, and they will see the world very differently from people who work mainly in trade jobs or who are from more Anglo backgrounds. When I preach, I know that many in my church family have the potential to make idols of money or education, while the main issues in other churches might be wildly different to this.
To speak in a way that people listen, we need to work hard to understand how they think and what they value. It’s worth the effort!