A. Missiological and contextual challenges of sharing the Gospel across cultures

1. Cultural Barriers and Misunderstandings

• The Gospel is often communicated through Western lenses, which can unintentionally distort or complicate the message.
• Local concepts of sin, salvation, honor, and community may differ radically from biblical frameworks as understood in the West.
• Risk of syncretism arises when local beliefs are blended with Christian ideas in unbiblical ways.

2. Religious Worldview Conflicts

• In many cultures, religious identity is inseparable from national, ethnic, or family identity.
• Conversion is often seen as betrayal of one’s heritage or ancestors.
• Deep-rooted belief systems (e.g. animism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism) present coherent, lived alternatives to the Gospel, requiring missionaries to deeply engage with and respectfully respond to those worldviews.

3. Legal and Political Restrictions

• In many countries, laws prohibit proselytizing, converting minors, or distributing Christian literature.
• Even where not illegal, there may be social surveillance or government suspicion of religious outsiders.
• Host countries may expel missionaries under accusations of cultural imperialism or political subversion.

4. Lack of Biblical Resources in Local Languages

• Many languages still lack a complete Bible translation or contextualized Christian literature.
• Oral cultures may require story-based teaching, but this approach is underdeveloped in many mission contexts.
• Without local worship music, discipleship materials, or theological training, new believers may struggle to grow in faith in a meaningful, contextualized way.

5. Trust and Credibility in Post-Colonial or Anti-Western Contexts

• Christianity is often perceived as a Western religion imposed through colonialism, war, or cultural domination.
• Missionaries may be viewed as agents of foreign interests, making local people cautious or resistant.
• It can take years of relationship-building, service, and humility before a missionary gains a hearing for the Gospel.

 

B. Examples of how effective missionaries have navigated these challenges

1. Cultural Barriers and Misunderstandings

Example: Don Richardson – Papua New Guinea (Sawi people)

• The Sawi tribe honored treachery as a cultural virtue, which made Judas the hero of the Gospel story in their eyes.
• Richardson sought a redemptive analogy within their culture and discovered the “peace child” tradition—giving a child to an enemy tribe as a covenant of peace.
• He used this as a bridge to explain Jesus as God’s peace child. The Gospel message became deeply meaningful in their own cultural framework.
• Lesson: Effective missionaries study and listen deeply to the local worldview to translate biblical truth in culturally intelligible ways.

2. Religious Worldview Conflicts

Example: Timothy Tennent – South Asia

• Tennent worked in predominantly Hindu contexts and found that Western categories of guilt and innocence did not resonate.
• Instead, he presented the Gospel in terms of purity and defilement, which connected more naturally with Hindu concepts of karma and ritual purity.
• He also emphasized Jesus as the true fulfillment of dharma (righteous path) rather than as a “foreign god.”
• Lesson: Engage local theological concepts not as obstacles but as starting points for presenting Christ in contextually relevant terms.

3. Legal and Political Restrictions

Example: Underground House Churches – China

• In China, overt missionary work is restricted, but believers have adapted through house church networks and low-profile discipleship.
• Missionaries often enter on business or teaching visas and focus on relationship-driven evangelism.
• Growth has happened not through mass events, but through quiet multiplication—disciples making disciples.
• Lesson: Where public ministry is impossible, quiet faithfulness, hospitality, and long-term investment are essential.

4. Lack of Biblical Resources in Local Languages

Example: Bible Translation and Oral Storying – Wycliffe / Global Recordings Network

• In oral cultures where literacy is low, Bible translators and local Christians have worked together to develop oral Bible story sets—a series of 40–60 stories told in chronological order.
• These stories emphasize God’s redemptive history and can be used in house groups, radio broadcasts, or through solar-powered audio devices.
• In some tribes, this approach has led to church planting movements even before written Scripture was completed.
• Lesson: Embrace the natural communication patterns of the culture and prioritize access over formality.

5. Trust and Credibility in Post-Colonial or Anti-Western Contexts

Example: Medical and Community Mission – Niger (SIM)

• In post-colonial Muslim regions, foreign missionaries were initially rejected.
• Instead of preaching first, SIM missionaries built clinics, water systems, and schools, earning trust through service.
• Over time, local communities began asking questions about the missionaries’ motivation, which opened doors for relationship-based Gospel sharing.
• Converts emerged not from arguments, but from authentic witness and visible love.
• Lesson: In resistant contexts, servant-hearted presence often speaks louder than words—and trust precedes testimony.

 

 

Next week we will present Part 2: Tools and Training for Successful Navigation of these Challenges