MIXING SCRIPTURES WITH THE CULTURE OF MEN?

Long ago, I listened to a preacher on radio who rebuked women for not kneeling down to greet their husbands always. His tone was serious and instructive. He was teaching on marital submission but he delved into something that is cultural without sticking to what is scriptural.

Kneeling to greet is a cultural expression of the Yoruba people in West Africa. I don't know of any other tribe who does that. If an Igbo, Hausa or Fulani woman listened to him, they may find it hard coming to terms with his preaching because he mandated all women to do a cultural thing that is not the norm in their various cultures.

He should have stayed on the bible subject or injunction of submission but he delved into what is cultural and mandated all women to do it. That is impossible for all women to follow because such doesn't have a place in the culture of all Christian women globally but submission does because what the bible teaches is applicable to all everywhere.

I feel that preacher should have stayed on the subject of submission and teach it biblically then leaving his audience to decide how they intend to express it to their husbands within their individual cultural context. How a Yoruba woman will express it may differ from a Kanuri woman. No one should impose culture on another.

Love and submission is what the bible teaches about marriage. A woman can kneel for her husband on daily basis yet does not submit to him. Emphasis on a cultural expression should not rob of us the actual knowledge of scriptures God want us to have about His word.

That is not to say I am against culture of men in its entirety. However, I believe in the superiority of scripture over culture where such does not align with God's word.God's word is relevant everywhere but how it is expressed may differ from culture to culture.

The moment we mix culture with scriptures, we'll be creating confusion. For instance, the bible did not give anyone a cloth design neither does it tell or teach what the different sexes should wear. It is the culture and tradition of men that gives such distinctions.

If you read your bible, what it teaches is modesty not clothing designs for different sexes. It is tradition and culture that does that.Scot men put on pleated skirt because it is cultural to them. Preaching against it is a waste of time. As a Yoruba man, it is not cultural for me to tie wrapper but the man from Niger Delta is cool with it because his culture permits it.

If I stand to preach against wearing wrapper as unacceptable to God, I'll be preaching a cultural sermon not a biblical sermon because I am preaching from a personal cultural context instead of scriptures. What should I teach?

1 Timothy 2:9 says, *"Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with MODESTY and self-control,...*"( ESV)

*Failure to understand the distinction between scriptures and cultures is one reason many Christians may not discharge their missionary calling to the fullest because the moment they get into a new cultural terrain different from theirs, they'll start attacking culture and imposing their culture instead of preaching scriptures*.

Hudson Taylor could not win a single soul in inland China because he went with the English culture. His message gained acceptance after he fashioned his hairstyle to that of his Chinese audience.

Sit with God to know what the bible actually says and do not use the pulpit to push or preach the culture of men. God's word, when preached properly, it is relevant in all cultures and does not pitch one culture against the other.

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