02 Jun Separating Jesus from “Christian” Culture

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

While visiting in Dearborn, Mich., recently, I was told about a Muslim woman who, although she professes no faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, still has the habit of removing the Gideon Bible from the nightstand of hotel rooms and placing it in the highest location she can find in the room.

Why would she do something so strange? Well, according to her Muslim culture, religious books are sacred and ought to be treated with respect. In her view, the Bible deserves that sort of respect, too, even though it is not her religious book.

This sheds some light on the violent reaction of the Muslim world to Pastor Terry Jones’ “Burn a Koran Day.” But more importantly, it provides insight into what has become known as the Jesus Movement.

Around the world, there are those who are embracing Jesus, without necessarily embracing Christian culture. In fact, they would still consider themselves cultural Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or Muslims after they have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The idea of Bible-believing followers of Jesus identifying themselves as anything other than Christian has been a hot topic for some time. I personally have serious reservations about certain aspects of “insider” movements, where converts remain within their former faith community and continue worshiping in their mosque or Buddhist temple. However, the issue of culture is a little bit different.

We talk about our Christian culture as North Americans and have our own impressions as to what we mean by “Christian.” However, Christian culture conjures up a variety of mental images in other countries.

A friend was living in Jordan and joined a group of Muslim men to drink tea. As they chatted, the host asked if he would like to watch a Christian movie with them. My friend had no idea what to think. Could it be that he had a copy of the “Jesus” video.

Moments later, the host emerged with a pornographic film. Unfortunately, “Christian” means anything we value here in the West or that emerges from our society. After all, we are a Christian country, right? So, is the Easter Bunny “Christian”? What about Halloween?

The truth is that some aspects of our own culture are not particularly honoring to Jesus, while certain aspects of other cultures may actually be more God-honoring…like the Muslim woman giving the Bible a more prominent place.

For many people serving on the front lines of cross-cultural ministry, it’s been both a fascinating and challenging journey. Separating out religious belief from culture can be tedious, but finding a way through the maze has allowed for many to be followers of Christ without experiencing outright rejection from their community.

Remaining as part of their cultural group means that movements of people coming to Christ can be made possible–accepting Jesus, without necessarily embracing Western culture.

If you’re interested in reading more about Jesus Movements, try this article on the MissionFrontiers.org site.