"That's just not the way I was brought up..."
Have you ever said that before?
In the past, those words have always meant something good.
Like when I saw some other kid being disrespectful to their parents, I would say, "That's just not the way I was brought up." - I was taught to use good manners and treat elders with courtesy.
Or when there were people who didn't go to church on Sunday because something else got in the way - whether that something else was worthwhile or not - I would typically say, "That's just not the way I was brought up." - I was raised up going to Sunday morning service every single Sunday, no matter what.
Well, all those things are fine and good, but I've come to understand, living in a foreign culture, that the way I was brought up doesn't always fly over here.
I'll give a funny example. (Well, it will be funny for my Western friends.)
Here, it's pretty common to see someone picking their nose in public. They don't find anything wrong with that and you see it being done pretty much everywhere.
Opposite to that, they find it very rude to pick in your teeth here or even using a toothpick. That is something that should only be done in private without anyone else being able to see you.
My American culture is just the opposite of that, right?
It's not that my American way is right, and the SEA way is wrong or vice versa. It's just that our cultures and traditions are quite different.
Another thing, everyone here wears longyis (long skirts from waist to ankle wrapped around the lower body and tied with a knot at the top). Both men and women wear the longyis.
You ever seen a man in America wearing a long skirt?
Probably not, unless it's for some special occasion.
Here, it's more common to see a man in a longyi than wearing pants.
"That's just not the way I was brought up," would probably be the typical response for a Westerner visiting this part of the world.
And that's ok, unless you want to be a part of the culture where you are.
Which brings me to my point.
I frequently have to ask myself, "Do I want to separate myself from the local people and be more like a visitor or do I want to embrace this culture and try to relate and understand their way of life?"
Oh, I will always be an American (and proud of it!)
I will always be a "white face."
But I have tried very hard to be a part of the culture here and not isolated from it - i.e. speaking the language, dressing like the locals, and taking on some of their habits.
I frequently have to question some of my traditions to discern whether these practices help me to reach the people where I live or do they segregate me?
For instance, like I mentioned earlier, I was brought up to go to church on Sunday mornings. From 10am - noon, every Sunday like clockwork, you could find me in the big brick church with the steeple on top.
And that's the way it's supposed to be, right?
Well, what if you have a job - a job you're thankful for because it means you can feed yourself and your whole family - but you have to work everyday from sun-up to sun-down? Everyday including Sundays.
What if you have to attend school on Sundays? (They have school here every day of the week. They don't have weekends here. In fact there's not even a word in their language that means "weekend.")
What if there are no brick buildings with a big steeple on top?
Please hear me. I'm not saying that any of our Western traditions are bad.
I'm just trying to point out that sometimes we have to change our way of thinking in order to do whatever it is that God wants us to do.
In the book of Mark, chapter seven, verse eight, we read: "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
This was Jesus talking to the religious leaders of his day.
He was telling them that what began as good intentions - good habits and traditions of following God - had become rituals with no meaning. The leaders were more concerned with how to do the rituals and who was doing them, rather than focusing on the meaning and purpose of those rituals.
As I read that passage this morning, I began to question myself again as I so frequently do.
"Lord, are there traditions or habits that I'm holding on to that keep me from doing what you want me to do?"
Can I challenge you with this same thought?
What is it that's hindering you from doing what God wants you to do?
Is it a tradition that's been engrained in you from your earliest days? - "That's just the way I was brought up!"
Maybe it's your culture and the practices of your culture that separate you from the people God wants you to share His love with. (We have many cultures such as a Southern culture, or a teenager culture or a professional culture, etc.)
Maybe it's even the concept we have of ourselves and the things we hold dear that isolate us from others.
Whatever it is, if it keeps us from doing His will, then we need to lay it down.
Even if it goes against the norm.
Even if it makes me stand out from the crowd.
Even if it brings persecution.
Even if it brings judgement and scorn.
If it means doing what He wants you to do, are you willing?
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