Cultural Relativism

"The position of cultural relativism is very attractive. It shows high respect for other people and their cultures and avoids the errors of ethnocentrism and premature judgments. It also deals with the difficult philosophical questions of truth and morality by withholding judgment and affirming the right of each culture to reach its own answers. The price we pay, however, in adopting total cultural relativism is the loss of such things as truth and righteousness. If all explanations of reality are equally valid, we can no longer speak of error, and if all behavior is justified according to its cultural context, we can no longer speak of sin. There is then no need for the gospel and no reason for missions."

I am currently reading a book entitled Anthropological Insights for Missionaries by Paul Hiebert. I have never delved into anthropology, sociology or philosophy in an academic sense, but this book has been great for beginning the learning process of understanding how the gospel and culture mix.

I have long thought about this concept of ‘cultural relativism’, without knowing the name for it. Even from within the church, we tend to justify the actions of every other culture (except our own). We throw the phrase, ‘That is just part of their culture. Who are we to judge the way they do things?’ at situations without thinking about the consequences of such a phrase. In thinking about reaching and engaging another culture, we try to assume that all things are neutral in a culture, whether beliefs, customs or behaviors. This is foolish.

If we embrace cultural relativism, then just as Heibert says, there is no need for the gospel or missions. Since all cultures are inherently neutral or good, there is no need to evangelize or tell about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This mindset is dangerous.

We must have some objective ground to stand on to speak into a culture. This solid ground must be the Bible, since it is the revelation of God to us. To stand on any other ground leads to a disastrous end.

Ultimately, God is about redeeming and reconciling all peoples, cultures and societies back to Himself. He wants to take and redeem all things back to Himself. Cultures are broken, yet beautiful. When engaging our own culture and other cultures, we must remember that within each culture exist the extremes of reality; brokenness and beauty. We must be about redeeming the brokenness and embracing the beautiful.

In reading this book, Hiebert has forced me to think about what is truly essential and what is negotiable. He challenges the decision criteria for deciding what is essential and negotiable. Essentials must be essential to the church across all cultures. Negotiables may or may not be valid in every culture. This was a challenging exercise for me to think about. You might find it to be helpful to think about.

Label each with an E for Essential or an N for Negotiable

1 -	Greet each other with a holy kiss.
2 -	Do not go to court to settle issues between Christians.
3 -	Do not eat meat used in pagan ceremonies.
4 -	Women in the assembly should be veiled when praying or speaking.
5 -	Wash feet at the Lord's Supper (Eucharist)
6 -	Lay hands on for ordination.
7 -	Sing without musical accompaniment.
8 -	Abstain from eating blood.
9 -	Abstain from fornication.
10 -	Share the Lord's Supper (Eucharist) together.
11 -	Use only real wine and unleavened bread for your Eucharist meals.
12 -	Use only grape juice for Eucharist meals.
13 -	Anoint with oil for healing.
14 -	Women are not to teach men.
15 -	Women are not to wear braided hair, gold or pearls.
16 -	Men are not to have long hair.
17 -	Do not drink wine at all.
18 -	Slavery is permissible if you treat slaves well.
19 -	Remain single.
20 -	Seek the gift of tongues.
21 -	Seek the gift of healing.
22 -	Lift your hands when you pray.
23 -	People who don't work don’t eat.
24 -	Have a private 'devotional time' every day.
25 -	Say Amen at the end of prayers.
26 -	Appoint elders and deacons in every congregation.
27 -	Elect the elders.
28 -	Confess sins one to another.
29 -	Confess sins privately to God.
30 -	Give atleast ten percent of your income/goods/crops to God.
31 -	Construct a building for worship.
32 -	Confess Christ publicly by means of baptism.
33 -	Be baptized by immersion.
34 -	Be baptized as an adult.
35 -	Be baptized as a child/infant.
36 -	Do not be a polygamist.
37 -	Do not divorce your spouse for any reason.
38 -	Do not divorce your spouse except for adultery.

What principle or principles governed your decision? Write out the method that you used, in a simple, concise statement. Be completely honest with yourself and accurately describe how you made your decisions. Your principles should account for every decision.

Are your essential items so important to you that you could not associate with a group that did not practice all of them? Are there some essential items that are a little more essential than others? Are there any items that have nothing explicitly to do with Scripture at all?

I hope this is helpful in thinking about how we engage our own and other cultures with the gospel.