Cultural Barriers in the Local Church

VolkHenry · 01-29-2021, 06:08 AM

This is a question that I have pondered for some time. Could cultural barriers and differences be a significant factor for why so many western Christians end up having bad experiences in the Lord's Recovery.

When I was 13/14, my family attended a Ghananian Assemblies of God church in Cincinnati, OH. My father worked at a chicken processing plant that had 99% immigrant workforce on the line. (My father and two excons comprised the other 1%). A sister that he worked with there invited us to attend a revival service at her church. The majority of the members were from Ghana, although there were some from Kenya and other parts of Africa. We had such sweet fellowship with the Lord at that church. The presence of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit was very precious and powerful there. Undoubtedly, the Lord sent us there for a season to learn and experience his move for us at that time. However, if we had stayed longer the fellowship would have been sullied.

In the course of time, the cultural barriers and differences became more and more of an obstacle to our further involvement. I was playing in the church praise band, and my mother began to be involved in the women's prayer group. While the fellowship was good, we could only participate so much. We were white rural midwestern countryfolk. At a certain point, our backgrounds couldn't "blend" (to use the LR term) together.

I wonder if any brothers or sisters have had a similar experience in the Local Church with aspects of Chinese culture.

01-29-2021, 06:08 AM	#1
VolkHenry Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 6	Cultural Barriers in the Local Church This is a question that I have pondered for some time. Could cultural barriers and differences be a significant factor for why so many western Christians end up having bad experiences in the Lord's Recovery. When I was 13/14, my family attended a Ghananian Assemblies of God church in Cincinnati, OH. My father worked at a chicken processing plant that had 99% immigrant workforce on the line. (My father and two excons comprised the other 1%). A sister that he worked with there invited us to attend a revival service at her church. The majority of the members were from Ghana, although there were some from Kenya and other parts of Africa. We had such sweet fellowship with the Lord at that church. The presence of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit was very precious and powerful there. Undoubtedly, the Lord sent us there for a season to learn and experience his move for us at that time. However, if we had stayed longer the fellowship would have been sullied. In the course of time, the cultural barriers and differences became more and more of an obstacle to our further involvement. I was playing in the church praise band, and my mother began to be involved in the women's prayer group. While the fellowship was good, we could only participate so much. We were white rural midwestern countryfolk. At a certain point, our backgrounds couldn't "blend" (to use the LR term) together. I wonder if any brothers or sisters have had a similar experience in the Local Church with aspects of Chinese culture.