Recently, upon reading an article titled "International Development: Christian Reflections on Today's Competing Theory," I was struck by what perhaps thousands of people before me have come to learn; oftentimes in an attempt to intellectualize a subject, we forget the heart of it. Now, as a professor and a lifelong learner, I'm all about intellectual discussion, however, as Christians we can never be content to leave the discussion as mere theory when the lives of God's children are involved. What is the Christian response to competing international development theories? And more specifically, how does it impact that very practical business of helping those around the world? 

As with many questions of scholarly discussion, there are really two distinct camps. The first camp says that if we want to reach out to other people and help improve their society, we must never impinge upon their cultural norms with our own. Those in this camp believe that we should never presume that one culture is superior to another. The contrasting viewpoint, then, is that changing culture may be requisite in order to change the experience of those in that society. In other words, perhaps development is contingent upon culture change. If development is going to have its full effect, there are times where cultural change may be necessary or even required.

How should a Christian engaged in international ministry solve this debate? Should our methods and our ministry be subject to the cultural norms in the society where we are doing ministry? Or should our efforts at improving the lives of others supercede any cultural boundaries?

The good news is that Christ Himself was engaged in multi-cultural ministry and therefore we can look to Him when answering this question. As the authors of the article remind us, one of the first thing we must remember is that God cares for the individual. Therefore, so should our ministry. Secondly, we must remember that Christ was never content to merely make someone's earthly existence better. Witness the paralytic man whose sins were forgiven before he was granted the ability to walk. Or the woman at the well who was offered eternal life before restored relationships with her community. So should our attempts at improving the lives of others always be coupled with concern for their eternal destination. 

In recognizing that the person as well as their eternal destination must be the focus of our Christian ministry, we can also recognize that when Christ shattered cultural boundaries, it was always to call people to Himself over traditions and encumbrances. However, His message was never contingent on acceptance of certain cultural standards except for those standards that reflect Him.  That’s why Paul could write with confidence that was wrong for the Jewish believers to call the Gentiles to be circumcised. Christ alone, and only, was to be the focus of 1^st century missions. May it be true of Christian ministry today.