Culture, Ethnicity & Language: shaping our expereince of God.

Change your dominant culture and you will change your life. The dominant culture predicts and shapes how we think and understand others, God, and ourselves. Culture can have many meanings and can be thought of as behaviors, beliefs, language, and customs etc. How do we consider Culture? Culture refers to the meanings, values, and behavioral norms transmitted by the dominant culture.

If you grew-up in the 50’s and 60’s you most likely learned that Russians were the bad guys or that Communists were out to get America. If you were raised in a culture that believed the Book of Mormon was a special revelation from God there is a very good chance you hold the same belief. Perhaps you grew up in a culture that identified the bible as the inerrant word of God. Any person who did not hold that view was considered "wrong". I talked to a Southern Baptist missionary the other day. He was raised in the deep South, attended a SBC church his entire life, went to a Baptist college and attended a Baptist seminary. He has been shaped and formed by one dominant culture. He only understands the world, God, and himself through one lens. Anything that challenges the views of the dominant culture is considered a threat.

Let’s say you had a significant religious experience or an encounter with God. Afterward you seek out explanations to what happened. Depending on where you land, your experience will be determined or defined by the dominant culture. The language you use will be determined by the dominant culture. Try speaking a different language or changing how you understand God to the dominant voice and find out what happens.

What does your culture tell you about God? Yourself? Scripture? I frequently encounter people who may have changed their outward appearance but inwardly they have the same language, beliefs, customs, and values of their dominant culture. Does the emergent movement have its on "culture"? Who transmits the norm within this culture? Issues such as theology, hermeneutics, spirituality, etc will play a significant role in determining the "culture". There are external components such as: beliefs, laws, morals, customs, habits, etc that define the culture. There are internal components such as norms, standards, and ideals.

Something else that needs to be considered is Ethnicity. Ethnicity refers to an individual’s sense of belonging to a group of people sharing a common origin and history, along with similar cultural and social beliefs. Ethnicity also refers to shared descent and aspirations, as well as behavioral norms and personal identity. Ethnicity may imply national and geographical origin, but not always. How does your ethnicity shape your understanding of God?

Language identifies and codifies an individual’s experience, which is not readily translated from one language to another without distortion. Who defines the primary language in the emergent church?

As a Chaplain I attended a workshop by renowned Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF Dr. Francis Lu who has done ground breaking work in the field culture. It is his work and treatment of psychiatric patients based on their dominant culture that prompted this post.