Church PLANT Manual

46 • Church PLANT Manual

1. The Cognitive Dimension is what a culture knows and considers to be real and true. The cognitive dimension is shaped by: 2. The Affective Dimension is the emotions and expression of feelings about what a culture finds beauty in and what it dislikes as well. 3. The Evaluative Dimension – The values by which a culture judges human relationships to be moral and immoral (evaluation of right and wrong). C. Ultimately, culture is about values. To understand culture, we have to understand what matters to people and why they place value in those things. Whatever it is that matters most to a group of people, that which they love, esteem, defend, live, and die for, will by definition, define and create its culture. II. Understanding Cultural Differences To effectively navigate culture, not only must we understand what culture is, we must also understand the differences in culture. A. Differences are good because God created us with differences, Acts 17. B. The differences between cultures (people) are real and significant. C. Minimizing or ignoring our cultural differences can have harmful effects on the gospel.