One of the greatest dangers facing the church today is not open hostility to the gospel, but unexamined culture.
Growing up in 1990s multiracial Singapore, diversity was not something we had to think about — it was simply life. My friends came from different races and religions. We played football together, studied together, shared meals, and visited one another’s homes during festive seasons. As children, we did not ask where someone came from before deciding whether they belonged. Friendship came naturally. Humanity came first.
Yet even then, beneath the surface of that harmony, something else existed.
In quiet moments — through jokes, offhand comments, or casual stereotypes — we were subtly exposed to racial assumptions. They were often said in laughter, softened by humour, or dismissed as “no harm meant.” At the time, we didn’t always recognise them for what they were. But looking back, I realise they revealed how deeply culture can shape perception — even in environments that appear inclusive.
Culture, by nature, is not evil. It gives us language, customs, rhythms, and identity. But culture becomes dangerous when it goes unquestioned — when it is absorbed so deeply that we no longer recognise where it ends and where Scripture begins.
This is how culture blinds us.
Culture trains our instincts. It shapes what feels “normal,” “acceptable,” or “proper.” Over time, we stop discerning and start assuming. We mistake familiarity for truth. We confuse tradition with theology. And without realising it, we begin to interpret Scripture through culture, rather than allowing Scripture to judge culture.
This is not only true in society — it is painfully true in the church.
Samuel’s Blind Spot: When Sincerity Is Not Enough…
This was precisely Samuel’s blind spot.
Samuel was not a pagan prophet. He was not rebellious. He was not immoral. He was deeply spiritual, prayerful, and obedient. Yet when he saw Eliab, his cultural instincts took over. Eliab looked like a king. He was tall, impressive, confident — everything Israel associated with leadership.
Everything about Eliab aligned with Samuel’s expectations.
But God interrupted Samuel’s assumption: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at.” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV)
In other words, “Samuel, your problem is not your sincerity — it is your sight.”
Culture had trained Samuel to value the wrong markers.
And this is where the church must pause and reflect.
Because many of us, like Samuel, are sincere — but sincerity does not protect us from blind spots. We may love God deeply and still misjudge people. We may be faithful in worship and yet faulty in perception.
Cultural Christianity vs. Kingdom Christianity…
When culture blinds us, we begin to practice what theologians often call “cultural Christianity.” This is not outright heresy; it is far more subtle. It is Christianity shaped by social norms, ethnic boundaries, class assumptions, and historical power structures rather than by the cruciform way of Christ.
Cultural Christianity asks:
- Does this person fit our mould?
- Do they sound like us?
- Do they worship like us?
- Do they come from the right background?
Kingdom Christianity asks:
- Is the Spirit at work?
- Is the heart surrendered?
- Is Christ being formed in this person?
Growing up, I learned very early that people could look at the same person and see completely different things. In school and society, difference was often navigated with ease. But stepping into church spaces later in life, I was shocked to discover that assumptions about race and background sometimes carried more weight inside the church than outside it.
I remember being undermined because of racial impressions — passing remarks about my skin colour made not by strangers, but by Christians. On one occasion, I was even told by an elder in an evangelical church that I could not be saved because I came from a certain race.
That moment was not just hurtful — it was theologically devastating.
The danger of cultural Christianity is that it can coexist with correct doctrine. We may preach grace, yet practise exclusion. We may affirm salvation by faith, yet subconsciously create barriers to belonging.
Jesus confronted this constantly — not among sinners, but among the religious elite.
“You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Mark 7:13, NIV)
Tradition, when left unexamined, has the power to silence revelation.
Ethnicity, Power, and the False Gospel of Superiority…
When culture blinds us, race quietly becomes a theological category — even when we do not intend it to be.
We begin to associate spiritual maturity with certain accents, leadership ability with certain skin colours, or orthodoxy with certain ethnic expressions of worship. Over time, this creates a hierarchy that Scripture never endorses.
The New Testament church faced this head-on.
Jewish believers initially assumed that Gentiles needed to adopt Jewish customs to truly belong. Circumcision, dietary laws, and cultural markers became spiritual gatekeepers. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) was not just a leadership meeting — it was a theological correction.
Peter’s words remain devastatingly relevant: “Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10, NIV)
Any time culture becomes a prerequisite for acceptance, we have shifted from the gospel of grace to the gospel of conformity.
And that is not good news.
When the Church Reflects Society Instead of the Kingdom…
The church was never meant to mirror society’s divisions. It was meant to reveal a new humanity.
Paul describes this clearly: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14, NIV)
The cross does not merely forgive sins — it dismantles walls.
Yet when culture blinds us, those walls quietly reappear:
- Language congregations that never truly integrate
- Leadership pipelines that unconsciously favour certain backgrounds
- Theological assumptions tied to ethnicity rather than Scripture
None of these are usually intentional. That is what makes them dangerous. Blindness rarely announces itself.
Seeing Again: The Work of the Spirit…
Blindness is not cured by policy — it is healed by revelation.
Jesus healed physical blindness as a sign of a deeper spiritual truth. Again and again, He restored sight to show that the kingdom begins with seeing rightly.
“Having eyes, do you not see?” (Mark 8:18, NIV)
To look beyond colour, disability, background, or accent requires more than goodwill. It requires repentance — not always for overt sin, but for inherited assumptions. It requires humility to admit that we may have been sincere, yet wrong.
The Spirit’s work is not only to comfort us, but to confront us — to peel away cultural lenses until we see people the way God sees them: not as categories, but as beloved image-bearers.
A Call to the Church…
This is not a call to abandon culture — but to submit it to Christ.
- To ask hard questions.
- To listen to stories we would rather ignore.
- To allow Scripture to unsettle us where culture has made us comfortable.
Because the church does not exist to protect cultural identity. The church exists to reveal the Kingdom of God.
And the Kingdom has only one defining mark: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35, NIV)
Not if we look the same.
Not if we sound the same.
Not if we come from the same place.
But if we love — deeply, truthfully, and without partiality.
