Session 7: Cultural Differences Part 2

In the concluding session of cultural differences, we have left a list of notes from today’s talk! Take time at your leisure to see some of what we talked about, what next steps you need to take, and how you can use them to connect with others and share the gospel.

Why is knowing these important?

1.     Culture impacts how we read the biblical text. When it comes to the things of God, you cannot be guided by culture. 
2.     Culture impacts how we connect (or disconnect) others
3.     Culture impacts how we befriend (or unfriend) others
4.     Culture impacts how we we learn from others
5.     Culture impacts how we share with others

Next Steps

1.     Identify your Personality Type and the way you see the World. Part of your Personality and your Culture is the way you think. It’s important to remember that everyone has the capacity and has all three ways of thinking. It’s also common that every individual typically leads out of one more than the others. Remember, one way of thinking isn’t superior to the other way of thinking. What type of thinker are you?

The Conceptual Thinker

• Theoretical thinking. 
• Likes an introduction that says exactly what you are point is. 
• Clarity in communication with rational logic that moves to a conclusion.
• Clear effective and biblical preaching.
• Conceptual thinkers take experiences and classifies them scientifically, ethically or theologically and says, “I understand!”

The Intuitional Thinker

• Knowledge that emanates from inner experience and vision. Example: A Wife feels like her Husband is cheating on her. She has no physical evidence or proof but it's just a feeling that she has.
• They don’t reject science; they just see the spiritual first and the science second. 
• They seek the ultimate reality that is hidden in the empirical.
• Avoids over intellectualization 
• Avoids oversimplification 

The Concrete (Relational) Thinker

• Life and reality are seen pictorially in terms of the active emotional relationships present in the concrete situation. These people think in pictures (whereas others think in words).
• Often times, they don’t need a point, the story speaks for itself.
• Verbally communicate by referring to symbols, stories, events, objects etc. 
• Rely heavily on nonverbal communication: gesture and sign language, music, arts (sculpture, ceramics, paintings etc.), ritual drama and image projection. 
• Myths, parables, proverbs, analogies connect very well.
• Like creative use of diagram, pictures and artifacts.  

2.     Identify the healthy positive aspects of your culture (what you think is healthy) and identify the unhealthy aspects of your culture and cross both of them with the Bible. 

3.     Lay aside your cultural differences and perspectives for the sake of others. 

4.     Get into their World and be present! Get present in your:

• Church
• City
• Relationships
• Family
• Friends
• Work

5.     Repeat: This is the most important step. Just because you’ve done it all once, doesn’t mean it ends. This is a journey we stay on for life. 

We hope you enjoyed today’s session! Remember, unpacking our cultural differences is a lifelong journey. Give yourself grace, be patient with yourself as you unpack your culture and the background of others so you can connect well in order to present the Gospel. Let’s be led by God and His Word instead of our cultural upbringing. We look forward to having you join on us on the next one!