The reality of mission service vividly hit me that first Sabbath I sat down in the institutional church on the compound where I was to serve 8,000 miles from home. As I viewed the congregation composed of students and workers from over fifteen different countries my first thought was, How can I possibly hope to teach these international students when I have been trained to teach in a culture so distant and different from theirs?
That experience highlighted one of the most challenging issues facing Adventism: how to get along with each other in spite of our national and cultural differences. These differences are not only international (Asian, African, European, Australian, American) but also intranational (Black, Hispanic, Asian, gender, generation, socioeconomic, etc., in the United States).
Three levels
The varying worldviews of the people groups who comprise the Adventist Church often conflict with each other on three varying cultural levels. The first of these levels is that of local culture, the environment in which a person grows up and lives. It is primarily from local culture that a person learns how to act. This is also one of the strongest levels of culture, one which a person rarely loses.
The second level is world culture, through which an individual or institution relates to the rest of its world vis-a-vis its economic and social life. Survival of the individual and/or an organization and its unity at this juncture depends on good interpersonal and oftentimes, good international, relationships. The second level of culture may incorporate elements of the local culture, but it also adopts and adapts their many varied characteristics and forges them into a hybrid so that all can communicate and carry on business.
The third level can be termed a biblical culture, which is based upon the absolute truths taught in Scripture and that should govern every Christian everywhere. It is from the perspective of biblical culture that the church should and must relate to the other two levels.
When cultures collide
World and local cultures as a whole do not provide us with unifying moral structures. They simply prescribe varying ways of doing things. In parts of Asia, for example, one might seek to get a person's attention by having the palms of the hands facing down, whereas in America, the palms face up. Neither way is right or wrong. They are just different.
Basic biblical principle, on the other hand, transcends cultures and subcultures because, for the believer at least, it is based on the absolute truth of God's revelation as revealed in Scriptures. If, for example, the Bible tells us that it is morally wrong to kill, then that is true everywhere, regardless of local customs. This is a moral imperative that transcends local and world cultures. It is right or wrong because God declares it to be so. And this, for the Christian, becomes the standard for any local or world cultural practice.
The problem created by diverse cultures within an organization, in our case the Adventist Church, comes when one local or even world culture claims to have the only possible interpretation of reality. The emphasis is upon the tightness of one's own cultural way and the wrongness of others. This attitude plays one culture over against another and usually leads one to judge the other for not being like it or for doing things differently or for thinking differently. Of ten the attempt is made to impose a local culture upon all others as the standard for making decisions and accomplishing goals. Hence, the tendency is to erect barriers that judge another's cultural perspective and/or national heritage.
When these barriers are erected, the church can find itself unable to live in peace or to even respect diverse cultures. Is it possible for Adventists to live together unified in our cultural diversity, or must we remain individual communities separated by parochial concerns?
Four biblical principles
For the Christian to explore this question, he or she must begin with the Bible, which gives at least four foundational principles that, properly understood, provide the basis for helping us transcend the culture gap.
1. All are created by God. According to Genesis 1:26, 27, God created every individual in God's own image, which means that we each have an intrinsic value that should not be undermined because of the locality of our birth. We can and should respect each other if for no other reason than because we are children of God. We are all related because God is our Father. Each person is called to be a part of the family and culture of heaven.
This should remind us that just as there is diversity in human families, so also is there in God's. The differences are not good or evil but simply represent the diversity of God and its expression in His creative ability to produce unique beings. This creative power of God might be best illustrated by the proverbial truth that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. When you consider the millions of flakes that fall with each snow, it gives just a glimpse into the diversity of God's creative purpose.
2. We are all saved by faith in Christ. The second foundational biblical principle is found in John 3:14-16. We have been saved by the grace of God as demonstrated by the infinite gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, all believers are on the same footing in Christ, no matter their origin, race, nationality, or gender. The process of salvation is not different for different cultures nor does one culture have the market on salvation or spirituality. All who believe in Christ by faith are included in the heavenly culture, which transcends barriers of sex, race, and nationality.
3. All are equal in Christ. According to Galatians 3:26-29, all are equal in biblical culture and heirs to the same promise given to Abraham because all are in Christ and of Christ. Equality in the biblical sense means that no class distinctions, no racial barriers, no gender separation, and no cultural bigotry exist in the kingdom of God, because all people have been united by Christ's death. Not all differences are eradicated, but the person of biblical culture looks to the unifying power of the cross of Jesus Christ to bring diverse people and people groups into oneness (Eph. 2:11-22). This helps make a person colorblind so that he or she treats everyone with respect, as a brother or sister in Christ.
4. Unity in diversity and diversity in unity. First Corinthians 12:12-14 reminds us that there is diversity in the united body of the church. Just as the human body has many different parts that contribute to the whole, so the body of Christ, the church, has a diversity that contributes to the whole. In fact, the Bible communicates clearly that we do not need to be identical, look the same, act the same, or be the same. God's design for the universe is full of diversity; that diversity, however, is a diversity that gathers into a great oneness. We must get along with each other, appreciating our differences rather than exploiting them to judge one culture as being better or worse than another, using cultural aspects rather than biblical principle as our basis for judgment.
Six guidelines for living together
Now, how can we apply these principles? There are six essential guidelines built upon Scripture that will help us to live with each other in spite of our differences.
1. Show love and toleration. One of our first tasks as members of an international community is to show love and toleration toward each other. Ephesians 4:32 admonishes us to be kind and compassionate, for giving each other as Christ has forgiven us. Unquestionably, the one great need of the church today is this kind of compassion. Thousands, particularly youth, leave our churches because of our lack of Christian compassion. If we can learn to show love and toleration, realizing that there are many different ways to do the same thing, the church will be able to work unitedly in spite of our differences.
2. Serve rather than rule. Leadership in Christianity is not a hierarchical but a service performed for others. We should not, like the secular world, attempt to control and condemn one another because we believe that our culture has the only right way of doing things. Rather, we should emphasize service and deference. Christ tells us that the greatest among us is to be the servant of all (see Matt. 20:20-28). Hence, servanthood is an important key in helping us to get along with one another.
3. Treat each other with respect. Galatians 6:10 lays down the principle of being good to all people, especially those in the church. Ephesians 5:17-21 reminds us to submit to each other out of reverence to Christ. Peter encourages us to respect everyone, love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, and honor our rulers (1 Peter 2:17). Respect for each other's cultures is an essential for living together in unity. We must be sensitive to the differences in cultural practice while remembering that every Adventist is working toward the same goal: spreading the good news of the gospel, in the setting of the Three Angels' messages. Our cultural method of reaching these goals will be as diverse as each culture itself. None of these approaches should be judged as "right" or "wrong" as long as they are consistent with the essential principles of Scripture. One culture's way of doing evangelism, for example, should not be imposed on the entire church as the "only" way. Evangelism must be done differently in China than on an American university campus. They are just varied ways or alternate routes to reach the same destination.
4. Treat everyone equally. This is what the Bible means when it condemns favoritism. If we show favoritism to a particular culture, then we are sinners and will be judged and convicted by the law (James 2:1-13). We must work together and respect the fact that each person (and culture) has equal status before God because of Jesus Christ.
5. Avoid gossip. In Proverbs, gossip is said to separate close friends (16:28), betray interpersonal confidence (20:19), and cause quarrels to continue (26:20-22). We all know the power of the tongue and the destruction that it can cause (see James 3:5- 12). We should especially avoid gossip, which engenders rumors about particular cultural practices and/or the spiritual condition of a certain culture. Ephesians 4:29 is helpful in this regard: It says that we should not let unwholesome talk (such as criticism of culture) come out of our mouths but should rather speak only that which benefits and uplifts our hearers. This means that differing practices of culture should not be condemned but rather seen for the richness of their diversity that the cross of Christ unifies into a beautiful tapestry of rich colors, which in turn reflects God's character and fashions humanity into His temple of living stones (1 Pet. 2:4,5).
6. Learn to be content in your circumstances. Regardless of which culture a person comes from, we need to be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:10-13). Godliness should not be a means for financial gain, nor should the Christian covet that which does not belong to him or her (1 Tim. 6:3- 10). In fact, we should keep our lives free from the tyranny of material things because these things are often causes for fights among believers (James 4:1-3).
We can live together in harmony in today's church, even though we come from different cultures, because in the kingdom of God there is unity in diversity and a diversity which leads to unity. "There is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26-29). Being in Christ breaks down religiocultural differences (no Jew or Greek), socioeconomic distinctions (no slave or free) and gender bigotry (no male or female). And the result is that all "are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
If we are all heirs to the same promise, then we should all be able to get along together. This is the truth that stuck uppermost in my mind as I sat in the church behind mission compound walls and contemplated the dilemma of trying to teach in that highly multicultural setting.
