Not so Silent Night

In our readings for class, we have been going through Dana Roberts’ Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion. One section of this book is devoted to a list of criticisms about missions. Much of this section was devoted to the subject of colonialism, including intellectual colonialism - which is when a group of people wishes to change a foreign cultural practice to be similar to that of their own country.

In reading this issue of The Other Sheep, we were asked to pay attention to any times when such criticisms were either being demonstrated or shown not to be accurate. Unfortunately, as I was reading, the one article that blatantly stuck out to me was a confirmation that these critiques have merit. One article, about a group of missionaries in Cuba at Christmas time, seemed to suggest that the author did not understand the culture and disproved of any other way of celebrating the holiday than her own.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve. The author’s family was attempting to sleep, but was kept awake by the noise from the house next door. Cubans, like many Latin Americans, begin Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve, anticipating midnight – the traditional time of Christ’s birth. That switch to Christmas Day is the focal point of the party, followed by a few more hours of celebrating prior to sleep. However, the author was saddened at the thought that here it was Christmas, and all these people would still be asleep come daybreak. Admittedly, part of her issue, was with the drinking that invariably went on during these parties, but the alcohol is by no means the point of the celebration. Even so, she seemed focused on the party as a whole in her musings on its regrettableness.

In doing missionary work, I believe it is important not to condemn cultural practices without first understanding the meaning behind them. Though Christians should certainly speak out against sin, there are times when things might not be what we thought. On the other hand, learning and participating in cultural practices that are not un-Biblical, may enable us to better communicate with and reach the people of that culture.