LETTING OUR LIGHT SHINE IN OTHER CULTURES

“Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.”

Dorothy, Wizard of Oz

The phrase “the Ugly American” is defined by the dictionary as a “pejorative term for Americans traveling or living abroad who remain ignorant of local culture and judge everything by American standards.” It is very easy to forget that we are not in America when we are doing work in foreign countries. Learning to be flexible is the key to success in doing this work in India. India does not have all the modern conveniences related to infrastructure (i.e. communication system, transportation [roads], power plants, etc.) which we as Americans take for granted. There are just some inconveniences that you must accept if you are going to accomplish anything worthwhile. It is painful and miserable when people can’t deal with it. There really is no point in complaining about it. We are not in the United States.

I have enough other faults and weaknesses but complaining is just not one of them. I think I know why I don’t complain, but it is not important to the point I want to make. Initially there is a culture shock and it takes some adjusting. However, if you travel abroad, the easiest way to adjust to a culture is to just be a Christian. Being a Christian has nothing to do with whether I am an American or an Indian. The universal nature of God’s Kingdom (rule) is such that it can and is to be lived in every culture (Revelation 7:12). In fact, isn’t that God’s point to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2? God assured Nebuchadnezzar that He was going to set up His kingdom (rule) and it “shall not be left to another people” (vs. 44). Simply put, God’s kingdom/rule over people was going to be universal, and it would be established without respect to human culture, might or ingenuity (i.e. “without hands’).

For this reason, Jesus established a new covenant that was universal in scope. Jesus wanted us to make disciples for Him. To accomplish that, He commands we “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15-16). The reason He commanded this is because the gospel is for all men regardless of their culture, race or ethnicity. If we are going to let our light shine in other cultures, it will be on the basis of our faith in the gospel and not on our insistence for our American way of life! (read carefully 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

COLONY OF HEAVEN

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…" (Philippians 3:20)

I am an American citizen and very grateful to be one. There is very little in India, outside of the cherished relationships I have with many of the Indian people, which makes me want to live here. India is not my home. It is a beautiful country in many ways. It is a country far richer in tradition and history than America. I am ever learning about India that I might not be perceived as being disrespectful toward the culture. Sometimes that is not easy for my Western mindset to understand, much less accept, the differences in cultures. I am aware that the reverse is true for my dear friend Benson when he visits America. Though neither of us has a desire to live in each other's respective land, we do respect each other's culture as far as our conscience will permit

I am quite confident the one thing we (Benson and I) share in common, above our preferences for our native cultures, is the desire to live in our respective cultures only as sojourners because our longing some day is to be in Heaven. Thus, we both long to have a firm grasp on the pilgrim concept taught in the Bible – namely, that this world is not our home – whether we are Indian or American. For we are first and foremost Christians, which means we are members of the family of God that is made up of every nation, tribe, peoples and languages, who will one day bask in the culture of God's presence without a longing to be elsewhere. This is what we both strive to reflect in our lives and preaching because we are guided by Heaven's ways revealed in the Scriptures. Thus, whether in India or America or anywhere else in the world, all those who make up God's family are a colony of heaven on earth regardless of the differences in their respective cultures and languages. Regardless of where Christians live on this earth, they can live faithfully to God letting their lights shine through the Scriptures knowing their true citizenship is in Heaven.

NO SECRETS IN DEATH

The media focus on the recent deaths of celebrities has been unrealistic. Steve McNair, a former NFL quarterback who was married and the father of four boys, was found shot to death alongside his girlfriend, according to the news media. His death is tragic in so many ways as were the two other cultural icons, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. The message of the book of Ecclesiastes is stamped all over their lives; "Vanity of vanities…All is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

It is no secret that the lives of these icons (as well as many more before them) were characterized by lust. The exact cause(s) for the type of cancer Farah Fawcett contracted may be unknown to the public, but the risk factors for it are not. Michael Jackson clearly died from a drug induced heart-attack. McNair died at the hands of someone while he was with his mistress. A look at their bank accounts, fame and popularity reveal they "had it all." The reality is that "having it all" is no safeguard against death. Death is where you leave "it all" because you cannot take any of it with you.

Life does not have to be lived in vanity (meaninglessness) whether rich or poor. The fact is, life is only vanity if "having it all" means only living for this world. If all there is to our existence is this world, then life is meaningless. When people are consumed by their lust and addictions, clearly their world-view is strictly defined by the here-and-now. Consequently, drugs, violence and sexually transmitted diseases will be a major risk factors contributing to the deaths of people consumed by their lusts.

Think where each one of these individuals would be right now if they had been faithful Christians. It is true that being a Christian is no safe-guard against death but it does assure that when we die we can do so with dignity and not with shame. We die with dignity because we lived for a meaningful hope. Thus, the Christian's hope is better than anything this world can provide – even if one managed to "have it all" (Matthew 16:26). Someone has wisely said, "If you want to know how to live, then you need to know how to die." There are no secrets in death – much less in judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

Sacrifice: When Nothing Else Matters

It was not the obligation or duty of Jesus to die for us. His sacrifice was wholly a matter of love. It is His incomprehensible willingness to love the unlovable that staggers the mind. A love publicly manifested by His giving up heaven's glory to enter a hostile and sinful world as a man rejected, ridiculed and condemned to die unjustly. The innocent for the guilty, to set them free, forever declares His humiliation and voluntary sacrifice on our behalf.

There are only two reasons that love motivated Jesus to sacrifice Himself on our behalf. Namely, His love for God and His love for God's creation – nothing else mattered (Hebrews 10:5-7). We must understand this, without that sacrifice is impossible! Nothing else mattered in his love but God and people – not His physical comforts (Luke 9:58); not His personal preferences (Matthew 26:42); not even His intense longing to be with His Father in Heaven apart from going to the cross (Luke 5:16).

Only when nothing else matters but God and people will God's people come to know the true meaning of sacrifice. Until then, the work of the local church will suffer want at the hands of physical comforts, personal preferences and longing to be elsewhere. We are not called to duty or convenience but to conviction and sacrifice that willingly serves through love. "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. …No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" (Luke 9:23, 62) If we learn to sacrifice because nothing else matters but God and people, then our light will always shine.

“LOVE IS STRONG AS DEATH”

“… in order to love, we must be individuals; to be individuals, we must know death; therefore, in order to love, we must know death.” Peter J. Kreeft

Last week while flying back from Tucson, Arizona, I was thumbing through the American Airlines on-board magazine for June 2009. It contained a human interest piece on the late “Billy Mays.” In spite of his annoying infomercials, according to the article, he apparently was not only very successful but was a very personable individual. It is interesting that within a week of reading that article he died suddenly at the age of 50. I guess, in a sense, he was to infomercials what Michael Jackson was to pop music and what Farrah Fawcett was to fashion models/actresses in the 1970’s. But more than that, Mays, Fawcett and Jackson all share the common fate of all humanity – they are dead.

I know it seems too obvious to mention but it needs to be noted that neither, fame, beauty, talent nor voice recognition spared them from the inevitable and the irreversible act of death. No one wants to be morbid or insensitive to those who sincerely mourn their passing, but death is the reality for each of us regardless of our talents and wealth. Compiling all their wealth, fame and beauty together could not compete with death. In spite of that, the Bible, which speaks to the living, does remind us that there is something that is as strong as death in this life: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.” (Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV)

Solomon observes that love, like death, is both real and unrelenting as it pursues its purpose. Yet, it is not just any love, it is that committed love of marriage. As much as faithfulness preserves love, wisdom preserves life. Such committed love is jealous. Yet it is not a jealousy grounded in selfishness. To the contrary, the jealousy to which the writer refers, is that voluntary and selfless devotion, which seeks the protection and welfare of that one to whom we are committed. No amount of “water” (struggles, temptation, pain, suffering, et. al.) pouring over a committed love can quench its fires and no amount of wealth can purchase such committed love (see v. 7). The wisdom that preserves life, and the faithfulness of committed love, which sustains marriage can only be as strong as death, if it is founded on the “fear (reverence) of God.” (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 9:10; 5:15-23)

Making Sense of the Bible #5

Bear with me….

Years ago, when I first moved to Texas to preach, one of the members built custom homes for a living. One day he got to telling me about one of the men in the congregation who had built his own house. At the time, he was a young husband/father who wanted to build his own house with his own hands, but he didn’t have the expertise, so he began asking the home builder question, after question, after question. About the time the young man was ready to break ground for constructing his new home the builder was also ready to break ground for a new home.

Once the construction started, my home-builder friend told me that the young man would come out to the job site every day after he got off work to see what had been done that day. The young man would make notes, ask questions and then go back to his own site and do exactly the same thing. When he couldn’t figure out how to do something, he would call the builder at home. The builder would explain how to cut this angle or that angle or to install this or that. A few months after the home builder finished building the new home, the young man finished the new house for his family. When I moved from there, that man and his family were still living in that house he had built with his own hands.

When it comes to understanding how God communicates to us through the Bible He does it just as my home builder friend did for the man who knew nothing about how to build a house. The builder would give him direct instructions on how to do something, or when the young man would go out to the site after work, he saw an example of how and what needed to be done. When he couldn’t figure something out, the homebuilder gave him enough information that he could necessarily deduce how to do a thing.

There are only three ways I ever knew how to teach my children anything. I either told them how to do it or I showed them how or I would give them enough information that they could figure out how to do it. Again, that’s just common sense. Friends, God does not communicate His will to us in the Bible through some hidden, mysterious or esoteric manner. He teaches us in the same way we teach things, namely, through direct statement/command, or approved example or necessary inference. It is no wonder that the Bible tells us that “the common people heard (Jesus) gladly,” (Mark 12:37) for He taught His will to them just as they would teach their children and others about things they knew.

Making Sense of the Bible #4

The Bible is made up of the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). If we think of the Old and New Testaments in terms of a “will” (like one we would make in the event of our death), it would free us from many of the misunderstandings which exist in the religious world today. The OT was God's will and purpose, based on promises and prophesies, to bring Jesus, who would redeem man from his sin, into the world as Savior and Lord. The NT is the revelation and fulfillment of those promises giving us assurance that through Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection we can be forgiven of our sins.

The Law portions of the OT, which include the well-known Ten Commandments, were given to the Israelites whom God delivered from Egypt [Exodus 20:1-17 (read carefully vs. 2 and note who is being spoken to, for they are the ones who received the Ten Commandments); Deuteronomy 5:1-21 (read carefully vs.1-3 and make the same notation)]. The Ten Commandments and the Levitical law codes (contained in the book of Leviticus) regulating priests and the sacrificial system were given not to the world but to the Israelites.

When Jesus came into the world, He gave another will that was to be universal (for all men – not just the Israelites or Jews but for all). Jesus made it clear that he was sacrificing Himself (shedding His blood) to establish the New Testament as the means of forgiveness for sins (Matthew 26:28). Keep in mind that a will cannot be probated or executed until after the death of the one who made it. Thus, while Jesus lived on earth he was subject to the OT and its laws (Luke 2:41-47; 4:16; Matthew 5:17; Galatians 4:3).

In Jeremiah 31:31-33, Jeremiah prophesied of a future time when God would make a New Covenant (Testament) that would supersede the Old Covenant (Testament) and it would not be for just Israel but for all men. In the NT the writer of the book of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah’s prophecy pointing out in fact that the NT is that replacement and the OT is “obsolete and vanishing away” (Hebrews 8:8-13). The Hebrew writer tells us that since Jesus died, “He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes affect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.” (Hebrews 9:15-17 underline mine for emphasis - br).

The OT establishes the faithfulness of God to His word and serves an important purpose in helping us understand how God deals with people. Briefly stated, God deals favorably or unfavorably with people based on their response to His word. Without understanding this distinction between the OT and the NT we are prone to misunderstanding and false concepts. Thus, if our light is to shine we must trust in God and His word, obeying Him from the heart based on the terms which He set forth in the NT and went into effect after Jesus’ death.