Don't forget to bookmark this page!
Share this page with a friend!

Bridging Canyons

by Aramus Crane
17 November 2004

Jesus gives His plan

In Acts 1:4-8, Jesus lays out his plan for bringing the gospel of grace to the world. He told the Apostles to start their ministry in Jerusalem, staying there until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then they were to move on to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

These are commonly thought of as geographical distinctions but, as we learned in Perspectives, they were likely cultural ones. The people in Jerusalem were much like the Apostles in their beliefs, language, practices, and other cultural characteristics. There would exist few barriers to prevent Jews from accepting Jesus.

Barriers to accepting Jesus

Steven C. Hawthorne describes these barriers as walls and canyons. Walls are barriers to cross-cultural communication and canyons are barriers to acceptance.¹ The wall is what prevents people from understanding the message of salvation, breaking up communication. These walls must be broken down by learning the mother tongue of the people group and by using every possible method of communication.

While the wall is what hinders communication, the canyon is what prevents people from accepting that message. It is what prevents a lordship decision from being made. They may incorrectly believe that they have to leave their culture, their family, or their way of life.

Unreached groups are likely unreached because the wall has not been broken. The canyon will become a problem later. Both will present their problems and, in my opinion, neither keep more people from accepting Christ than the other.

For the Jewish Apostles, the Jews of Jerusalem would be very easy to reach, because of few walls breaking communication and no canyons where people would think that they would have to change their culture.

This focus on Jerusalem made the Church like Ivory Soap, 99 and 47/100% pure

In Acts 1:4-8, Jesus lays out his plan for bringing the gospel of grace to the world. He told the Apostles to start their ministry in Jerusalem, staying there until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then they were to move on to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

These are commonly thought of as geographical distinctions but, as we learned in #, they were likely cultural ones. The people in Jerusalem were much like the Apostles in their beliefs, language, practices, and other cultural characteristics. There would exist few barriers to prevent Jews from accepting Jesus.

Steven C. Hawthorne describes these barriers as walls and canyons. Walls are barriers to cross-cultural communication and canyons are barriers to acceptance. ("Acts of Obedience" Perspectives: A Reader Cambridge: United Kingdom 2000. p. 121) The wall is what prevents people from understanding the message of salvation, breaking up communication. These walls must be broken down by learning the mother tongue of the people group and by using every possible method of communication.

The canyon is what prevents people from accepting that message. It is what prevents a lordship decision from being made. They may incorrectly believe that they have to leave their culture, their family, or their way of life.

Unreached groups are likely unreached because the wall has not been broken. The canyon will become a problem later. Both will present their problems and, in my opinion, neither keep more people from accepting Christ than the other.

For the Jewish Apostles, the Jews of Jerusalem would be very easy to reach, because of few walls breaking communication and no canyons where people would think that they would have to change their culture.

This focus on Jerusalem made the Church like Ivory Soap, 99 and 47/100% pure--Jewish. Thus, roughly the same percentage of people thought that in order to follow Jesus, you had to become Jewish. (This idea persisted long after the events of Acts 15 and is why Paul wrote such a strong letter to the Galatians.)

The Holy Spirit breaks the cultural barrier

At the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the apostles saw that the Holy Spirit fell upon people who were not Jewish. Thus, they realized that God was moving among the Gentiles as well as the Jews. All the way back in the days of Noah, God had promised his son Japheth (ancestor of the Gentiles) that he would dwell in the tents of Shem (ancestor of the Jews). (Genesis 9:27) Acts 15 records the fulfillment of that prophecy.

However, this dwelling in the spiritual tent of Israel, did not mean that the Gentiles would be required to abandon their culture. There are many distinctions between one culture and another. Many cultural practices are ethically neutral. They do not show any lack of love toward God or toward man nor any abuse of nature. These practices are acceptable to Jesus Christ and should not be attacked by the missionary.

The message of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed to every people group in a way that is sensitive to these cultural practices. Otherwise canyons are created that prevent an individual from accepting the message.

Today, most of the missionaries sent throughout the world are from the West, with a majority coming from the United States. Because few Americans travel outside of their own country, many of American missionaries have little understanding of different cultures. Few know how much their culture affects their religion. Furthermore, legalists tend to make culture a dominant part of their religion. In Romania, this lack of understanding have caused many of the problems the Repenter churches have relating to the Orthodox.

The Romanian canyon

Romania's culture, language, religion, music, and politics are a mix of east and west.

• The language is mostly Latin in vocabulary and grammar, yet 10-20 percent of the words come from Turkish and an approximately equal percentage is Slavic in origin.
• The orthodox religion of the east was separated from Roman Catholicism when the Roman Empire fell. It doesn't have the orientation to sacramental or works salvation that dominated much of the Roman Catholic church at the time of the Protestant Revolution.
• Many religious groups maintain the eastern cultural concept that covering the head is a sign of respect. Honor in the west, is demonstrated by tipping the hat to uncovering the head. Men in Romania typically have adopted the Western tradition and women the Eastern tradition.
• During the centuries of occupation by the Ottoman Empire, Romania's folk music took much of its sound from the Turks. You will notice many similarities between the two.
• Yet, the young idolize the Western dress, music, and lifestyle. They have little interest in the traditions of the past.

There is a lot of conflict between the Repenters (also known as Neo-Protestants) who have been financed by the West, and the Orthodox. Most of this is due to the canyon that separates the East and West. Most of the conventional Protestants entering the country realize this and are much more conciliatory toward the Orthodox brothers. The Perspectives movement has helped Evangelicals rethink their divisiveness toward others in the Body of Christ and incline themselves more toward Orthodox and Catholics. For more on the spiritual situation in Romania, read Romanian faiths and their impact on society.

The Repenters are generally seen as less ethical and as having been bought out of the Orthodox religion by the almighty dollar and Euro. The Repenters generally think the Orthodox are "lost". Thus, the non-believers in both groups are unlikely to hear the gospel being proclaimed by the other. The cultural canyon between Repenters and Orthodox is too wide. Thus, less than 10% of Romanians have had a conversion experience and perhaps 1% feel any personal assurance of an eternal salvation by faith as the Bible outlines can be theirs.

Many people who attend Repenter and Orthodox churches are, of course, not believers, but are children of believers. It is difficult for the non-believers in either of these groups to find Christ in the other group due to this cultural canyon. Then, one must add the stigmas that each group has of the other. Even the word "Repenter" has negative connotations, much like "Christian" does to the Muslims who have have heard the tales of the Crusades.

As many missionaries in Arab areas take on new labels, when traditional Protestants begin working in Romania, we must not permit ourselves to be mislabeled Repenters or even "New Protestants". Although many of the Repenters are our brothers in Christ, our theological differences are large enough that we genuinely are of a different class. If we treat this issue carefully and diligently, we can ensure that we are placed on the same side of the canyon as 90% of the population.

What is a true crestin?

How do we distinguish true Christians from the world? Any reading of the Bible, especially Job and I Corinthians 10, will show that God allows Satan and his assistants to test all believers. Furthermore, in any culture, there will be believers whom God allows Satan to liberate from their earthly life. The triumph of God's truth is demonstrated when someone dies with joy and dignity and love for the offender. Faith is not just a theory or an hypothesis. It is something that changes lives and attitudes.

The true believer glorifies God in his life. God is glorified because Satan sees that God is worthy of our praise, even in the time of greatest desperation. Even in the worst situations, God is worthy of our service, Satan isn't. From the life of Job we see that Satan wants to bring shame to God by having His people abandon Him. He wants to demonstrate that God isn't worthy of praise unless He is blessing them.

People see the validity of the message in the life of the martyr. Satan is defeated when someone dies with dignity for the sake of the Gospel. Such faith demonstrates that Satan cannot subjugate a person with the greatest fear of all--death. Martyrdom is the ultimate proof of God's worthiness of praise. Clearly, God wants to make the kind Christians that love Him and love others, not those who build walls and canyons between believer and believer or believer and unbeliever. He wants to draw all people to Himself

Making disciples of Romanians

Many people think that witnessing is easily conducted across cultures and that all you have to do is hand out literature and tour the country in a revival tent. They don't realize that cultural barriers make that type of evangelism ineffective. In Romania, as in any country, the principles of "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" are valuable. We should seek to understand our fellow believers and, together with all believers, build bridges of grace to all people. We should choose to minister in a way that creates the fewest walls and canyons for the non-believers.

Colaboring with the largest and least stigmatized part of the Body of Christ is wise, as is ministering in a way that is sensitive to the local culture. The less cultural bagage we bring in and impose on the lost, the more fruitful we will be and the more we will honor the Lord God Almighty with our actions, words, and attitudes. May His name be praised forever, amen.

Bibliography

1. ("Acts of Obedience" Perspectives: A Reader Cambridge: United Kingdom 2000. p. 121)