How We View The World Affects How We Share the Gospel

Did you know that we (Americans) most often present the gospel to people on the basis of "guilt and righteousness"? And did you know that this paradigm* is only one of many lenses through which people in the world view life and need?

The "guilt/righteousness" paradigm exists in the Christian West, but the paradigms of "honor/shame" and "defilement/clean" exist mostly in Muslim countries. It is simply the more natural way that they look at the world. Worldviews like these exist not just in Muslim countries but spreads all the way from North Africa in the West to Korea and Japan in the East.

A fourth paradigm- "fear/power"- exists in the minds of folk Muslims all over the Muslim world and in some African (and Caribbean) countries where some people are occupied with the demonic and magic.

Now, did you know that although most of the way we read our Bible relates to the "guilt/righteousness" paradigm, the Bible actually addresses ALL FOUR of these paradigms. So, the challenge we face is learning to present the gospel with all four paradigms in mind, starting with the paradigm appropriate to the person we are connecting with.

For example, if I begin to share with a Muslim friend about humanity's sin problem and its resulting guilt, and how righteousness through Christ is the only way out of that condemning guilt... am I saying anything wrong? No. That is all true and of course is necessary to understand. But it just might not be the primary way in which my Muslim friend views the world, so it doesn't strike her as the most important issue she wants resolved in her life.

For her, maybe, she is more interested in knowing how Jesus can remove the shame she feels in her life and restore her to honor. Or maybe she is aching inside to feel clean and needs to know that Jesus removes her stains and makes her white as snow. Or maybe she lives in fear and would like to know how Jesus has overcome all the things in this world (and the next) that plague her with fear.

Tomorrow, I am starting a new study of the Gospel of John and I am going to pray that God helps me recognize in His Word the ways He teaches, heals, and gives hope to ALL people, addressing the key issues in all worldviews. I want to try and read the Bible like someone from another culture would so I can learn what stands out to them and what brings them peace.

(I learned about this subject and paraphrased the concept from this book.)

* Paradigm means: A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them.