A team of folks from Grace Point recently went to Kenya where they worked with local pastors. One of the charges and challenges put to them was were they going to ultimately live their life in surrender to culturally okay patterns of living or to a transformed way of Christ? In the culture versus Christ battle - who would win? Culture says it's okay to treat your spouse as inferior, yet Christ calls for us to view our spouse as co-heirs in the Kingdom and to treat them with the love or respect due to Christ. Who wins?
The culture issue will be a biggie in Argentina. It's not American culture versus Argentine culture - both are temporary and just human tapestries forged by time and traditions. It's about having your culture pierced by the truth, mind, love and grace of Christ. That can be unpleasant. When we go we will not be speaking from an "arrived at culturally transformed by Christ" platform (American culture certainly has major deficiencies of Kingdom policy), but from the platform of God's Word, the life of Christ.
It can be beautiful to see how cultural tapestries adorn the truths of Scripture in colorful ways across time and continents. But it can also be a painful surgery to let the truth of "double-edged sword" sharpness cut away tradition tumors that hinder the life of obedience and love in Christ!
Pray for our wisdom, discernment, clarity and heart as we confront any cultural barriers to the faith. Pray for the light and love of Christ to shine with blinding brilliance as we speak and share.
It's just 3 months away. Yikes! We have a lot to do. And that's just preparing for the things "we think" we'll be doing...who knows what God has in store once we get there!
2 Comments
Jacqui and I were just discussing this last week, and we were wondering if someone from a poor country came and visited our churches, how much culture they would find in our American churches that we are blind to(materialism, etc.) It's so much easier to see other countries' cultural bleed-over, and but hard to spot our own.
Reply
Paul Reed
8/4/2008 01:16:34 pm
I felt the same coming back from Honduras. It is easy to point out the influence of a culture much different from your own, yet so impossible, at times, to see the influence of your own. We don't see how the greed, materialism, pride, individualism, and other distinctly "American" characteristics. Seeing another church, another culture and its impact makes you all the more aware of your own, and its intrusion into the Church.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
What's This?
This is our blog to keep you posted about developments, progress, surprises and God-workings pertaining to our Argentina Mission Trip (08). Check back to see the latest! Archives
November 2008
Categories |