For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The Bible defines spiritual mature people as those who have been putting into practice the Word of God and therefore have developed the ability to discern good from evil.
Spiritual maturity is not a reflection of knowledge depth.
Spiritual maturity is the ability to look at people, circumstances, and cultural constructs and decide whether those things are rooted in the goodness of God or the wickedness of Satan.
The spiritually mature people that I know are able to dissect and discern what is happening in our world today. They have the ability to categorize and compartmentalize the news of the day. They see the way things really are. In other words, their worldview is reality.
The danger comes when we have people leading our churches, schools, institutions, and government who lack this ability of discernment. In their confusion and lack of insight, they drive us further into darkness.
The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.
Proverbs 4:19
Can you see this factor at play around you? Where do you see those who discern good from evil, and those who cannot?
I distinctly remember the season when I first encountered the term hate speech. It was while I was in high school in the late 1990s. The tragic death of college student Matthew Shepard was dominating the news in late 1998. And I recall hearing on the news broadcasts and in conversations with friends the novel idea that “hate speech” should and could be regulated and punishable by law. I felt a visceral violation as an American in reaction to this concept. I had been taught growing up, and indeed worked out myself, the importance of freedom of speech as given in the first amendment to the constitution.
“Congress shall make no law…..abridging the freedom of speech”. In other words as an American we have the freedom to say anything that we want to say. Full stop. No further discussion needed. I am free to speak whatever words I choose to speak in whatever way I choose to speak them. We also understand that historically there are caveats to this freedom whether wrong or right. You cannot threaten the life of the President, you can’t say bomb on an airplane, and you cannot libel someone without threat of a lawsuit. And while those things are perhaps unconstitutional, they are very limited in scope and, quite frankly, anomalies for the average American.
But “hate speech” was different.
For the government to be able to make a law abridging the freedom of speech by labeling it as a crime seemed to me to be a sinister violation of my liberty. The Matthew Shepard case eventually had an impact on U.S. law, allowing for prosecution of certain types of speech deemed as potentially inciting violence (notwithstanding the fact that many questions remain about the actual motive of the killing).
The idea that some speech can be regulated by law is now an accepted fact across the board in America. The frog has been in the boiling water for a few decades now….
Fast forward to 2023. There’s now a new attack on the first amendment that is predicated on the logic of hate speech: “disinformation”. I don’t have any problem with the label of disinformation. Pretty sure it’s just another way to categorize lies (or “untruths” as the kids like to say). I have a problem when the government tries to define what speech qualifies as disinformation, and subsequently polices and shuts down those it deems are spreading such lies.
Let the 1990s be a warning to the 2020s.
If the idea of disinformation is ever enshrined in law similar to hate speech – if our government ever has the ability to identify and punish speech that it deems untruthful – then a new era of persecution for American churches will begin.
With this in mind, it only makes sense for believers to stand up for the right of everyone to say what they choose. That freedom allows that the lines of gospel communication – to a culture that desperately needs it – will remain open.
Excellence in ministry is important; crucially important. Excellence in attitude may be the most important area to demonstrate this crucial value in.
for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11b-13
Paul is talking here about his ability to deal with circumstances and situations in life.
And that is really what attitude is – our response to life situations.
Victor Frankl, a Viennese Jew, was interned by the Germans for more than three years. He was moved from one concentration camp to another, even spending several months at Auschwitz. Later he wrote these words:
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember those men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances….”
Victor Frankl
As Frankl points out rightly, we have the ability to choose our attitude- every single day. It has been said that life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it. And I think that is true.
Paul is saying in Ephesians that his attitude in all things is consistent, constant. No matter what circumstance he finds himself in, he has learned how to maintain a good attitude.
The Secret of Excellence in Attitude
The word “learned” in verse twelve means “to learn the secret, to be initiated”.
Some of you know our ministry Honest Deceiver Ministries that uses magic and illusion to share the gospel. And when someone wants to learn magic, they must be initiated – the secrets must be revealed to them. They must learn through practice and experience. Paul is saying that he has learned the secret of being content, of having a good attitude, through his life experiences. And then he tells us the secret:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
The secret of excellence in attitude is remembering and relying on the strength of Christ in me.
Culture shock is the experience of overwhelming cultural unfamiliarity leading to disorientation, disillusionment, and often abandonment. Sounds pretty heady, right? It is. Culture shock is very real, and knowing how to handle culture shock is one of the most important skills a missionary can possess.
Culture shock has been widely studied and most missiologists agree that it is comprised of four phases: honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, and acceptance. I’ll not deal with each phase here, but rather focus on how a missionary can handle culture shock when it really hits – in the frustration phase.
Upon arriving in a new country for a long-term assignment, at first the missionary will experience the excitement of new sights, sounds, smells, and most exhilarating of all – new people! While this is all very positive and eye-opening, the missionary must make some choices during this phase before the very real frustration phase sets in. When it does set in (and it will!), you can be more equipped to navigate it using these choices.
Choose to Maintain Identity
One of the things that I often see missionaries do to handle culture shock is to over-compensate by completely letting go of their own home culture. In fact, there is ALOT of literature that suggests that missionaries should completely let go of their own culture and “become one of the natives”. But I don’t find this perspective in the Bible. In fact, I find something different.
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1 Corinthians 9:22
In this verse, Paul describes his lived-out philosophy of missions – adapting to the culture around him to reach the people in it. Yet at the same time in Acts 16:37-38 and Acts 22:25-28 Paul claims Roman citizenship to the authorities. It’s clear from these passages that Paul neither flaunted nor buried the fact that he was a Roman. He maintained his identity and relied on it when useful, all while adapting so well to the people around him that many of them (evidently from these passages) did not realize he was of Roman heritage.
Paul never forgot who he was or pretended to be someone else. He adapted to other peoples while maintaining his identity. The truth is, no matter how a foreign missionary tries to integrate into the culture (and they should try – hard!) – even though they make great strides, they will always be a foreigner, an outsider, in some ways. To ignore this fact is to ignore reality. Missionaries make a mistake in assuming that they have the ability to completely metamorphose into another people group. They don’t. In the end, it creates silliness at best and confusion at worst.
Choose to Live Sacrificially
Things are not going to go as you want them to in a new culture. Things will not work the way you think they should. People will not respond to you in ways you think are “normal”. These situations are especially true for missionaries serving inter-continentally. If a missionary is moving from one Southeast Asian country to another to serve cross-culturally, there will still be differences in culture. The same is true for a European moving to another European country. Or an African moving to another African country. But the differences will be more pronounced for a European moving to an African country, or an American moving to an Asian country, or an Asian moving to an African country. If that’s you, the sacrifices will be even more apparent.
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23
All of the cross-cultural difficulties and frustrations should be seen, rightly, as a sacrifice for the Lord. Jesus said that if we do not take up our cross daily we are not worthy to follow Him. For missionaries, this means experiencing daily things that you don’t agree with, you don’t like, and you don’t want to happen. By remembering that you are called to sacrifice your own desires every day – for the good of others – your perspective and subsequently your attitude will change.
In short, there will be cultural pieces that you will never adapt to, adjust to, or be able to accept as normal – choose to have a good attitude anyway and focus on the fact that this stress point is evidence that you are in the place God has asked you to be. A place of sacrifice. A place of service.
Choose to Rest
Culture shock is real. To pretend everything is normal around you when it isn’t leads to frustration, denial, and rejection. Life in a foreign country is hard, there’s no way around it. If you have moved from a “first world” situation to a “third world” situation, even more so. Things don’t work as they should. Tasks take more time and effort. Ministry is tiring in unique ways.
With this in mind, as missionaries in cross-cultural service, on a primary level we must first be resting and abiding in the Lord daily. That’s the baseline and non-negotiable.
We must find rest in our families, our homes, and yes – even those people back in our home country. Technology makes it even easier to stay connected and find a send of home while you are far away.
Missionaries must be intentional about choosing to rest.
Are you an encouraging leader? If you’re not sure, compare yourself to Joshua in this passage from Joshua chapter 17. In this chapter the scenario goes something like this:
Step 1 – Joshua has led the people to great victories and given them land of their own – the promise of God.
Step 2 – The people complain that the land is not good enough for them:
14 Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”
Step 3 – Joshua responds and tells the people that if they are so great, they should go and take the land they want from their enemies (feel the sarcasm):
15 So Joshua answered them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”
Step 4 – The people respond to this and say “well wait a minute – those guys are strong, we can’t handle it on our own! I mean, that’s not what we meant Joshua! Come on, man!”:
16 But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel.”
Now – stop. What would your “Step 5” be?
I know what most of us would initially be thinking, myself included – “you guys had better figure it out, because I’m not helping you. I already did my part and you guys are ungrateful.”
But Joshua doesn’t do that. Instead, he encourages them:
17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one [f]lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.”
A leader strengthens the faith of his followers by exhibiting his own.
Joshua exemplified this. He was not personally offended by their complaining. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity.
If someone that is following you has a poor outlook or weak faith, don’t give up on them. View it as a discipleship opportunity to challenge them and help them grow.
