As far back as Sunday School I’ve been taught to consider the cultural context of a Bible story. It wasn’t explained that way to me, of course, but cultural understanding was critical for understanding the sometimes bizarre stories of Scripture. In college my religious studies courses emphasized this over and over.
Here’s an example of how important it is. Our church just started a series on Ruth. In the first sermon, the pastor had to spend half his time explaining the cultural context for the book. He couldn’t get past even one verse without having to paint the cultural backdrop!
Culture matters, and understanding the cultural values and setting of Scripture allows for a deeper understanding. The more my CQ (cultural quotient or cultural intelligence) expands, the more humble I am when I read the Bible.
In the same way, we need to focus on understanding the multicultural neighborhood around us.
The Christian Church is the first truly global institution. Soon after Paul and the other Apostles began traveling the world the Church began operating in the rarified air of globalization. A thousand plus years before there was such a word.
And yet we can still walk into most churches and be stunned by how uniquely local they are. At its best, this is a wonderful expression of community. At its worst, it is a social club of likeminded and alike looking people.
A recent conversation reminded me that to grow from local to global we must first understand ourselves. And then we must understand our immediate neighbors. We cannot be fully effective in another country until we understand the multicultural context of our own community. Like concentric rings that expand outward, we have to walk through one to get to the next.
This is a unique opportunity of the Church that can be a unique strength. The truth is that the strength already exists. It’s a matter of leveraging it.
Understanding the cultural context of Scripture is a good first step. Taking the lessons from that will grow our CQ. Using that to embrace those in our neighborhood will expand our CQ even more. And then the world awaits … from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria … to the ends of the earth.
There is a long history within the Church for doing this, and an incredible opportunity before us now.