By Daniel L. Wong
Daniel L. Wong is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries at Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto, Canada.
Do you approach preaching as a missionary approaches interaction with people from another culture? Like a missionary, are you sensitive to the cultural context? Do you intentionally attempt to connect with people who are different than yourself in your preaching?
Even if our congregation members look similar, there are varieties of culture residing in the church. People visit our churches with marked visible differences and foreign accents. We also see the reality of our multicultural world as we keep current with the news and when we travel across an international border. From the example of missionaries, we learn how to understand people among whom we minister, be culturally self-reflective, and to preach in the cultural context.
Understand the People
If you have had the opportunity to preach in another country, address another ethnic group, or speak through an interpreter (lovingly called an “interrupter”), you know what it’s like to think twice about what and how to preach. You just don’t pull an old sermon out of the file and preach it generically without revision. You consider cultural factors for preaching. Even if you are preaching to your own congregation, the temptation is to speak to the majority – whether or not the majority is the main age group or level of spiritual maturity. However, the lingering question is whether the minority can understand and connect with your sermon.
Of course you aim to “preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2), but that Word needs to be preached in context. The Apostle Paul drew from the cultural context of the audience when speaking to the Athenians in Acts 17:16-34. In his “sermon” he noted he had seen their idols, he quoted one of their poets, and applied the message to them. His approach was much different with a Jewish audience where the message was based on the Old Testament (Acts 22, 26). Culture played an important role when Paul preached.
Awareness of the culture of a group (ethnicity) is only one area in our understanding of people. A common occurrence is for male preachers to use illustrations that stereotypically reflect their own interest in sports or action (war illustrations). Alice Matthews evoked a standing ovation by the women in the audience when she used sewing as an illustration and then offhandedly said, “This was my sweet revenge for all of the football stories I have heard over the years.” More preachers are gaining sensitivity to gender in their illustrations and application.