There are many different cultures in this world. Likewise, it is important to understand that cultures are largely different. There are about 175 definitions of culture according to cultural anthropologists. However, it is clear that there is only one Gospel in the midst of many different cultures. It is the biblical truth which cannot be changed under any circumstances. The biblical truth sets people free of sins and lets them have eternal life (In. 8:36). The goal of missions is to witness to Jesus Christ, the Word of God and pursue true conversion as a result of a radically different world view. The core of true conversion is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The way of making His disciples and the meaning of becoming His disciples could be different according to culture. A cross-cultural missionary should understand culture and love the people in culture and minister to the people's needs in order to communicate the Gospel to the people (I Cor. 9:20). The cross-cultural missionary needs to encourage the people to become Christ's disciples as Jesus Christ served the people in incarnational ways. The people need to encounter the Lord in their own culture and have a close fellowship with Him. In consequence, the cross-cultural missionary should not impose his or her own cultural forms upon the people whom he or she is called to serve. Rather, a cross-cultural missionary needs to communicate the biblical truth instead of his or her own cultural forms. It is because what is sacred is not a cultural form but the biblical truth. To communicate the biblical truth to the people, the crosscultural missionary needs to distinguish biblical meanings from cultural forms and to communicate the biblical meanings to the people in their cultural forms. As discussed, culture is an effective medium of communicating the Gospel message to the people who are yet to be Christians. The cross-cultural missionary has the responsibility to share the Gospel with the people without destroying their culture. As Abraham respected and accepted the Hittites' custom (Gn. 23: 1-19) and the apostle Paul encouraged Gentiles to become Christians while remaining in their cultures (Acts 15), a cross-cultural missionary has to respect the people's culture. Human culture is worth being saved. Culture is an effective means of fulfilling God's intention. There is a close relationship between the Gospel and culture. The Gospel traverses, judges, and saves culture. The Gospel dedicates, sanctifies, and beautifies culture. The Gospel exorcises demons in culture. Culture receives or rejects the Gospel. Culture communicates the Gospel and conditions peoples to have faith in it. Culture brings glory to God.

• 홍기영(나사렛대 교수) | Hong, Ki-Young