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I am having a lot of fun these days.
I have recently had the privilege of getting to know someone who lives in Pakistan. I love learning about other cultures, and since it may be some time before I am actually able to travel to Pakistan, the next best thing is to learn about the culture through someone who lives there! He is busy showing me pictures of native animals, of people working in the rice fields, of people washing their clothes beside the river, of the houses they live in... Meanwhile, I'm busy showing him pictures of moose and elk and bear, and all the other animals native to Canada, our orchards and corn fields, and of course, a washing machine...
I have come to realize that I am eager to learn of his culture, and he is equally eager to share it with me! And he is also just as excited to learn about Canadian culture, and I find myself eager to share it with him!
This has all made me think of yet a different kind of culture: The Jesus culture.
Of course, that may have a very different meaning to some of you, but my point here is simply to remind all of us that Christianity is a culture! It is a way of life! It is a culture of obeying God's laws by working to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and spirits, and by loving our neighbour as ourselves!
I wonder how many of us who call ourselves Christians truly strive to live this culture...
But perhaps, even more importantly ... as I look at how eager I am to share my Canadian culture with my new Pakistani friend, I have to ask myself this all-important question: Am I just as eager to share my Christian culture with those in the world who don't know Jesus?
Yet isn't this the last command that our Lord left us with? "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you..." (Matthew 28:19-20a NASB)! The Bible even goes so far as to say that the feet of those who spread the gospel are ... beautiful! "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” (Romans 10:15 NASB).
The Bible is clear: God wants everyone saved: "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB)! The Apostle Paul spells out the dilemma very clearly: "How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14 NASB). It is, therefore, up to each one of us to be the voices that introduce people to Jesus!
How do we do that? I mean, not all of us are comfortable standing up and preaching sermons or leading giant crusades. Hey, some of us aren't even comfortable speaking about Jesus!
In this culture-sharing process with my new Pakistani friend, I have come to realize something: Canadians, with their valuable dollar and high standards of living have lost something that these people of Pakistan, many of whom live below the poverty line, have maintained: dependency upon God, love and support for family! I was so happy to learn that this boy's family is actually content being poor, that they don't actually even want to be rich! Why? Because they see that riches make people dependent upon their money, their jobs, etc., and they lose their love for and dependency upon God! The rich cultures are ever striving for more riches, to the point that they lose what is really important: The love and unity in their families! I found myself wanting what I saw in the culture of this dirt-poor Pakistani family!
What if .. what if we, as followers of Jesus Christ, were to be living the Jesus culture in such a way that those of the world's culture would begin to see something special in the Jesus culture, something that they, themselves, didn't have, something that they, themselves, wanted?
That, friends, is the secret to becoming God's mouthpiece on earth! We need to live the Jesus culture in such a way that others will see Jesus in us and begin to want what we have in Christ!
I want to thank my new Pakistani friends for sharing their culture with me, for helping me to remember what is important in life. And I especially want to be wearing my Jesus culture -- I want to be loving the Lord my God with ALL my heart, mind and spirit, and I want to be loving my neighbour as myself -- to the point that those of the world will begin to see something in me that they want for themselves!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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