Breaking Barriers to Cross Cultural Evangelism

Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. – John 4:35

If given an hour to solve a problem, Albert Einstein said he will use 55 minutes to define the problem and 5 minutes to solve it. Jesus’ assertion in John 4:35 underscores the needs and challenges of cross-cultural evangelism. Multiculturalism is the embrace and integration of our diverse human capitals and resources for a common objective, where our diversity becomes a strength instead of a threat or weakness. In a multicultural ministry, cross-cultural evangelism can serve an as eminent tool for reaching people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The case for cross-cultural evangelism lies in a fuller understanding of our common human traits, as opposed to fixations on our perceived differences. One of these common traits is the priceless value that the Lord placed on the soul of everyone that He created. Our perceived differences across cultural lines become trifling and irrelevant when we consider that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and that He came to seek and to save those of every nation, kindred, people, and tongues, who are lost.

Perceived barriers

Monoculturalism has both external and internal implications for the church. First, the word recognizes the perceived differences that influence our choice of associations, the challenges and struggles for inclusiveness, and the limited understanding of our common humanity. In John 4, Jesus skillfully led the Samaritan woman to look past His Jewishness to see His deity and humanity as the Messiah who came to give Himself as a ransom for the sins of the whole world.

Secondly, monoculturalism creates conditions that are propitious for rejection of groups from a different culture. In John chapter 4, Jesus skillfully navigated the issues surrounding the woman of Samaria to highlight the compelling mission to save the lost, irrespective of their cultural differences, or sinful condition – Luke, 9:54.

His return to Samaria in John 4:4 suggests that any successful cross-cultural evangelism must transcend social and cultural barriers and embrace the approaches employed by our Lord in His successful multi-cultural ministry. Multi-cultural evangelism was absolutely necessary for the harvesting of souls in the first century, and the same is true today in the twenty-first century for the following reasons:

1. The vulnerability of cross-cultural revival: Unharvested fruits are vulnerable to wild beasts lurking in the field. Hence, a harvest cannot be delayed without significant loss to wild beasts, devouring birds in the air, and unfriendly weather conditions. Jesus was compelled to go through Samaria because the revival of Act 8 was vulnerable to the cunning craftiness of Simon the Sorcerer.
2. The window of receptivity is seasonal: Seasons are discernible, and harvest is seasonal. The opportunity to reap the harvest could be lost if we do not take advantage of the season, when the people are receptive to the gospel in a community.
3. The urgency of the time: An effective and productive reaping of the harvest in cross-cultural fields will require methodical planning and strategic management of the process. An absence of a clearly delineated and systematic plan and timeline for harvesting the fruits could endanger the harvest or cause the harvest to fall victim to other market priorities.
4. The need for visionary leadership: We must see what God sees. In God’s kingdom, whatever we sow will eventually grow and bear fruits. It is for this reason that Jesus was minded travelling  through Samaria. He knew that the revival in Samaria would catalyze a multi-cultural harvest and neutralize their earlier rejections in Luke 9:54.

The lens of breakthroughs:

Jesus leaped over the sectorial and cultural wall of Samaritans by capitalizing on our common human attraction to values. We are attracted to things of great value and are willing to walk the extra mile or pay a higher price for things that are valuable to us– Psalms 23:2. The value is in the fruits; hence, it is the fruit of a tree that attracts participation in a harvest as opposed to the tree itself. Consequently, the disconnect in Jesus’ assertion was not the absence of leadership, but the inability of leaders to recognize and appreciate our shared values as well as seasons of spiritual hunger across cultural lines.

In Luke 9:53, the disciples were blinded by their fixation on cultural differences, which later led to their frustrations, and their lack of excitement about the Samaritans who embraced and believed the Gospel. The earliest Apostles struggled to remain relevant due to ethnocentrism Acts 10 &11. We must transcend ethnic and cultural divides if we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and make great strides in cross-cultural evangelism campaigns-Proverbs 29:18.

Based on Jesus’ model, the task of leading cross-cultural evangelism campaign across cultural groups or among African immigrant in North America involves the identification of areas of receptivity, shared values, timing, and seasons of spiritual hunger.

In John 4:27-41, Jesus introduced critical values necessary for the successful execution of an enthusiastic and effective cross-cultural evangelism campaign. These values are visionary leadership, convenience of services, accessibility, and quality of care or relief. Therefore, as evangelists, we must think like an architect, a strategist, a coach, and a cheerleader of the harvest.

1. The Architect of the harvest – John 4:34, 35. We must have a burden for souls and see what God is seeing in the field. Vision does not occur in a vacuum. Jesus was compelled to return to Samaria in John 4 because He wanted to feed the hungry souls of Samaria and protect them from wolves in sheep’s clothing.Jesus used the barley field to create a mental picture of the spiritual thirst in Samaria and used the analogy to communicate the urgency of cross-cultural evangelism plainly to His disciples. A scrupulous understanding of any cultural group, including African immigrants, will inspire visions for cross-cultural outreach and influence the direction of any multi-cultural evangelism campaign.
2. The Strategist of the harvest – John 4:35. It is important to see what God sees, but the successful execution of any venture requires a plan. The primary duty of a planner is to draw the plans based on the project timelines and light the runway for the safe landing of the aircraft by the pilot.When Jesus stated, “Say not that there are yet four months, and then cometh. harvest” He was invoking a sense of urgency and moving those under convictions to a point of decision making– 2 Corinthians 6:2. The objective of planning is to guide priorities through best practices for cross-cultural evangelism. Jesus used value propositions to help the Samaritan woman look beyond His Jewish heritage and embrace His deity as the Messiah. He gained her trust by offering her:
   • A convenient place of worship as opposed to worshipping solely in Jerusalem or on a mountain.
   • A life-changing and accessible living water that is more satisfying than the water from Jacob’s well.
   • An inclusive, more friendly, welcoming, and approachable environment that attracts participation instead of sectorial conflict in a judgmental environment.
   • Jesus lighted the gospel runway to help the woman land her plane. What the Samaritan remembered most was how Jesus made her feel as opposed to the gospel message. “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”
3. The Coach of the harvest – John 4:36-38. Coaching is team leadership and the art of human capital development. No one can birth a vision alone because seed and harvest are relational just as incarnation and regeneration are critical pathways to resurrection. The birth canal of vision should be managed effectively by the coach to maximize results. If he plans to win or reap the harvest, he must recruit the right talents. The recruiting process requires a sound knowledge of the game (incarnation) to instill confidence or regenerate the people’s faith in the team.Jesus recruited His team of disciples (the players) for the Samaritan revival (the game), and use the persecution in Jerusalem to situate Phillip, Peter, and John in environments that were conducive to the effective reaping of the harvest (play the game). The souls that are saved in a revival campaign are the fruits of the harvest and the trophy we celebrate. The moral implication is that talent alone is not enough; a multicultural evangelist needs a team of disciples to reap a harvest and celebrate the feast of a multicultural campaign.
4. The Cheerleader of the harvest – John 4:39, 40. Jesus celebrated small wins with the disciples to foster enthusiasm to the cause. The disciple returned in time with the bread to celebrate their multicultural breakthrough in Samaria with Jesus. “I have meat to eat that ye know not of” – John 4:32; “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work” – John 4:34. We must celebrate people’s contributions, give recognition, and show our gratitude to build moral and enthusiasm for the mission.

The implications of breaking barrier to cross-cultural evangelism for: pastors, evangelists, and saints:

It is apparent that Jesus’ assertions were not made in a vacuum, but in the context of great thirst, hunger, and intense quest of the Samaritans for a better life and more lasting solution to the old Jacob’s well that could no longer quench the thirst of the community. When we examine cross-cultural evangelism through this lens, we extrapolate that:

1. Benefits of the gospel should drive the message contents: African Immigrants or other cultural groups will gravitate to messages that emphasizes the values of the gospel, and why Jesus is more satisfying to their needs than the pursuit of wealth, entertainment, and materialism that could no longer meet their thirst for eternal joy and fulfillment. The benefit of the living water Jesus offered is eternal salvation, and it was easily accessible than Jacob’s well. This gift was more attractive to the Samaritans and motivated their participation than the perceived sectorial and cultural barriers of Jesus’ Jewish heritage. We should avoid critical and judgement approaches when delivering the gospel of Christ and joyfully draw water out of the wells of salvation – Isaiah 12:3.
2. Timing is a critical factor. Cross-cultural evangelism can no longer be pigeonholed without a significant loss of hungry souls to subverting market priorities, which include excessive indulgence of materialism, and the likes of Simon the sorcerer – 2 Cor 6:1-2. We must discern and seize the windows of receptivity now. The men of Issachar had a competitive advantage over their peers because they understood the times they were living in and were cognizant that a window of opportunity could dwindle- 1 Chronicle 12:32. We, likewise, should understand our times. – Romans 13:11-14.
3. Unripe fruits are hard to pull: We cannot look into the future of cross-cultural evangelism with an old lens. We may live in the same city, drive on the same road, go to the same school, but a different culture influences how African immigrant and other cultural groups think. Visionary leadership is needed to discern the time and season of a ripe harvest in African Immigrant communities. A misalignment in times, seasons, and strategy will result in a premature harvesting of the souls. The people will become difficult to reach, like pulling unripe fruit from the tree. Moreover, unripe fruits are very bitter to eat, if harvested prematurely.
4. It is all about winning souls: Coaching is a performance driven and result oriented profession. It is all about winning for the coach. A misalignment in strategy indicates a lack of attention to the cultural contexts of the people group such as the African immigrants in North American. An understanding of the cultural context of a specific community is critical to soul-winning within the specific group.

Recommendations:

In North America, the door of opportunity lies with African Immigrant millennials and millennials of other cultural groups between ages 18 and 35 years old. The best ways to reach them are through:

1. Social platforms of their preference, relevant need-based solutions, and social engagement as co-creators of the value chain to motivate their acceptance of the gospel and participation in evangelizing the African Immigrant community.
2. The use of cultural and behaviorally tailored promotional materials that appeals to millennials of unique cultural groups such as brochures and flyers to stimulate information-processing and acceptance of the gospel to motivate changes in behavior.
3. Public engagement with families and community groups to create culturally relevant contents that align the gospel with the needs of the community for micro targeting of African immigrant millennial group, avoiding misleading expectations, and misalignment of strategies to promote inclusiveness and restore confidence in the church.
4. The churches are good platforms to promote social integration, communicate openness to African immigrant groups, and embrace corporate identity and identifications with people group through social inclusion.

All communities can be reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ if barriers to multi-cultural evangelism are breached.