Archive for category Internet Evangelism
Evangelism – “Structures” Day 2 – Do You Know Your Culture Well?
Remember yesterday I said this was our starting point? Why I say this is because quite often we start with ourselves. Symptoms of this are statements like “How can we make others fit into our group more easily”. At first this seems an admirable desire and will come into play later, but it is not where, I believe, we should start. In regard to evangelism, I believe this thinking (or similar) is flawed. Evangelism by its very nature is reaching out to people not a part of our community. A people who often have no real desire to join ours. A people who understand little (or nothing) about who we are or who God is. It’s only as they see positive glimpses of God through us will a desire be ignited to know more. If others’ culture is ignored usually the same will happen to us along with our efforts to reach them for Jesus. This is why I believe understanding the ‘culture’ of those you desire to reach is so crucial.
So what really is ‘culture’ and how does it relate to evangelism. The Macquarie Dictionary has a helpful part in its definition. It states “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings, which is transmitted from one generation to another”. According to the culture there are certain key elements (ways of living) that need to be identified and understood for our evangelism to be effective.
Tags: internet evangelism