“Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.” Ephesians 6:13
I remember walking into my office one day, several years ago, and finding a copy of “The Economist” magazine on my desk. My boss had put it there hoping it would take root. God had given him a mind for business to go with his heart for Christ. He studied the economies of people groups. He said if you understand their economy you understand the people. I think there is probably a lot of truth to that, but that is not specifically the mind God gave me to go with my heart for Christ. I think I read one article though, just to pour a little water on that seed he tried to plant to see if maybe it would grow. It didn’t really.
Around that time, I had an upcoming month-long trip that was to include two opposite climates, three different continents, four different languages, many different people of varying socio-economic backgrounds, and one me: a girl with white skin from Oklahoma Southern Baptist land who was still giving it all she had to just walk onto the airplane. That was back when I traveled alone for many of our missions, and although my conviction outweighed my lack of courage I was still dragging one foot as I was trying to lift off. Time and emotion literally would not allow me to read enough magazines and books on the histories and economies of cultures so vastly different from my own to adequately understand them. And yet, by God’s grace, I would be standing in front of them in just a few weeks trying to teach and share with them what He was equipping and leading me to teach and share. Who is the smartest person you know? Even if I had been them, I’m not sure I could have become a cultural expert in time to make everything I said culturally relevant to them.
As I entertained thoughts of insecurity, inadequacy, and inability He reminded me of His calling to “feed His sheep” because I loved him. He hadn’t called me to become culturally relevant, He had called me to become Christ-centered in my life, through the ministry of counseling, and wherever He leads. Christ is the one who is culturally relevant. As I center on Him, read about Him, apply Him – the message He wants me to share will be applied culturally by the Holy Spirit who is the one who is the cultural expert. I don’t share or teach as a white Baptist female from Oklahoma, I share and teach as a follower of Jesus Christ.
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The only kink in that plan is: I can’t make that decision, as Paul did, for the people He calls me to.
I know for certain there have been times and places where people could not hear what I had to share because they immediately disqualified me from having anything applicable to them based on my own demographics or lack of cultural experience. She is a woman. She is white. She is American. She is not from here. She is not married. She is not a mother. She does not have a Ph.D. By some, I get sized up by either what I am or what I am not and they determine in advance to either listen or tune out. I know for certain this has happened because some people have been bold enough to speak their disqualifications out loud to a room full of people after I called on them for raising their hand. After I shared something that maybe didn’t sit well with them personally they would say: … “yes, but here…” or “this is just how it is here in our culture…” They would give themselves an out from conviction based on their assumption that what I was teaching was not culturally relevant to them, instead of accepting possible conviction from being taught what was Christ-culturally relevant.
At first, though, those comments were intimidating to me because they fed right into the same insecurities I was saying to the Lord. “Why me?” “Shouldn’t someone else be doing this?” But, the more those questions came up, the more I had to face them. I had a choice: either let those “you don’t know our culture” comments drive me home or let His Spirit and sharing His hope drive me forward. Once I was committed, He grew my courage and put words on my tongue because He is faithful. They were busy looking at me instead of listening for Him. I could have recognized that potential distraction and chosen to stay home, or I could keep saying yes to the One who kept sending me. One option had me bowing to a culture; the other had me bowing to the Lord. I decided to embrace the conflict instead of being offended by it, and use it as an opportunity to redirect.
I’ve come to expect this type of push-back in almost every country, and I’ve come to hope it comes sooner than later so we can get past it. “You are right. I don’t know your culture. I’m not here as an expert on your culture. You are the experts who must listen for the Holy Spirit to know how to apply. I am here because you have said your families and homes are hurting and you want to help them. I’m here because that is my calling, too. God has called me to help you know better how to apply His Word to your everyday lives. Once you know what His Word says, you have the opportunity to realize if you have been handling your circumstances, no matter how trivial or traumatic, in accordance to Him or in contradiction to Him. Then you have a choice to keep doing things as you have always done them or begin following Christ in whatever area of conviction you find yourself facing. That goes for me, too.”
Once the cat is out of the bag, and we are all on the same page that I am not there to tell them their business, but to help them consider His business, then we have the opportunity to discuss where we may be elevating or enslaving ourselves to our cultures and histories rather than elevating or serving Christ. I say we because my culture is smack dab in the middle of needing to ask ourselves this as well. The ministry of counseling is a lot about our well-being, and our well-being is a lot about our expectations and the “outs” we give ourselves out of sympathy or entitlement as we fight surrendering our human and uncertain will to the good and loving will of the Father in our hearts, our homes, and our cultures. I’m thankful for every opportunity to clear the air and say out loud what is sometimes difficult to say so that we can get to the meat of what He is doing in bringing us together. The friends I have served with over these years have had the opportunity to see Him do some amazing things in hearts and lives. Obviously not because of who I am or what I know about them, but because of who He is and what He knows about us.
What if the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, or the Colossians had disqualified Paul because he wasn’t from their neighborhood, didn’t look like them, didn’t speak like them. What if the elders in those cities had encouraged ethnocentrism and discouraged listening to Paul? Who are we discrediting because they are not from our neighborhood? What pastor or teaching do we consider different than us, so we can’t hear what they say? Are you feeding into this in your neck of the Church? Or are you feeding into what Scripture says: that under Christ we are brothers and sisters. Our relevance is about His blood, not the skin or location He put us in.
God created diversity and we are created in His image. We should live out His ordination of the culture we are born into. Celebrate our cultures, be aware of and embrace our differences, share our perspectives our music our meals our sorrows and our joys because through Christ we are united. We don’t have to all start walking and talking the same, but our walk and our talk should look more like Christ whatever language we speak or shoes we wear.
Honor and celebrate the cultures God created us in, but don’t bow to them. We are not meant to be lorded by our culture. We are to glorify God in our culture and be lorded by Christ. I don’t think God would have created them if He didn’t take delight in the many different cultures He’s made. I think He maybe drinks Turkish coffee in the morning, enjoys a meal stewed in rich curry, and occasionally hosts a fish fry that I am sure my Grandpa Corky contributes to. If he has a hat rack I bet a dhaka, a yarmulke, and a cowboy hat all hang from it. Do you think he calls it soccer or futbol? I imagine the harmony of an African choir gives him goosebumps and prayers whispered in underground churches in Asia sets him on His feet. The saints, who have sat in pews around this nation and prayed for their grandchildren, whatever the name on the door of the church, have His attention. He wouldn’t enter into dreams of those in lands of sand who have a pure heart to know God if he had one millisecond of concern about culture. He died for those He loves, but many times instead of operating out of that love we busy ourselves with rather or not someone understands where we are coming from, instead of listening to what God may teach us about where we could be going. The Gospel doesn't come from our own perspective -- it comes from His.
God has given me the opportunity to face this perspective in many places and I’m sharing it out loud as a couple of recent conversations have prompted me to put this into words. If we focus on teaching “to” a people instead of teaching “on behalf” of the Savior we are coming from the wrong perspective. If we demand to be taught from our own perspective instead of from Christ’s perspective we may be disqualifying the called and perpetuating the division we claim is the problem in the Church. Is your culture the “most” thing about you? Or, is Jesus? Your answer to that will either bring us closer together or separate us further.
Is my love for Christ incorruptible and unifying, or cultural and dividing? What is yours?
Writing today had me thinking of that particular trip that was coming up after "The Economist" was intentionally laid on my desk and I had to really think about from where my strength, wisdom, and perspective needed to come. Here are some of my favorite pictures from those three continents. Vastly different people and places - one consistent unifying hope.
