Factoring Culture with Discipleship

Leaders interpret culture: Affirming, redeeming, transforming culture.

As transformation happens, an awareness of the cultural context allows for greater self-awareness, and more intentional growth pathways, maximizing the positive aspects of culture and minimizing the negative ones.

In order to focus, harmonize and enhance the gifts of others leaders need to correctly exegete not only the Word, but also the world in which the body of Christ functions. This requires an understanding of culture and both the ways culture reflects the image of God and the ways it reflects the nature of mankind.

At the end of Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians he brings up the subject of spiritual warfare and refers to “world forces of darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness.” World forces of darkness are the patterns within culture of the world that are contrary to the glory of God and to the work of the Kingdom.

When leaders identify cultural patterns that reflect the image of God and which are consistent with the Word of God, they amplify and use those patterns for the good of the body. Conversely, when they identify cultural patterns which are detrimental to the body, they develop responses which resist and diminish the influence of culture.

Charles Davis’s book, Making Disciples Across Culture uses the metaphor of slider switches (shown in diagram below) which is helpful in understanding this process. Leaders can discern which group of slider switches to adjust to facilitate transformation and influence.

[insert diagram]

The above diagram uses the metaphor of a cultural “music” mixer board, which deserves a little explanation. (The following paragraphs are adapted from Making Disciples Across Cultures, by Charles Davis.)

Imagine a stage with a several performers, instruments and microphones. You might imagine a massive stage with multiple choirs, orchestra, soloists and a conductor. Or you might imagine an a cappella choir, a rock group, or a symphony orchestra. In the case of a symphony orchestra, the conductor is responsible to balance the various voices and instruments in order to reflect the proper intent of the music. In many other groups, the sound technician has that responsibility.

The sound technician uses a sound mixer board rather than a baton (Ironically, he may not have any training in music!). Mixer boards are large, complex pieces of equipment consisting of multiple sliding switches.

Each of the sliding switches corresponds to a microphone on the platform. One set of switches might be picking up the bass drum on one channel and the snare drum on the other. Another set may be connected to the bass guitar on one channel and the lead guitar on the other. A third set may be connected to the lead vocal on one channel and the secondary vocal on the other. If a switch is moved down to its lowest setting, the corresponding microphone will not be amplified at all. As the switch moves higher, the volume from that particular microphone increases.

When the music starts, the sound technician puts on earphones and listens. If the lead vocal is too soft, the volume from that microphone is increased by pushing that slider switch higher. If the snare drum is too loud, the volume from that microphone is decreased by pushing the corresponding switch lower. If the bass guitar is too soft, that switch is pushed higher, and so forth. Eventually the parts balance, each contributing to the whole but without distortion.

Balancing and rebalancing happens throughout a given piece of music, and the entire mixer board must be recalibrated for different types or genres of music. Alvin Slaughter, singing The Midnight Cry with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir requires completely different settings than the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago performing Handel’s Messiah. No single setting is correct for all music, nor will the settings remain constant throughout a single piece of music. The sound technician listens continually and adjusts the dynamic tension between the various microphones. Each style of music demands different settings to bring it into dynamic tension with the other parts of the music.

When disciples journey with Jesus together, they will automatically develop cultural patterns of behavior which are passed on to anyone who joins the group. Some of these patterns will be beautiful, reflecting Paul’s vision of the church described in Ephesians. Other patterns will be drawn from backgrounds which are detrimental to all concerned. For instance, relationships in collective cultures might form quickly and easily, but this group may need lots of encouragement to develop individual gifts. Conversely, in individualist cultures, personal gifts may be easily identified, but those individuals would need lots of encouragement to develop deep attachments or relationships with others.

As another illustration, some groups will have a natural bias towards rationality and away from anything mystical while other groups may reflect a high degree of confidence in the mystical, but ignore reason and facts. These are the slider switches representing the visible and invisible which must be balanced. Leaders should constantly be evaluating and adjusting the slider switches.

Many, if not most, disciples who feel they are only playing church are yearning for an experience of the body of Christ as God intended, designed to transform society and redeem culture. Finding and contributing ways to recover that inheritance is the burden of this discipleship resource.

There are other books from IVPress which treat these cultural variables: Teaching Across Cultures, and Leading Across Cultures by Jim Plueddemann, as well as Cross-cultural Communication, and Cross-cultural Conflict by Duane Elmer.