By Daniel L. Wong
Daniel L. Wong is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries at Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto, Canada.
As a missionary enters another society, that person is conscious about cultural practices, attitudes, and speech that might offend the host culture. Humor is often “lost in translation.” One must consider timing and approaches to preaching.
Those of us who are visible minorities have more of a heightened awareness. Amidst a sea of majority colored faces, we look for those similar to ourselves. We are conscious how we are seen and perceived. Even seeing my photo attached to this article, you may assume I would have a Chinese accent. You may be surprised that my accent reflects my birth in California, as a third generation American-born Chinese.
It would help that we ask those we know well in our congregation or outside the congregation – such as a mentor or friend – how we come across to the ethnic minorities. Are we unwittingly condescending or prejudiced, or do we talk about and treat others equally? Such self-understanding reflects the best practices of a missionary and a culturally-sensitive preacher.
Many preachers have taken steps to increase their cultural awareness in our multicultural world. This is to become more intercultural, gaining attitudes and skills to bridge cultural barriers. This is done by taking courses or seminars in cultural anthropology, involvement in cross-cultural mission trips, international travel, visiting pockets of ethnic diversity, and tasting various foods you never before have seen or smelled. These practices enlarge our vision and heart and convey to the congregation that we are stretching ourselves to see a broader world than our own.
Preach in the Cultural Context
How do you actually preach amid all of the multicultural factors surrounding yourself? The preacher not only needs to understand the people in the congregation and be culturally self-reflective, but also needs to approach this preaching in a particular manner. This involves preaching in the cultural context like a missionary. This approach is specifically incarnational, involves partnership and preaching with the appropriate use of illustrations, application, and style.
An Incarnational Approach
The incarnate Jesus Christ is our example of intentionally and humbly setting aside His prerogatives as God to become human – specifically an ethnically Jewish male (Phil. 2:1-11). We accept who we are with our ethnic background and seek to serve in a given cultural context. Such ministry involves empathy, identification, and sacrifice.
Haddon Robinson suggests we sacrifice what comes naturally to us – like calling minority groups by names that make sense to us – for the sake of the other. We curtail our freedom and identify with others for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:22-23). This does not mean we lose our self-identity or speak a word that is counter to the common culture. Jesus did this well, especially with the Pharisees, in confronting their hypocrisy in not truly honoring parents (Mark 7).