At the heart of it all - CULTURE

For some time I have intended to write about an invitation that I accepted from Music in World Cultures (MIWC) to be involved as a Missions Associate. The invitation came from Stephen Benham, MIWC president. For many years we have met at various events related to the Christian Music Academy and participated in music and worship activities of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine. Increasingly over the years we have worked with the same people in Ukraine and Eurasia, collaborating on projects and spending many hours sharing ideas and experiences. When MIWC received an invitation to work in Germany, I was invited to join the organization because of my German language skills and connections.

But the connection goes back even further. Steve’s father, John Benham - founder of MIWC, helped start the ethnomusicology program at Prairie Bible Institute and was a guest lecturer in the early days of the program.

So what is Music in World Cultures and why am I excited to be a part of this organization?

Many reasons for my excitement. High respect for all involved in the organization. Opportunity to work with dearly loved brothers and sisters in the Lord. Opportunity to formalize existing relationships, increase the impact of current ministries and facilitate new endeavours. But mainly because as the years have rolled by I have seen that issues of culture are at the heart of so much tension and misunderstanding in worship, family, church, education, relationships and the arts.

Culture has been succinctly defined as “the way we do things around here.”

The following paragraphs are strongly influenced by some of the key ideas found in the teachings of John and Stephen Benham. These ideas are at the heart of what MIWC does. Since these ideas resonate strongly with my experience, I was glad to accept the position of Mission Associate within the organization.

“The way things are done” is a mixture of theology and the essential pragmatic rules that are core to healthy community. Knowing the difference between the two and their respective roles is important for living in harmony and with understanding.

Culture is multi-layered and within each group or culture, there are subcultures, based on several factors: age, gender, belief systems, ethnicity, race, values—to name a few. When the existence and characteristics of each group is understood and recognized, significant steps can be taken in understanding the presuppositions and values that drive behaviour. Approach and perspective changes when we realize that tensions and conflicts are really issues of culture.

When people want to “do things” differently and try to make decisions about what matters and what doesn't really matter, it is important that those involved do not place a higher value on culture than they do theology. When people join (or leave) a Christian community, many do so not just for theology, but because they are joining (or leaving) a cultural community where they agree with the shared values, beliefs, traditions, and lifestyle of that culture.

The meaning of culture is assigned by the individual and interpreted by the individual through the lens of his or her own personal experience. We cannot assume that our understanding of culture will be the same as the person sitting next to us. Neither can we impose our cultural understanding on an individual, assuming that they will accept it or vice versa. When we criticize another person’s musical preference, style of worship, theology, personal belief systems, or other cultural elements, we are not only criticizing the individual’s culture in general, but the person as an individual, which in turn may be interpreted as a judgment on their spiritual inferiority.

Our cultural beliefs are directly connected to our personal identity. Identity is extremely important to most people in terms of their religion, faith, and basic belief system. It is the most localized understanding of culture, because it is extremely personal. As a result discussions that are not supposed to be personal in nature, are suddenly perceived as a personal attack with the ensuing emotions that accompany such attacks.

So worship wars, as an example, are really culture wars. However, because culture and identity are so closely related, the war ends up feeling like an attack on personal values and identity.

There are no quick fixes or easy answers for the common tensions and misunderstandings in the church but an understanding of this process and the dynamics at work, can be the beginning of true communication and understanding.

In practice, those involved in MIWC consider themselves to be translators of culture. Because every culture embodies its view of the world, life and its system of beliefs in its music, music is used to access the culture in order to break down barriers and build bridges to establish cross-cultural relationships. As an international faith-based organization, Music in World Cultures is dedicated to the establishment and advancement of the use of music as a strategic tool in developing cross-cultural relationships. The web page  http://miwc.orc  sums it up as follows.

Music opens doors.

Musicians build bridges.

Christ transforms cultures


I have believed and practiced this for most of my life. This was certainly a focal point for the Performing Arts and Worship program at Prairie Bible College and was lived out in a very practical manner during each of the three one-month ministry trips of the Ambassador Choir to Ukraine (1999, 2004, 2008).

I am excited to have found another place where can I practice this.

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