CULTURE SHOCK!

Have you ever experienced a culture shock before? Sometimes it can come in a mild form such as hearing someone calling your favorite drink a, "pop", when you are accustomed to calling it "soda". My wife has been slightly frustrated with our kids over the years, because she was raised saying, "pop", but we lived in Florida and Virginia for many years while I was in the military, and our kids eventually started calling it "Soda" or "Coke"! At other times, the experience can be far more disorienting and even debilitating. I grew up as a kid in Colorado, but in the 6th grade my family moved to Texas, where I went out for the football team, as soon as we arrived. I'll never forget our first practice, when we were taking a water break with our helmets off. At the end of the break, the coach bellowed at us and said, "Awright boyz', let's 'git er dun', 'git yer' gators on and let's git' after it!" I was able to decipher most of what he had said, but as all the other boys jumped up and ran off, I just stood there, dumbfounded, looking up at the coach. Sheepishly, I whimpered, "Uh..... coach, what's a gator?" He just laughed at me and barked, "Why yer helmet boy, git yer helmet on!" 

These of course, are quite harmless examples of culture shock, but think for a moment of the helpless feelings that the 'strangers' among us, (a biblical description of immigrants), must feel as they come to our shores in seeking a new life for their families. In large part, their cultures have failed them, and forced them to venture out into the world, and find a better way of life. Putting aside the controversial hot-button aspects of illegal immigration and terrorist motivations for the moment; how are we as Christians to respond to, not just their physical needs at this critical hour of their lives, but their greatest need, i.e. the salvation of their souls? As the archaic old King James word implies, we may find their ways to be strange to us, and perhaps we may struggle to understand the meaning of their cultural behaviors and ethnic traditions, but far from being just a liberal buzzword anymore, “multiculturalism” has become a reality in our nation, and we must rise to the occasion, with the love of Christ in our hearts towards them. 

Churches have not dealt well with this historically, at least in the United States, but the wide-spread diversity once experienced only in our largest cities, has filtered down rapidly into towns and villages across the country, and we must learn to acknowledge that, though it does come with challenges for church leaders, it also comes with great opportunities for the advancement of God's Kingdom. Let’s face it, for most people in the church today, because we tend to be somewhat segregated behind the four walls of our church and its steeple; multiculturalism, is a term that we wish would just go away! The word culture itself, much less it's multi-cultural form, is a hard one to embrace for most Christians, because sometimes, it seems to represent all the things we believe we are fighting against.

Indeed, a “culture-war”, has been raging for decades in this country, and many Christians feel that the Judaeo-Christian culture is losing that war, and perhaps has already lost it, long ago. Considering the onslaught of influences that consistently attack the family and our faith, from the culture around us; one journalist observed that, sooner or later we all become, “…members of the counterculture! This is not an underground holdout of Hippies. No beads are required. All you need to join is a child. At some point between Lamaze and PTA, it becomes clear that one of your main jobs as a parent is to counter the culture. (Goodman)” 

However, it is also helpful for us to understand that, culture itself is not a bad thing, unless of course the culture itself is bad. Which begs the question, and it is a foundational one for us in the modern church; “What is culture?” In a broad sense, it could be described as merely an, “…integrated system of learned patterns of behavior, characteristic of a society… (Koessler 1)”, but it goes much deeper than that. Robert Dugan, Jr., author of, Winning the New Civil War, defines culture as: "…the ways of thinking, living, and behaving that define a people and underlie its achievements. …a nation's collective mind, its sense of right and wrong, the way it perceives reality, and its definition of self. …the morals and habits a mother strives to instill in her children. …the obligations we acknowledge toward our neighbors, our community, and our government. …the worker's dedication to craftsmanship and the owner's acceptance of the responsibilities of stewardship. …the standards we set and enforce for ourselves and for others: our definitions of duty, honor, and character. (Dugan 169)"

Given this expanded definition of culture, it is easy to see how profoundly it affects our thought processes. Without a doubt, culture is the filter through which we attempt to make sense of the world around us, and it molds and shapes our worldview from the day we are born, becoming an integral part of who we are. Combined with the religious dogmas and morays of a given culture, a complete belief system is cemented into the conscious and unconscious mind. At first glance, it may appear to be an insurmountable obstacle for anyone who arises from another culture, to accept Christianity as their own, and this is often a discouraging factor when we consider reaching out to people from other cultures with the Gospel. However, we must never forget that the power of the Holy Spirit can overcome any obstacle, bring the conviction of sin to any person, and the knowledge of salvation to even the most ardent follower of any pagan culture or false religion.

Case in point; consider the Apostle Paul, who was, "...circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Php 3:5-6)"  Even Paul, with that impressive resume of cultural distinction, was willing to throw it all away, totally change his life, and go minister to the Gentiles in the name of Jesus; boldly declaring, "...what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ... (Php 3:7-8)" That is the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, and it is the exact same message that you and I are to deliver to the diverse culture that surrounds us today.

So be bold in your proclamation of the Gospel because, "...the three days encompassing the condemnation, crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth were the most extraordinary sequence of events in human history— events accompanied by physical earthquakes, splitting the temple veil and opening tombs... ...the most culturally significant event in history. Surely here is evidence that the best hope for dramatic cultural change is in singular acts of divine intervention? (Crouch 58)" Rather than focusing on the outer trappings of cultural identity, i.e. what we eat, how we dress, and what holidays we celebrate; speak the truth, plant the seed, water what others have planted, and help reap the harvest of every culture, tribe, tongue, and nation, to the glory of God, and His eternal kingdom!

By Pastor Glen Mustian

Works Cited:

Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. 2009.

Dugan, Robert Jr. Winning the New Civil War. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press. Print. 1991.

Goodman, Ellen. Battling Our Culture: Parent’s Task. Chicago, IL: Chicago Tribune. Print. 1993. 

Koessler, John. Culture Defined: What is Culture? Video. Verbalink. 05/18/2017.

New King James Version. The Holy Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing. Print. 2002.