Daniel models one who learned the local language and customs well, used his gifts to serve the people, and lived openly, acknowledging his God. One of my roommates from college moved to China a few years ago for ministry. He worked hard at the local language, as he was on a student visa for language school. While in China, he did the two things he was good at—working with wood and running. In an amazing act of providence, God used these very two gifts to enable my friend to get a long-term visa and start a strong ministry. He began entering mountain running events and won. Before long, he was a bit of a local celebrity. Here was a white foreigner who could speak the local language and run fast. He was on magazine covers, had news interviews, and became a sponsored athlete from Solomon sports. He used his fame and skills to start a local running club and now has a wonderful platform from which to minister.
One day, he walked in a local wood shop and asked if he could use the equipment. Not knowing what to say to this brash foreigner, the guys said yes. My friend began making high quality furniture and even teaching the locals. Before long, a local university heard of this foreigner who could speak the language and make great woodwork. Long story short, they hired him to teach woodworking at the university, bought him more than $100,000 in equipment, and gave a long-term visa. Both my friend and Daniel are the fruit of those who work hard at excelling in a craft in order to become fully immersed in the culture and using their place of influence for the kingdom.
The Message of Jeremiah
In the midst of the book of Jeremiah is a letter to the Israelite exiles in Babylon. God’s people had failed to honor God with their lives and as a result of continually turning their backs on God they were exiled. In a sense, the exile was meant to be a punishment for their sin. God had handed them over to their enemies. Yet, as if a paradox, God asks his people to live in Babylon as if it was their home. He tells them to build houses and plant gardens. To marry and multiply. And amazingly, to seek the welfare of and pray for the city where he had sent them into exile, for in its welfare they would find their welfare (Jer 29:1–9).
God wanted his people to have an anti-isolationist mentality. It would be easy to see the exile as a period of God’s abandonment, like a stint in prison that must be endured. Yet, God sees so much more. He wants his people to strive to be a blessing to their captives, even though they are enemies of God. No matter the length of the exile, God wants his people to take a long-term perspective and live fully in the culture. The letter demonstrates what true incarnational living can look like.
One of my friends models this engagement. He had worked with Nepali refugees for years and eventually decided to move into a neighborhood where many Nepali families had bought houses. Now, rather than having to drive for thirty minutes to do ministry, he simply has to open his front door and look across the street. Others in a similar situation have fully engaged their neighborhood. They seek its welfare by mowing lawns, painting fences, and fixing porches. They go to community meetings and speak up about injustices. They volunteer and tutor in local schools. They start and equip others to start local businesses to keep money in the neighborhood. And they share the hope of the gospel in a hurting community. Two of them were robbed while painting a mural on the side of an abandoned building. The incident resulted in them being interviewed on the local news. Why would these people endure such hardships? They were able to answer in front of thousands of viewers, “Because we love God and we love our neighbor. We are committed to this neighborhood because it’s our neighborhood. We believe the gospel renews all things and we want to see people follow Jesus and engage their community.” Jeremiah and these Christians seek to live incarnationally for the sake of the kingdom.
The Life of the Apostle Paul
Paul is perhaps the classic biblical example of one who engaged in cultural research for more effective ministry. However, Paul’s approach went far beyond simply walking around Athens until he found the statue of the unknown god. Paul knew the importance of understanding his target people’s worldview—the lens through which they understood reality and answered the biggest questions of life such as who is God, where did humanity come from, what is wrong with the world, how is it fixed, what is the afterlife, etc. In Acts 13 we see that Paul understood the Jewish worldview and he used a specific strategy to evangelize them by making his case from Old Testament history. He knew the Jewish people had a basic biblical understanding of God, humanity, and the OT sacrificial system so he built on what they already knew and bridged to Jesus. Just a chapter later, we find Paul in a different context, that of a thoroughly pagan worldview. Here, people confused Paul with Hermes and attempted to worship him as a god! Paul appealed not to Old Testament Jewish history, but to God as creator in order to present the gospel in an understandable way to this pagan audience. He pointed out that people needed to turn from their vain worship of idols to the living God, who made them (Acts 14:14–15). In both instances, Paul understood the cultural context in which he was working and used an appropriate evangelistic strategy.
Later, Paul spent time walking around the city of Athens in order to better understand what people believed and how they lived. It did not take long for him to realize that the city was full of idols to every sort of god, even to unnamed and unknown gods (Acts 17:16, 23). He then bridges off his observations to tailor his evangelistic appeal to the specific context in which the people lived. Paul contextualizes the gospel but does not change the substance of his message—repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. Biblical contextualization is simply communicating the gospel in a way that is biblically faithful yet culturally understandable. In order to be culturally understandable, one must know something of what the culture believes.
Paul took incarnational ministry very seriously. He sought to live like those to whom he ministered so as to not present any unnecessary barrier to their hearing of the gospel message. Paul gave up his rights to live more naturally among the people (1 Cor 9:19–23). Furthermore, Paul sometimes worked a regular job alongside those he was reaching (1 Thess 2:9–10). This approach helps the minister know fully the trials regular people go through as they make a living. In some contexts, working a regular job can alleviate some of the suspicion people have of foreigners, especially of missionaries. Working with the people can bring added credibility and respect and give tremendous insight into life in that culture.
My main platform in Malaysia was teaching anthropology at a Malaysian university. I worked with colleagues and had students who were Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, atheist, and Christian. It was natural for me to tell people on the train and in my neighborhood that I was a local professor. My job made it natural to ask people about their own culture and faith. People were not suspicious of me because they understood why I was there. I was paid in the local currency, which was not doing well. I had to work the same long hours as other Malaysians. I made one-third of the salary I would have made in the United States, and as a result could not afford a car or to travel extensively. However, I had something more important—credibility and the respect of non-Christians around me. People looked to where I found my hope as the currency devalued. People asked what I did over the holidays when I could not afford to leave town. While not always the ideal situation, working a job alongside those to whom I ministered proved to be a great vehicle for effective ministry.
Paul did not advocate “tent-making” or bivocational ministry over support-based ministry but used either as the need arose. Whatever his job, Paul sought to learn about the communities and worldviews of those to whom he ministered. He lived incarnationally and contextualized the gospel in order to be biblically faithful and culturally understandable. When necessary, Paul appealed to his status as a Roman citizen. Other times, he gave up the rights of a Roman and an Apostle. Similarly, we may be in situations where appealing to American citizenship is helpful. But, like Paul, we need Holy Spirit guidance to discern the best path. Paul is our model as he submitted to the authority of Scripture and sought to become all things to all men so that he might win some for the sake of the gospel. He was a learner and a lover of people and God blessed his approach.
The 150 Percent Missionary
We have seen many examples in Scripture where the people of God made a great effort to learn the