Why I Love Cultures

It is common for people living in cultures foreign to them to at some point get a bit frustrated.  Things are not like they are used to, and this makes them uncomfortable.  Having spent most of my adult life living in a culture other than the one I grew up in, I have had my fare share of cultural discomfort, or as it is more commonly known, culture shock.

Yet, I love other cultures, and that love is one of the things that has helped me survive for so long away from my home culture.

I say I love cultures, but really it is the people who make up the cultures that I love.  In fact, it is my theology of people that has helped me make big steps in overcoming culture shock.  Allow me to explain.

As a Christian, I believe that God made people.  He made us in His own image, and He made us good.  However, we messed things up and became evil.  This doctrine is known as total depravity.  It is also the reason why culture shock exists.

You see, culture shock comes when we look at something in another culture and think, “That’s not how it should be.”  Total depravity comes into the picture here in two ways.  The first is that the host culture that is frustrating us is made up of evil people who do things in an imperfect and evil way.  The second is that we are evil and think that these other evil people need to do their imperfect things in our imperfect way.

Of course, it is difficult for us to see our own reflection.  We assume that all of the problems come from the host culture, and we blame them.  We get angry and frustrated that they are not like us.  We never seem to notice that in wishing that they would be more like us we are wishing them to be angry frustrated people.

If we left the story here, it would be depressing and hopeless, and we would only end up hating everyone in the world (even ourselves).  Yet God did not leave us this way.  He came into our world and experienced human culture.  He died for our sins and He redeemed all of humanity.  Everyone can be saved and redeemed.  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32)

When I see other cultures, I see the evil.  But I also see the people that God loves.  He came to redeem them, and in each of them there is much good to see.

Last month I visited Greece.  Today I am in Bulgaria.  Tomorrow I will be in Romania.  Each culture is made up of wonderful and flawed people, just like me.

Like me, they are people who do not deserve redemption.

Like me, they are people who do not deserve love.

Yet like me, they are people that Jesus died to save.

When we realize that every single person we ever meet is someone who Jesus came to redeem in the same way He redeemed me, it becomes very difficult to dislike him or his culture.

If we truly believe the good news of undeserved salvation by grace through faith, pride falls away.  Without pride, there is no ethnocentrism, and there is no culture shock.

In Jesus we realize that we are all loved by God even though we deserve wrath.  How can we then turn around and hate others for not being like us?

When we realize that everyone is loved by God, just like we are, it liberates us from our pride, frustration, anger, and hate; and it allows us to love other people and cultures.

Jesus is the cure for culture shock.

Jesus is the cure for ethnocentrism.

Jesus is the cure for racism.

At least He would be if we acted like we really believed.

Being Cared For

Brian and Diane Harris--Pastors to Missionaries

We first met the Harrises four years ago in Minneapolis when we were back in America.  We shared a meal at Split Rock Grill and got to know them a little bit.  They had just taken on the title of “pastors to missionaries.”

A year later, they visited us on the field for the first time.  We did not know them that well yet, but it was nice to have someone from our organization visit.  Our mission had just gone through a rough patch, and it was good to have someone formally visit to help us process what had happened thousands of miles away.

Last year they visited again.  At this point it was like having old friends come to visit.  We had met them a few times, and they were starting to get a feel for what life is like in Bulgaria.  They got to know some of our friends by name, and developed a deeper understanding of how to pray for us.  Being alone here in Sofia, their visit helped us feel better connected to our organization.

Highlights from the Harries second trip to Sofia

Last week they came for their third visit to Bulgaria.  It was something Sasha and I both looked forward to.  They have now been following our ministry for years.  They know the key players and our close friends.  They grieved with us at the loss of several friendships and informal partnerships over the past year as people moved away, and prayed with us as we look forward to the future.

For most of my adult life I have been in some sort of professional ministry.  For over a decade I have served in Europe away from the country I where I spent my childhood.  As such, my relationship to pastors is quite different than it may be for your average church attender in America.  Rather than pastors being people who minister to me, I am used to pastors being ministry partners that I work along side.  I am generally ok with this, but the down side of it is that now, after years of ministry, I find that there are times I need someone to turn to as a pastor, and such a person does not exist in my life.

This is the role the Harrises fill in the ReachGlobal Europe Division.  It is a blessing to have them come and sit and listen to us and invest in our lives.  I am very glad to work with an organization that values the emotional and spiritual health of its workers.  I am grateful to have the Harrises in our lives.