A few years back one of my former professors suggested I write a book entitled, “Reflections of a Cross-Cultural Evangelist.” I didn’t like the title as the word evangelist conjures up, for me, negative images. Today’s evangelists are those who usually have a gimmick, look like pro wrestlers or wear Treki uniforms. I don’t want to project the image of one who is forever thrusting a gospel track in the face of everybody I meet asking, “Are you saved, brother?” After my classes this week, however, I’ve been thinking about my role as a cross-cultural evangelist.One of the assignments for my class is to read my doctoral dissertation on the social structure of the Kara Pokot. There are many things about the Pokot culture that is non-Christian such as drinking homemade beer, polygamy, female circumcision and going to the witchdoctor. Many students, down through the years, have taken me to task for not speaking out more forcibly about these practices. I am continually reminding my students that the study of social organization is not meant to correct behavior but to understand the worldview of people. There are profound reasons why the Pokot, and all cultures, engage in sinful practices. It is those reasons (I call “critical tension”) that lead an evangelist to speak to people about their relationship with God. I remind my students that most cultural practices are non-salvation issues. Yes, of course I do not condone genital mutilation, divorce, co-habitation, homosexuality and a whole host of other non-Christian practices (and other “sins” Christians don’t make a big deal of i.e., gluttony, gossip, covetousness, etc.) but they are issues outside the door of a transformed life. I’m concerned with the condition of people before they are redeemed, which makes me different from many who insist people act like Christians before they become followers of Christ.
While I indeed believe Christians have a responsibility to speak to the injustices of this world, Christianity, for some, has become, like our politics, issue oriented. In the process we have forgotten that abortion, though wrong, is not a salvation issue. What motivates me each day are the 87% of the 3.6 billion people in Asia who do not personally know a Christian. I’m trying to encourage the church to go out into the world and not only to meet people outside the faith but, like our Lord, be a friend of sinners. You will never be their friend by beating up on their behavior. You will become a friend when you learn more about them and build a relationship with them. Do the work of an evangelist, not an activist for a cause.
