Seeing Myself in The Poisonwood Bible

I knew that The Poisonwood Bible was a best-selling novel about a missionary family to Africa, so why did it take me 25 years to finally read it? Honestly, I think I was scared of it. I knew that it painted an ugly picture of missionaries, and I feared it would make me question my calling. 

Well, that’s a stupid reason to avoid reading a book, so when I read it this summer, I regretted waiting so long. I was instantly captivated. Barbara Kingsolver weaves a riveting story of the fictional Nathan Price and his family into the horrifying history of Congo in the 1960’s. Like many other reviewers, I loved the first two-thirds of the book and was bored by the last third (which is essentially an extended epilogue) – but the point is, I still loved it. I would argue that it should be required reading for any cross-cultural worker.

Yes, Nathan Price is a terrible missionary. On his first night in the village, when his hosts welcome him with a feast and dancing, the first words out of his mouth are raging criticism for their lack of clothing. It all goes downhill from there. For example, he can’t understand why no one wants to be baptized in the river until someone reveals that the villagers assume he wants to feed them to the crocodiles. 

Nathan speaks very little of the local language, and even his feeble attempts are misinterpreted:

“TATA JESUS IS BÄNGALA!” declares the Reverend every Sunday at the end of his sermon. More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in Kikongo. He throws back his head and shouts these words to the sky, while his lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make you itch like nobody’s business.”

He asks no questions. He makes no attempts to understand. He is never willing to admit he is wrong. He is never willing to acknowledge that the villagers could be right. He thinks he is defending God’s reputation. He refuses to see that his pride and foolishness are actually doing the opposite.

I’ve never met a missionary this bad, though certainly, any honest, self-reflecting missionary winces to realize that they see a little of themselves in Nathan Price.

But is this just about missionaries? 

Isn’t every Christian living in a culture that is, in a sense, foreign? 

The Bible literally calls Christians foreigners, exiles, aliens because the rest of humanity is looking at the world through a different lens. Even our fellow Americans are breathing the air of a vastly different culture. We should not be surprised when we don’t see eye to eye. 

When we look around and see people–who are not claiming to be Christians– doing things that seem foolish or wrong or even wicked, should our first response be angry condemnation? If it is, then maybe we’re not that much different than Nathan Price. 

The famous theologian John Stott wrote: “Some of us refuse to identify with the people we claim to be serving. We remain ourselves, and do not become like them. We stay aloof. We hold on desperately to our own cultural inheritance in the mistaken notion that it is an indispensable part of our identity. We are unwilling to let it go. There is self-emptying and self-humbling in all authentic evangelism; without it we contradict the gospel and misrepresent the Christ we proclaim.”

When I train new missionaries before they go overseas, I teach them the things I learned the hard way through many years of making cultural mistakes: 

Suspend judgment. Ask a million questions. People act in a way that makes sense to them; find out why it makes sense. Listen, listen, listen. Seek out genuine friendships with people who believe differently than you do. 

I am not saying that truth is relative. I’m not saying that everybody gets to choose their own truth, that Christians should never speak up, that evangelism = colonialization. If we genuinely believe we hold the words of life, we must share them with others, which will inevitably bring offense. But first approaching someone else’s belief system with the attitude of a learner makes all the difference in finding willing listeners.

What if Nathan Price had entered the village in humility, learned the local language before he preached his first sermon, cultivated a friendship with the witch doctor, and developed a reputation as someone who intentionally and generously sought to meet his neighbors’ physical and spiritual needs? 

It would have been a very different story. 

What if every Christian in America entered neighborhoods and workplaces with humility, learned the language of post-modernism before posting opinions online, cultivated friendships with political and social opponents, and developed a reputation as a person who intentionally and generously sought to meet their physical and spiritual needs? 

Maybe the reason people don’t want to listen to us is because we need to first learn to be wise cross-cultural missionaries. 

And though Congo (and the rest of Africa) may have seen some real-life Nathan Prices, the facts of history tell a different story about missionaries. As I’ve previously written, 

“Robert Woodberry has done extensive, peer-reviewed analysis of historical data that demonstrates that the gospel’s impact is overwhelmingly positive. In ‘The Truth About Missionaries,’ Hugh Whelchel writes, ‘[Woodberry’s] research finds that where Protestant missionaries had a significant historical presence, those countries on average are now more economically developed. These countries have comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in non-governmental associations.’

In fact, Woodberry’s research shows that contrary to popular belief, protestant missionaries often stood in direct opposition to white colonialism. He writes, ‘[M]issionaries punished abusive colonial officials and counterbalanced white settlers, which fostered the rule of law, encouraged less violent repression of anti-colonial political organization, and facilitated peaceful decolonization.’ Andrea Palpant Dilley, referring to Woodberry, concludes, ‘In short: Want a blossoming democracy today? The solution is simple – if you have a time machine: Send a 19th-century missionary.’”

And that’s a pretty extraordinary story. 

Missionaries often get a bad rap, and when they’re like Nathan Price, they deserve it. But as our culture moves farther into postmodernism, maybe we can all learn something from those who figured out how to effectively do cross-cultural ministry.