A Brief Exploration to Help You Understand Culture Better

Much of the Western world is experiencing a large influx of people from different cultures. Although this immigration results in cultural conflicts, it also creates wonderful opportunities for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Culture is not so much about differences in nationality or ethnicity but different ways of viewing the world, thinking, and behaving. This statement is too broad and vague, so let’s explore what culture is more deeply.

Culture is one of the most difficult words to define, and it does not occur in the Bible.

So, what is culture? How does it impact life and faith?

Let’s begin with a hypothetical scenario.

A scenario

Once upon a time, identical male triplets were born. The following day, they were each whisked away to different places. One was raised in a medium-sized town in the western United States, another in a village in northwestern Afghanistan, and the third in a remote tribal area of the Amazon jungle. 

Twenty years later, these men are reunited.

They come as they are. They look at each other uncomprehendingly. The man raised in Afghanistan has a beard and wears traditional Afghani clothes, with a brown pakol on his head. The Matis from the Amazon is not wearing much of anything: a long loincloth, his face and chest painted red, and bones piercing each earlobe and the septum of his nose. The American wears blue jeans, a colorful jersey of his favorite sports team, and fashionable running shoes. 

Their host breaks the awkward silence to explain the circumstances—in three different languages: a little-known dialect of the Amazon Basin, Pashto, and English. 

After this introduction, the American steps forward, his right hand extended as he says, “Hi, I’m Mike.” The Matis retreats quickly as if he’s being attacked. The frowning Afghani holds his ground and crosses his arms defensively.

A moment later, they are invited to sit and eat. The Afghani and the Matis sit on the floor while the American looks around for a chair. He finally sits—somewhat uncomfortably—on the floor. 

The food selection includes hamburgers, fries, soft drinks, goat, flatbread, dates, plantains, wild boar, a starchy paste, some tea, and water. Each man eats what is familiar to him. In the end, the Afghani belches with satisfaction; the American looks up in offended surprise. 

This fictitious scenario illustrates aspects of different cultures and how three genetically identical people can become so different from each other.

Three elements of culture

What can we learn about the concept of culture from this scenario? 

Let me suggest three elements. Please let me know what you disagree with or think I have missed.

1. Culture is learned.

Although it is true that each of these men breathes, wears clothes, eats, sleeps, and communicates, they have their own ways of doing these human functions—ways that they have learned from others. 

2. Culture is communal.

People sharing a particular culture have a “way” of behaving (e.g., how they eat), communicating (e.g., how they speak and gesture), understanding or interpreting “reality” (e.g., their ‘stories,’ symbols, and beliefs), and relating to each other (e.g., rules of etiquette). 

3. Culture is shaped by events and environment.

For instance, the environment of a jungle, mountains, or seacoast directly impacts food supplies, security, and climate, which in turn shape how a group of people lives: what and when they eat, how they protect themselves, and what they wear.

Events, whether good or bad, are interpreted in ways that offer a framework of understanding. These interpretations may be scientific or not, but they do attempt to explain birth and death, disease and health, crop failures and successes, war and peace, thereby shaping a culture’s ‘stories,’ values, and beliefs. 

Definitions of culture  

What is culture?

A Google search of “culture” results in “About 4,570,000,000 results (0.29 seconds).” Definitions of “culture” specific to Petri dishes and goat cheese aside, let me make two observations. 

First, Raymond Williams (1921-1988), a Welsh academic, novelist, and critic, wrote:

Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.[1]

Second, (and this might surprise you) the word “culture” is not found in English Bibles. 

What word(s) or concept(s) used in an English Bible can help us understand culture from a biblical perspective? I will suggest an answer in another post.

Despite the warning that “culture” is a complicated concept, here are four proposed definitions: 

1.     “A complex system of assumptions, practices, stories, and beliefs that guide how a common people think and act as well as what they value.” (Jim Van Yperen)

2.     “The shared and learned patterns of thought and behavior, characteristic of a given population.” (Terry Harris)

3.     “Culture in the broadest sense is everything that people do with creation. It refers to the little worlds we have (through our own creativity in work, play and daily relationships) out of God’s creation. That broad sense of the word is almost too big to think about ….” (Loren Wilkinson)

4.     “The culture concept ... denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life.” (Clifford Geertz)

Reflecting on culture 

Take a few moments to think about your culture or cultures (you probably live in more than one).

Your culture or cultures might, for example, include modern Canadian culture, as well as a youth culture, a motorcycle club culture, or (as recent immigrants) the culture of the country you or your parents left. Identify your dominant culture—the one that has the most significant or profound influence on how you live.

What does your dominant culture say about the following three absolutes? (I have written elsewhere about these absolutes of our humanity—for example, Who is the God of all cultures?”)

Absolute #1:

Every human—whenever, wherever, and however they live—is wired for God, others, and creation because each of us is an “image of God.” 

You might focus on what your dominant culture believes and practices about God, about humans, and about the environment. For instance,

• Is “god” some supreme being that has no interest or influence?
• Are “humans” the result of a random process of evolution?
• Is the environment simply a resource for increasing wealth? 

Absolute #2:

The image we are has become distorted or marred—we have somehow been diminished. 

Does your dominant culture agree with this absolute? If not, what does it believe and practice on this point? 

How does your dominant culture explain the human condition?

Absolute #3:

The ‘knowledge’ that we are made for more, and our lives are not as they could be.

Does your dominant culture believe that we are made for more, and if so, what is that “more”?

Wrestling with questions like these can help you become more aware of your dominant culture and its position regarding these absolutes. In turn, you will begin to see more clearly the points of contact and tension between faithfulness toward God and relevance to your culture.

What other questions does this exploration raise for you (personally), your culture (generally), and your understanding of God? For me, a few questions to ask later may include:

How is a person’s understanding of God related to the ‘stories,’ values, and beliefs of that person’s culture?

How is God speaking into your dominant culture?

What are some points of contact between your culture and the Gospel?

Please click here and let me know what you think. Would you like to read more about Christ and Culture?

FORWARD TO the next post in this series

Notes:
[1] Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, New edition (New York, NY: Oxford University Press), 49.

Photo credit: Matis native by Rodrigo @ Paiva Creative Commons non-commercial license.