Cultural Responses to Christian Conversion

If you’re a believer, what did your conversion cost? How did your family respond? If you’re not a believer, imagine how your family might react if you become one. With support, with threats, with outright rejection, with violence? Cultural responses to Christian conversion can vary dramatically. If you’re from an individualist culture, your family may support your decision even if they don’t agree. They might say, “It’s your life, and you’re free to live it as you choose.” But in a collectivist culture, your conversations could differ.

Two Conversion Stories

Susan’s parents were Buddhist, and her mother worshiped idols. Susan was in primary school the first time she heard God’s name. Committing her life to Christ as a young teen led to years of abuse. Her mother even threatened her with a knife because of her decision to follow Jesus and attend church. As is common in Chinese families, Susan continued to live with her parents even as an adult. Her mother’s abuse continued but transitioned from both physical and verbal to only verbal. Still, Susan remained faithful to her commitment. In the years since her decision, several members of her family have become believers.

God knocked on Steven’s door when he was a young child. He continued knocking as Steven grew older, but Steven ignored him. Throughout his school years, Steven received several Bibles from friends but refused to read them. He put them at the back of his bookshelves. His parents opposed Christianity, considering it a religion for fools. When Steven saw a hopeless, broken family relationship restored, he realized it was something only God could do. After years of searching, he accepted God’s invitation. He told his parents he felt it was God who had repaired the broken relationship, and he planned to get baptized. Later he lamented:

They didn’t understand. They said I would look weird if I became a Christian. I would be an outsider among my relatives. None of them was Christian. Only my sister and a few of my friends witnessed my baptism.

Steven’s faith continues to cause conflict in his family. His parents invent multiple reasons he should stay home instead of attending Bible study. Nevertheless, he continues to read his Bible, pray for his family, attend church, and try to live the Jesus life before his friends and family.

Collectivist Cultural Responses

The cultural responses of a collectivist culture are different because the actions of one member of the group reflect on everyone. To reject the values, beliefs, traditions, or religion of the group is to reject the group. Such rejection sometimes leads to rejection by the group. The needs of the group are more important than self-expression or self-fulfillment.

China is making it more dangerous for Christians by installing face-recognition cameras in churches. They’re also blocking online Bible sales and tearing down crosses and other Christian symbols, sometimes replacing them with pictures of President Xi. In some provinces, officials offer monetary rewards to those who report their neighbors or family members as participating in Christian activities.

A Struggle for New believers

New believers struggle when they are the only believers in their families. They long to be faithful to God but also to treat their families with love and respect. For most, their greatest wish is to see their loved ones come to Christ. We’ll consider their battle in greater depth in my next blog.

Family is important. God agrees, and he is creating a new family to which he invites everyone, as he promised Abram in Genesis 12:1-3. Sharing God’s good news with those in collectivist cultures includes letting them know they can join God’s family through the work of Jesus. They can unite with believers around the world as members of God’s family. Not that they abandon their first family but that they’re invited to join a larger believing family, becoming liaisons between the old and new. Those of us in God’s family must encourage and support new Christians as they share God’s love and light with their original families.

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