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Church in the contemporary world faces various issues and crisis originating from cultural factors more so in North America. Percy and Ward (2016) explain that different aspects arise due to the globalization and change in the cultural system making individuals perceive church in diverse ways which directly or indirectly impacts the churches in North American in a negatively or positively. North American societies express individualism as the cultural structure, which significantly affects the church in many ways (Orobator, 2001). According to Roxburgh (2004), the concept of expressive individualism makes the church to encounter challenges in spreading the gospel since God word come for “Us” but not “Me”. Equally, the people in the North American societies get isolated, polarized and fragmented in the contemporary world, which negatively impacts the church. Herbert (2017) posits that decline of the individuals’ trust in the institutions such as churches giving people increased the number of choices about their lives hence decreasing solidarity resulting in fragmentation as well as disorientation (Roxburgh, 2004). As a result, the church encounters difficulties in reaching every individual in such cultural set up for the word of God.
People in the North American perceive the church in different ways due to the cultural structure of society. In most cases, the North American communities possess the pragmatic view of the church, which relegates their faith towards the private sphere of individual values. Influence of the technology in contemporary North American cultures makes people rely on science as the arbiter of facts and truth as compared to religion (Herbert, 2017). As a result, individuals relegate the religion and church issues to a matter of personal and privates hence not expressed in the public sphere (Roxburgh, 2004). Such problems make Christians view their faith based on their impacts on their lives but not focusing on their entire truthfulness. On the same note, most of the North American societies see the church morality as old version as well as dangerous or extreme (Orobator, 2001). The contemporary culture of North America experiences the moral revolution hence changes in the longstanding cultural beliefs and practices. As a result, the expressive individualism exists as dominant, therefore considering the fundamental Christianity as old fashioned and extreme.
Cultural issues critically affect the presentation of the gospel in different ways which varies from one society to another. According to Hiebert (1999), different societies focus on the bible, church and entire Christianity from diverse angle hence the presentation of the gospel in multiple cultures requires a number of approaches. For instance, patterns of behaviors among different culture would impact the spread of the gospel in various communities (Herbert, 2017). Some of the behaviors contradict the Christian way of living as well as its conduct in private and public life (Hiebert, 1999). Notably, every cultural system possesses its belief structure and shared among societies. Beliefs affect how the church would intrude into a particular community since beliefs offer the people with logic and categories used in experiencing and viewing the world in relation to the word of God (Percy & Ward, 2016). For instance, not all Americans believe in God and Indians believes in the fierce rakshasas. Cultural feeling furthers the presentation of the gospel as it comprises the way people like and dislikes in the contemporary world. As per Hiebert (1999), feelings impact some of the emotional expressions such as aggression towards different individuals more so visitors like in case of evangelism. Similarly, values and allegiances directly or indirectly affect the evangelism work in various cultural environments. For example, values determine the judgment of the people on what exists as wrong or rights (Hiebert, 1999). Such judgment would influence the society view on the gospel presented by the church.
References
Herbert, D. (2017). Religion and civil society: Rethinking public religion in the contemporary world. Routledge.
Hiebert, P. G. (1999). Cultural differences and the communication of gospel. Perspecfives on the world Chrisfian movement. Revised 3rd edition. William Carey Library, Pasadena, 373-383.
Orobator, AE (2001). Challenges confronting the church in the 21st century. Hekima Review .
Percy, M., & Ward, P. (2016). The Wisdom of the Spirit: Gospel, Church and Culture. Routledge.
Roxburgh, A. J. (2004). The missional church. Theology Matters, 10(4), 1-15.