The Culture Question

It has been a long while since I last wrote anything on here. I have been busy with youth group activities such as a mission trip to Utah and to church camp in Missouri. So now, my relaxing summer can officially start! In about a month, all church activities start back up, so I better make the most of it. I have a bunch of church work to do, but I have something I have wanted to ask all of you, so please respond by commenting on this article or commenting on facebook.

At camp we had a speaker, a great speaker. I heard him a couple of years ago and it was very encouraging. This year, he did a great job as well. But I have one question, an issue I would like your input on. Before I go into the question, I want to tell you about the missionary speaker they had there as well. He is with New Tribes Mission and is going to go to the Philippines as a missionary. The NTM policy and practices make it where you study the culture of the people who are you going to for a number of years, up to 3 or 4 years, before you bring up the issue of Christ and His saving grace. You go to their culture, study it, talk like them, dress like them at times, and participate in activities with them so you can better understand how to witness to them. This builds a strong relationship with them. They will more likely listen to someone who has spent the time to build that relationship with them.
Now I totally agree with the philosophy of NTM. They have learned from mistakes of people in the past who have tried without success to witness to the tribal peoples of the world. I think that what they do is important and imperative. If you don’t study them, you won’t make it, and you won’t be able to effectively fulfill the great commission.
This brings me back to the speaker at camp. He urged us to not listen to the music of the world, not wear the clothes of the world, and not get drawn into the culture of the world. This is where my issue has come up. If the missionary going to the Philippines spends time in the culture to better evangelize to them, why can’t we here in the U.S.? Should we use the music and the clothes of this culture to study them so we can better reach them with the saving grace of Christ? Do we use things of this culture, go into the culture, and get drenched in culture to reach those who are lost in the culture? What do you think the Bible has to say about that? What do you think God thinks about this?