Missed weddings
Missed births.
Missed baby dedications.
Missed graduations.
Missed Christmases, Easters, Mother's Days.
Missed deaths.
Missed funerals. I learned a friend died...a year after his death. I grieved alone.
There is a price we all pay for a lifetime call to overseas missions.
People back home went 20 years one direction; We went 20 years in the other.
Culture, Theology, Philosophy, Foods, Clothing, Modesty, Music, Time Management, Language, Values, Politics, Health, History, Boundaries, Music, Cooking, Lifestyle...Richly influenced by other cultures, ways of living, ways of viewing the world, forty years now separate us.
Home. Where is it?
My idioms are all messed up in English now.
It is only when we step outside of our culture, and begin to learn to see through another's eyes, that we can better "see" our own. Many cultures view themselves as superior, and many nations engage in nationalistic idolatry - binding together one particular political view point or party with "God's way."
This is not new, of course. "As it was in the age of the prophets, so it is in nearly every age; we all go mad, not only individually, but also nationally." (1)
As we begin to understand how we've changed, we recognize what a blessing it is to see from multiple perspectives, to understand our home culture with increased dispassion, and to share the significance of those differences with others.
(1) Heschel, The Prophets
(2) Miroslav Volf, Christian Cultural Identity
Missed births.
Missed baby dedications.
Missed graduations.
Missed Christmases, Easters, Mother's Days.
Missed deaths.
Missed funerals. I learned a friend died...a year after his death. I grieved alone.
There is a price we all pay for a lifetime call to overseas missions.
People back home went 20 years one direction; We went 20 years in the other.
Culture, Theology, Philosophy, Foods, Clothing, Modesty, Music, Time Management, Language, Values, Politics, Health, History, Boundaries, Music, Cooking, Lifestyle...Richly influenced by other cultures, ways of living, ways of viewing the world, forty years now separate us.
Home. Where is it?
My idioms are all messed up in English now.
It is only when we step outside of our culture, and begin to learn to see through another's eyes, that we can better "see" our own. Many cultures view themselves as superior, and many nations engage in nationalistic idolatry - binding together one particular political view point or party with "God's way."
This is not new, of course. "As it was in the age of the prophets, so it is in nearly every age; we all go mad, not only individually, but also nationally." (1)
As we begin to understand how we've changed, we recognize what a blessing it is to see from multiple perspectives, to understand our home culture with increased dispassion, and to share the significance of those differences with others.
"All the churches of Jesus Christ, scattered in diverse cultures, have been redeemed for God by the blood of the Lamb to form one multicultural community of faith. The ‘blood’ that binds them as brothers and sisters is more precious than the ‘blood,’ the language, the customs, political allegiances, or economic interests that may separate them. We reject the false doctrine, as though a church should place allegiance to the culture it inhabits and the nation to which it belongs above the commitment to brothers and sisters from other cultures and nations, servants of the one Jesus Christ, their common Lord, and members of God’s new community.” (2)
(1) Heschel, The Prophets
(2) Miroslav Volf, Christian Cultural Identity
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to comment related to this post or ask additional questions. All comments require moderation. I do not post sales or non-related links.