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GOSPEL AND CULTURE. HOW DID PAUL RESOLVE THE ISSUE OF GOSPEL-CULTURE ENCOUNTER WITH RESPECT TO FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1-13? HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE THE ISSUES FOR PASTORAL MINISTRY IN AFRICA? Written by: Pastor Elizabeth Korasare, MA

GOSPEL AND CULTURE. 
HOW DID PAUL RESOLVE THE ISSUE OF GOSPEL-CULTURE ENCOUNTERS WITH RESPECT TO FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1-13?

HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE THE ISSUES FOR PASTORAL MINISTRY IN AFRICA?

Written by: Pastor Elizabeth Korasare, MA

INTRODUCTION

The article seeks to look at gospel and culture and how Paul resolved the opposing views between gospel and culture regarding food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and how this issue impacts on pastoral ministry in Africa.

The definition of the gospel, is normally oversimplified to mean ‘the teachings and revelation of Christ’[1] or the Good News that is preached to people. Culture on the other hand is defined as the way of life and social organization of a particular country or a group of people. [2] The meaning and scope of these two words cannot be fully exhausted if defined in such simple terms. This paper will therefore look at a more holistic definition of the term gospel and culture.

WHAT IS GOSPEL?

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term ‘god-spell’ meaning ‘good story’. It is the translation of the Greek word euangelion[3] meaning ‘a good message’. In the New Testament, euangelion becomes the technical word for the message of Good News offered to all men through faith in Christ Jesus. The gospel/Good News is a gift from God.[4] Paul writes in Galatians 1:6-11, that the Gospel of God is His revelation and not a discovery, and that there is no other Gospel apart from the Gospel of Christ.

Over the years, a series of Ecumenical council conferences have taken place to find a working definition of the gospel. At the fifth assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Nairobi in 1975, the gospel was defined as:

the good news from God, our creator and Redeemer…the announcement of God’s kingdom and love through Jesus Christ, the offer of grace and forgiveness of sins, the invitation to repentance and faith in him… the responsibility to participate in the struggle for justice and human dignity’.[5]

This definition from the WCC is more of a person and church-oriented understanding which maintains the traditional definition of evangelism[6] - reaching out to people with the message of redemption and calling them to repentance. It also includes the dimension that seeks to address justice and human rights, therefore integrating the gospel into all aspects of human life.

Kwame Bediako succinctly describes the gospel as ‘who Christ is, and what he means, in his person, his life on earth, his work, his death, his resurrection and its aftermath and how all that concerning him relates to all human beings in all our cultural traditions, histories and environments.[7] In other words, the Gospel relates to human nature at its very core and to human existence in totality. It relates to the historical, social, cultural, economic and political as well as personal[8] aspects of life.  The gospel could, therefore, be described as how the life of Christ relates to us in all circumstances of life. The Apostle Paul also summarizes the basic elements of the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Paul writes ‘…that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures’.[9] Therefore, the gospel in my opinion is the Good News of Jesus that brings holistic redemption to man. It brings about the renewal of the soul and body of the individual and the community as a whole. With the understanding that the gospel brings us the message of God’s total identification with humanity, we can then say that the gospel is the ‘person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth’[10] and the continuation of his life in the work of the church and all other aspects of human life in the context of our culture.  

WHAT IS CULTURE?

Culture has its origins in God. It began in the Garden of Eden when God created the male and female and endowed them with moral and social values and the capability to develop patterns of behavior and evolve ways of life. Cultural practices handed over from the patriarch have evolved, and changed, some are suppressed and others have been eradicated. Yet to a large extent, elements of culture still persist in most societies. The word is derived from the French word culture and Latin cultura, meaning to grow, or cultivate.

Culture can be likened to a tree. The most important elements are hidden underneath and largely invisible to outsiders. Such elements are the history, beliefs, ideology; that are hardly understood unless explained. The surface elements include ways of dressing, arts, traditions, rituals, which have also been identified by Kwame Bediako in his definition of culture. He also asserts that culture relates to how persons and their social groupings think and understand themselves in their physical and spiritual environment. This includes ‘political organizations, notions of leadership, authority, power and rule as well as religion and moral values and things deemed acceptable and unacceptable’.[11]

Paul Hiebert defines culture as ‘more or less integrated systems of beliefs, feelings and values and their associated symbols, pattern of behavior and products’.[12] The WCC assembly in Nairobi in 1975, attempted to define culture as ‘people’s style of life, the way people think, behave and live together and that which in this sense continues to mold the way of life of the people’.[13]

It is obvious from the definitions above that gospel and culture are inseparable because the gospel is about how Christ relates to all circumstances of life and this is an ‘enduring encounter’[14] as Kwame Bediako posits.

GOSPEL AND CULTURE

As stated by Kwame Bediako, ‘gospel and culture is something that has been going on all the time, and that God has been about this ever since creation’.[15] Our understanding of God’s revelation is related to gospel and culture and therefore gospel and culture are inseparable. God’s self-revelation is linked to actual history of a particular people in the context of their culture. In other words, God’s interaction and relations with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants were in their own cultural setting.

Before the New Testament times, a Jewish people with a definite sense of their history, religious traditions, identity and culture, had developed. Their concern was the return of the Kingdom to Israel.[16] It was in this culture that the ‘Word became flesh and dwelt’.[17] This was the beginning of the encounter of gospel and culture in the New Testament. The gospel in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was born in a Jewish environment dominated by Romans, his manifestation as God in Christ (divinity) took place within the Jewish environment. He spoke the language, followed the customs and traditions, lived and shared in the life experiences of the people; their pain, ignorance, social practices, festivals, religion and philosophy. The ‘Word’ became alive in the culture and shared his God-experience with the people according to their category of thought, their background and mentality. He criticized the negative aspects of their culture and opened their minds to understand important aspects of scripture.[18] Therefore, the person of Jesus Christ as the Gospel; the Son of God, and Savior of the world, embodies the fullest revelation of God to all humanity in a cultural setting. For the gospel to have full meaning it has to be in the context of a culture. Therefore, the gospel becomes our story, our tradition the model that shapes us, through which we see our way of life. It is about conversion of cultures and our entire being, turning over everything that makes us to Christ. At the heart of the gospel is Jesus and the heart of culture is the person.[19] Thus far I have looked at the definition of gospel and culture, I will now turn my attention to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and the significance of the issues for pastoral ministry in Africa. 

THE BACKGROUND OF THE CITY OF CORINTH

The city of Corinth was a vibrant commercial centre with a mixed ethnic population of Romans, indigenous Greeks and a strong Jewish community. At the time Paul’s missionary activities began at Corinth, the city was attracting traders everywhere in the empire. Many of the inhabitants were affluent and lived ostentatious lives.

On the religious front, the city housed many gods and cults. These included Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter among others. Temple prostitution and magic were very prevalent. Several of the people believed in keeping many gods; and there were inscriptions displayed in the city that read ‘I pray to all gods’.[20] The idol worshippers were preoccupied with sacrifices of animals to the gods. They consumed part of the meat and sold the rest at the public market. Sacrifices to idols were an important aspect of their religious life because it was believed that these gods preserved the state and social order. [21] Christians who refused to partake in the worship and sacrificial meals offered to the traditional gods, were branded as haters of humankind.[22]

THE CHURCH IN CORINTH

The church in Corinth was established by Paul on his third missionary journey with the help of Aquila and Priscilla. The church was socially stratified and diverse. It was made up of believers with different levels of maturity in the faith. Some of them were socially-pretentious and self-important individuals who paraded their symbols of self-importance, wisdom and influence in the church and looked down on those with lesser influence.[23] There were heightened disagreements among the believers on issues regarding marriage to unbelievers, lawsuits among believers and sexual immorality among others, that resulted in divisions.[24]

THE FACTIONS IN THE CULTURAL CONTEXT

The factions in the church were of two categories. The ‘strong group’, who felt superior because of their level of knowledge on spiritual things and the new converts, described by Paul as ‘weak’, [25] who were still struggling in the newfound faith and had not gained a full understanding of their salvation and Christ as their final sacrifice.

The strong were a group that understood that meat offered to idols was not harmful to the body, because idols were not real. With the knowledge and liberty they had acquired they condemned those who were not enlightened on such issues. The weak, on the other hand, new Gentiles Christians, were deeply rooted in a culture of idol worship and were not fully persuaded that idols were not real but just figments of imagination and phony. This was an issue Paul addressed to help the Gentile Christians grow.[26]

PAUL’S RESPONSE

Paul was mindful of the cultural context and therefore did not directly condemn the weak in the society for their ‘weak conscience’ that puts them in the category of unbelievers. Rather, Paul addresses the issue in the context of the culture, focusing on love for the neighbor, community living and bringing out the ethical issues bordered on the conscience.  Before this issue came up, it had already been established by the council of elders meeting in Jerusalem that ‘you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals’[27] This was a sin associated to pagan religious festivals and yet taken too lightly by the’ knowledgeable Greeks’. This issue was determined by the council of elders to bring sanity into the community of believers who were practicing syncretism. As Paul writes that ‘all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful, but not all things edify’.[28] Paul simply means that some actions may not be wrong, but will not be in the interest of others.

Hence, in Paul’s initial response, he pointed at the strong in the church who were puffed up because of knowledge and acted in a proud way over those who were weak in faith and were not sympathetic towards them. This, in Paul’s opinion, was not an expression of love and did not promote community living. To him, knowledge moderated with love was the only way to show that one loves God and is known by Him. It is obvious from Romans 14:15-20 that any act of a believer should not distress a neighbor. It is only on the basis of love that one can sacrifice personal pleasure for the benefit of another. Ethical altruism holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help others. It is therefore, the duty of the strong believers to live for the weak by helping them to reach the stage where they are fully persuaded in their newfound faith.

Paul challenges the proud to be conscious of the conscience of the weaker brother whose faith may be endangered if fellow believers were seen eating in idol temples.[29]  In this context, the strong brother would be intimidating the weak believer who feels compelled to do same, though he knows within, that it is wrong. This results in spiritual destruction because the weak brother’s participation in such food is simply based on intimidation and not on faith. Consequently, his conscience is wounded. Such a sin against the brother is a sin against Christ as well, whose death is beneficial to both the weak and the strong.  

Paul also emphasizes the point that there is only one God, the ultimate source of all creation, and one Lord, Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live.[30] This is an assurance to the new Christian believers that lordship cannot be ascribed to any crafted gods which are made and that God alone is all knowing, therefore human knowledge is limited.

Finally, Paul indicated his personal position on the issue that he will not eat meat again if it will cause the brother to sin. He will forever refrain from engaging in any harmless practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols if it will ruin his Christian brother. Several lessons learnt from Paul’s response will be helpful to pastoral ministry in Africa.  

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ISSUE TO THE PASTORAL MINISTRY IN AFRICA

Pastoral ministry comprises services that include care and counseling by pastors and other religious leaders to members of their church or anyone within the institutional setting. The pastoral ministry operates in culture and the cultural context is important to an effective and successful ministry. In Africa, there are diverse traditions and cultural practices that believers are still affiliated with, just like the weak believers in the context of the church at Corinth. However, these are not to be condemned outright. The gospel should be allowed to heal and transform the culture and make up for its limitations. Africans are also conscious of external issues; therefore a deeper understanding of the elements of culture will greatly help in communicating Christ in the African context. Addressing external issues only will eliminate the missionary focus.

In interpreting scripture, it is important to understand the cultural context of the text and its implication to the people in the context. Similarly, it is also important to understand the existing milieu of the recipients and the perspectives illuminated by the gospel in order not to have any believer bedeviled. Again,  Pastors are to remember that people of other cultures also hold on to certain beliefs as the truth by their own definition and standard and pastors are to be aware of this.[31]

It is also important to be mindful of the various levels of spiritual maturity among members of the community of faith. As Paul stated, some believers are ‘puffed up by the knowledge’ they have acquired and thus look down upon the weak brothers. This normally results in differences of opinion, personality clashes and weakness of faith. Pastors are also to be watchful not to be puffed up by their level of knowledge. This will obviously break down the sheepfold. 

Pastoral ministry has the task to listen patiently to people whose ways of looking at things are radically different and paying attention to diverse opinions in humility.[32]

CONCLUSION

In this essay, I have tried to define gospel and culture and I have been able to indicate that the terms gospel and culture are inseparable as stated by Kwame Bediako. On the basis of this, I looked at the issue relating to food sacrificed to idols in 1Corintians 8:1-13. It is obvious that there are people with different levels of maturity in the church and the strong are not to despise the weak on the basis of their knowledge for “not everyone has this knowledge’[33] of spiritual things. Again, the weak should also not be compelled to engage in matters that will affect their conscience. The key question is ‘what effect will my action have on the unbeliever and a weaker believer’?  

Bibliography

Adeyemo, Tokunboh, African Bible Commentary (China: World Alive Publishers,2006)

Bediako, Kwame, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some Insights from the Experience of the Early Church’, Journal of African Christian Thought, Vol. 2., No.2( December 1999).

Bediako, Kwame, ‘What is Gospel?’,Asempa Jubilee Lectures, Christ the King Church Hall, Accra 27 to 29 September 1995.

Garland, David E., 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids:Baker Academic, 2003). 

Hiebert, Paul G., ‘Cultural Differences and Communication of the Gospel’,in Ralph D. Winter (eds.), Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (United Kingdom: Paternoster Press, 1999),pp.374-383.

Hornby, A. S., Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary.

Loewen, Jacob A.,The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective ( California: William Carey Library:2000).

Lundstrom, Klas, Gospel and Culture in the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne Movement (Uppsala 2006).

Mounce William D., and Robert H. Mounce, Greek and English Interlinear New Testament (United States: Zondervan, 2008).

The Holy Bible, King James Version.

Thompson, Della, The Concise Oxford Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press).

Walls, Andrew F., The Cross-Cultural process in Christian History (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002).

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[1]Della Thompson, The Concise Oxford Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p.586.

[2]A. S Hornby, Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary.

[3] William D. Mounce and Robert H. Mounce, Greek and English Interlinear New Testament (United States: Zondervan, 2008), p. 1104.

[4] John 3:16.

[5] Klas Lundstrom, Gospel and Culture in the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne Movement (Uppsala 2006),p. 83.

[6] Lundstrom, Gospel and Culture in the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne Movement, p.83.

[7] Kwame Bediako, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some insights from the experience of the early church’. Journal of African Christian Thought, Vol. 2, No.2, (December 1999),p.8.

[8] Kwame Bediako, ‘What is Gospel?’,Asempa Jubilee Lectures, Christ the King Church Hall, Accra 27 to 29 September 1995.

[9] 1 Corinth. 15:4-5.

[10]Kwame Bediako, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some Insights from the Experience of the Early Church’ ,p. 8.

[11] Kwame Bediako, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some Insights from the Experience of the Early Church’ ,p. 8.

[12] Paul G. Hiebert, ‘Cultural Differences and Communication of the Gospel’, in Ralph D. Winter, Perspectives on the World Christian movement (United Kingdom: Paternoster Press, 1999), p.374.

[13]Lundstrom, Gospel and Culture, p.85.

[14] Bediako, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some insights from the Experience of the Early Church’, p. 8.

[15] Bediako, ‘Gospel and Culture: Some insights from the Experience of the Early Church’, p. 8.

[16] Acts 1:6.

[17] John 1:14.

[18] Luke 24: 13-52.

[19] Bediako, Gospel and Culture: Some Insights from the experience of Early Church, p. 8-12.

[20]David E. Garland, 1Corinthians: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), p. 9.

[21] Garland, 1 Corinthians: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, p.10.

[22] Garland, 1 Corinthians: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, p. 10.

[23] Garland, 1 Corinthians: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, p.4. 

[24] 1 Corinth.1:10.

[25] 1 Corinth. 8:10.

[26] David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament ( Grand Rapids : Baker Academic, 2003)

[27] Acts 15:29.

[28] 1 Corinth. 10:23.

[29] Tokunboh Adeyemo, African Bible Commentary (China: World Alive Publishers,2006),p. 1387.

[30] 1 Corinth. 8:6.

[31] Paul G. Hiebert, ‘Cultural Differences and the Communication of the Gospel’, p. 381.

[32] Jacob A. Loewen, The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective ( California: William Carey Library:2000)

[33] 1Corinth 8:7.

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