At our church in Dubai, we were surprised to witness conversions of people in Eritrea and Uzbekistan, Syria and South Africa, Scotland and Spain, Iran and India, the Netherlands and Bolivia, Germany and China and other countries. contexts, traditional and progressive, Muslim and Hindu, young and old.
What is the key to opening the hearts of these people of such diverse cultural and religious backgrounds?
- The answer is that there is no “intercultural key”.
- In our evangelization here.
- We do nothing but what we would do elsewhere.
- Our methods of evangelization have no creativity.
- To suggest that some people are easier to convert than others is contrary to the scriptures.
- We are all.
- By nature.
- Far from the Lord.
- So in our evangelization we must bear witness.
- Pray.
- And wait for the sovereign movement of the Spirit.
There is no key to entering a spiritual morgue
But this does not mean that cultural diversity is not relevant to evangelization. Most of the world’s cities are increasingly ethnically diverse. With 202 nationalities in its labor market, Dubai is at the forefront in this area. The world turned to Arabia, bringing challenges and opportunities for evangelization.
Three courses
Here are three lessons we learn from life and ministry in an ultra-multicultural environment:
1. Communicate clearly
Start by communicating clearly. Muslims have learned since childhood that God has no children; Hindus deny the existence of a transcendent Creator who underlies all existence and morality; secular humanists believe that religious truth is relative; then, with whom we are speaking, we must clearly define our Together with the Muslims, we analyze what the Bible means about the Son of God: not that the Father and Mary physically produced descendants, similar to Zeus and Donae, but the eternal image of the invisible God, whose existence preceded that of the universe God, came by itself and was incarnated.
Together with the Hindus, we work to explain a moral universe, where good and evil are defined by the character of God and his revealed will. Doesn’t it make sense to talk about it? (Romans 3. 23) or direct people to?Child? (Jo 3. 16), unless and until we have explained these concepts. In multicultural contexts, we should, as DA Carson said:? Start our evangelization much further back to provide more of the Bible’s plot, so that the good news has a sense of coherence [?] Then we must explain more the doctrine of God and, therefore, is it Filho, for a generation that knows nothing of the Trinity?[1]
So when Thabiti Anyabwile spoke publicly with Muslim activist Shabir Ally in Dubai last year, his opening statement was a brief look at the theology of the Old Testament, which led to the life and ministry of Jesus. Unless listeners understand the plot of the Bible. , the meaning of atonement would not make sense to them.
It is simply clear communication, which is of paramount importance when we live among people who are biblically illiterate and vaccinated against biblical worldview.
2. Proclaim the Word
Second, he proclaims the Word, does James teach that God has begat us by the word of truth?(Stg 1:18). Wherever we are, the agent of regeneration is biblical revelation, read and proclaimed; therefore, in our evangelization, if a person can read, our goal should be to study the Bible with him, regardless of his culture.
The evangelization of friendship? It is increasingly popular in the Middle East and many other places, due to the (wrong) impression that we cannot or should not communicate directly and clearly what the Christian message is, but that we must make allusions and clues until we leave it. our friend shows an open mind to know more. The evangelization of friendship emphasizes that we must earn the right to share the gospel with someone else. Of course, we should not use people simply as projects of evangelization. But, as one evangelist told me, there is a danger of prioritizing friendship over evangelization. Excessive concern for context and techniques will tend to overshadow the commandment to simply “preach the Word. “
3. Use the local church
Third, use the local church. On any continent you are on, the church is a gathering of people who dwell in the Spirit of God and gather weekly to preach, praise, pray, and perform ordinances. Paul hoped that the weekly assembly would not only edify the believers, but also convince the unbelievers who came (1C 14. 25).
Over the years, many people from countries with restricted access? Yes
In many of these cases, these people were born again and joined us; not only have they heard and understood the gospel, but they have also seen the power of Christ change people and influence entire communities that have little in common except Christ. The Church is therefore the resounding confirmation of the Gospel proclaimed.
Strange for all cultures
Increasingly, global cities are home to multinational churches that love the frank language of our time; these churches affect countless national and ethnic groups, including through English as a second language; when expats return to their country, they take the gospel with them.
It is true that multiculturalism poses challenges for evangelization, however, no matter where we come from, we must remember that the gospel is alien to all cultures. Despite all our diversity, we remain sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, and We need the only remedy that only Jesus can guarantee: redemption, forgiveness of sins.
Churches in multi-ethnic contexts must work hard to communicate clearly, carefully respecting biblical theology; we must focus on biblical truth to overcome all kinds of cultural and religious barriers; and we must support the church as an exhibition of the gospel for nations.
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Grades:
1. Jesus the Son of God: a Christological title often overlooked, sometimes misunderstood and currently controversial (Crossway, 2012), p. 85.