How Do We Represent?

Are we Tourists, Businessmen, or Ambassadors? (Part 3)

So far in this series of blog posts, we have considered two modes of engaging other cultures as tourists and as businessmen. We saw that tourists either run roughshod over indigenous cultures (directly or indirectly) or consume indigenous cultures for their own entertainment. We also saw that businessmen who are good at what they do understand the importance of knowing the culture and listening to those they today we will consider a third mode of 
engagement, that of Ambassador for Christ.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to see what it means to be an ambassador is to see what it is not. It is not a vacation trip spent in personal comfort and enjoyment. It involves important business but not for personal profit. It is not simply the role of a messenger but one that involves the power and authority of the one who sent him/her. They don't demand, they woo. They don't cave in but stay true to their convictions. They don't walk away but stay at the table. They don't lose hope but give time and space for the message to do its work. They don't forget where they are from, why they came, or to whom they must answer.

Last spring we discussed this issue in one of our classes, looking at the differences between tourists and ambassadors. I have added the third idea of the businessman to those thoughts. So here are a few points of difference we discussed that I have organized into a table format to make comparison easier.

Tourists	Businessmen	Ambassadors for Christ
Tourists are often intrusive...they tend to feel their hosts lives revolve around them	Businessmen are often pushy and take-charge. Focus is on the customer as long as there is profit.	Ambassadors are invited guests who have a posture of humility and graciousness. They are not in it for their own interests but represent the one who sent them.
Tourists are often loud and illiterate in the tongue of another land.	Businessmen are more sensitive to cultural taboos than in the past, but still are famous to marketing schemes that go awry.	Ambassadors don’t expect people of “other lands”—different sub-cultures and faith traditions both here and abroad—to learn our “Christian-ese” insider lingo. Instead, they learn how to contextualize Christian concepts to the other person’s ways of speaking.
Tourists have no staying power. They are short-term visitors, and usually not fully literate in the cultures they visit. As a result, they often say and do things that are insensitive or offensive to their hosts.	Businessmen have more staying power than tourists but in most cases are less engaged than ambassadors. They will stay as long as it pays.	Good ambassadors come to stay until removed by the one who sent them. They listen, are soft-spoken, and literate both linguistically and culturally. What does it mean to be literate in their culture? We must be willing to learn
Tourists are consumers	Businessmen are the middle man between producers and consumers…with more emphasis on the consuming side.	Good ambassadors are compassionate, conciliatory, communicators of God’s grace…without compromise. They bring added value to all they engage.

It would seem clear that for the Christian the engagement model of the ambassador is to be preferred. Though I honestly doubt our ability to fully purge the tourist/businessmen’s self-interest from our network servers before Christ’s return (Luke 17:26-33) we can be open about our struggle, and together learn to pursue a greater profit as the Day draws near (Hebrews 10:22-25).

If we catch a vision of the greatness and glory that is ours in the love of Christ the lesser loves/profits of the world will look like tarnished brass bobbles. I am reminded of Jesus’ short parable of the hidden treasure, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44) But if we focus on what worldly goods and life we can save up for ourselves then we stand to lose the greater (i.e., eternal) profit Christ shares with us through his willing loss, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25). 

So when people look at our lives, what do they think is most important to us? Would they say we are sightseers full of ourselves, sold-out compromisers seeking a profit, or solid and steadfast in what we stand for? Would we be seen as approachable and invitational or would we be seen as judgmental and standoffish? What would your hairstylist, garbage man, or barista say?

Are we filled with awe as we represent the Kingdom of God? I know that I can get too caught up in the task at hand, or an apparent lack of progress towards a deadline, that I can lose my awe. So today while my wife was in New Seasons, I paused outside to look up and watch the clouds (all shades of white, grey, and black) running rapidly down from the north, putting the honking geese to shame. I marveled at the crispy-crunchiness of the blowing leaves on the sidewalk. I caught what remained of the late October sun on my face and felt the creative pleasure of the Divine Artist behind it all. When I speak to people this week I hope they see the spiritual awe of my homeland shining through me.

 

[Next week I hope to talk more about who it is that we are to be ambassadors of.]

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

 

What’s the Bottom Line? Personal Profit or the Interest of Others?

Are we Tourists, Businessmen, or Ambassadors? (Part 2)

Last week I began a discussion about our role in the world and how we are to live as Christians in the midst of a foreign culture. Because Western Christians often engage other cultures as tourists, I began by talking about the dangers of the “Tourist” mentality and how it negatively affects others. This week I want to address a second way that our culture interacts with others…as businessmen and businesswomen. Our culture is one of commerce and English is the “official” language of international business. This shapes the way that we as Western Christians engage the world at home and abroad. It also shapes how we are perceived by others.

Despite the pervasive Old Testament teaching against charging interest from fellow Jews (13x), there are positive aspects of commerce found in the parables of Jesus. Conservative principles of investment, personal responsibility, and a strong work ethic are also found in the Scriptures. Yet the financial emphasis in the New Testament seems to be on kingdom-oriented stewardship and generosity rather than personal profit. But when we engage the world primarily as businessmen the bottom line is most often personal profit. Even corporate generosity (apart from accounting for maximum tax advantages) is spun endlessly for the greatest PR/marketing bang for the buck. Gifts come in the form of oversized checks, complete with photo-ops and hidden strings. When this business model is brought home to our families and churches it is a major hindrance to stable personal relationships not to mention relational ministry.

If you are motivated by your own personal interests in the corporate setting you are quick to use co-workers—objectifying them—to reach your own goals…usually an increase in power, pay, and prestige. The goal of profit in the wrong hands can result in poor quality products and poor customer service because individual businesspeople look to their own interests rather than to that of a larger constituency. Finding flaws in the business world doesn’t surprise anyone...it is low-hanging fruit. It should be very different in the Church that follows the example of Jesus Christ. However, in the church today we have too many people seeking their own interests to the place that certain types of ministries have become synonymous with selfishness and greed. This is not a new phenomenon. The Apostle Paul lamented that even he was hard-pressed because (apart from Timothy) many of the other ministers were motivated by their own interests.

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. (Phil 2:19-21)

If we engage others primarily as businessmen it often introduces a layer of subtle deception and nagging doubt into the relational dynamic found in the phrase "in order to...". The subtle deception is on our part if we:

·       Pay attention to people… only in order to make a sale.

·       Build relationships… to gain trust in order to expand our influence into new markets.

·       Do good things…with an ulterior motive (in order to increase corporate goodwill, brand loyalty, and marketing).

·       Make our own plans…assuming we are in control of our own lives and others..

·       In the name of stewardship…we apply economics to human relationships in order to protect ourselves.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com
on Unsplash

Those in a relationship with us will then have that terrible nagging doubt in the back of their minds, asking questions like, “Why is he doing this?”, “Is this about us or about him?” and finally,  “When will they cut their losses and reinvest somewhere else?” This is true of our co-workers, ministry partners, and even family members. They all are watching to see whether we are honestly committed to reconciliation, willing to stay at the table to work through differences, or getting ready to "cut and run." It seems all too common that we let a business mindset eat our family and consume the church.

Having thoroughly criticized business' effect on relationships, let's consider what happens when we let true family impact business? Business can be a powerful tool for good in the world when run ethically and used as a vehicle to care for the needs of others. Business can be a profoundly Kingdom mission if personal/corporate profit is not the focus. I have been encouraged by the many stories I have heard in recent years of creative and ethically sourced income streams being used to support kingdom ministry. However, the nature of business is most often to produce personal or corporate gain at the expense of the competition and the customer. We need to be good stewards, skillfully shepherding all the resources that God has entrusted to us. This includes those we would call the competition and the customer.  

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4)

In the end, the business model of engagement is simply a more subtle and nuanced version of the tourist. Everything appears to make an effort at cultural sensitivity and even relational concern, but "the bottom line" is still self-determined and self-focused. As a business person, I may choose to go and live among those I do business with, but such an approach is usually neither relational nor incarnational enough. Jesus, in addressing the latent power-driven self-seeking attitude in his disciples said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). Further, Jesus’ half-brother James speaks to the self-determination we see so often in the businessman model of engagement.

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13-14)

Can we learn to serve others first and submit to the Lord’s plan and timing before our lives are spent? Can our bottom line become "the interests of others"?

 

[This post will be continued next week..."Lord willing and the creek don't rise!"]

"Wo ist die Bäckerei bitte?"

Are we Tourists, Businessmen, or Ambassadors? (Part 1)
 

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

Have you ever noticed that tourists can be obnoxious and demanding, from their dress to their demeanor? Have we ever been that tourist? Traveling and experiencing new places is not the problem, the problem is how we treat people along the way. When we travel, we don’t have to act like stereotypical ugly tourists. I have traveled with study and mission groups that deliberately were trying to avoid fitting the description of the “Ugly American Tourist.” We cringed as we saw far too many bad stereotypes incarnate along the way. I remember one socially awkward man sitting at a nicely set table in the restaurant aboard a ship (as we crossed the channel from England to Belgium) who after not finding anything familiar on the menu loudly demanded of the waiter, “I want a cheeseburger…just give me my cheeseburger!” His outburst was embarrassingly inappropriate, but in his defense, the situation was overwhelming to him. One thing he didn’t understand was that Salisbury steak means hamburger (an interesting story in itself) in Britain. He could read English but didn’t know what was meant by the words.

Tourists have a bad reputation because they often launch out on their vacations as self-focused consumers. As consumers, they expect those with whom they come in contact to speak their language, to cater to their needs, and to do it NOW!

After I graduated from High School (in the pre-cellphone pre-GPS era) I participated in a European study tour (a lot of lectures in history & culture) led by professors from the college I was going to attend. One day we were in Germany and needed some picnic supplies for our boat trip down the Rhine. My job was to find bread. After a few minutes' walk, I came across a Konditorei. Despite what my high

school German teacher thought of me... I had been listening not only to her language lessons but to the cultural information as well. Because of her tireless efforts, I knew that the Konditorei was a bakery of cakes and dessert pastries, not bread (see pictures on either side). In those days, to buy bread you had to go to the Bäckerei. So I had two choices, to walk in and shout something like, “Give me a cheeseburger!” making a scene over why they don’t have any bread, or I could try, “Entschuldigen Sie mich Bitte, wo ist die Bäckerei?” [Excuse me please, where is the bakery?], I chose the latter.

I also knew that in Germany, if you make any attempt to speak German they love you for it. With my simple question, the woman behind the counter beamed radiantly and poured forth a stream of happy German directions that I had to say, “Langsam bitte” (slowly please). She smiled and came around the counter, walked me outside, and clearly (pointing was now in play) told me how to find the bread I needed. She knew I was a traveler that had made an effort to learn and understand and was encouraged by it, and I still remember it after more than 30 years. Later, on the river, cruising by quaint villages and looking up at the ruins of old castles, sharing a simple meal together, it was the best bread and cheese I ever ate…even without mayo.

“…The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body,

for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

Self-centered tourists may stumble across the Konditorei and see pretty things, maybe even have coffee and a treat, but may never experience the substance, nourishment, and fellowship of die Bäckerei. I don’t want to be so full of myself or to become so enamored with the sights and sounds that I end up objectifying God’s people. With even a small investment in learning about different cultures, our lives will be enriched as we become capable of encouraging others, and sincerely communicating that we value those among whom we walk and live.

Has God put us here to act like tourists? Or has he called us to be something more?  

“Give us this day our daily bread…”

(Matthew 6:11)

Note: In my next post I will continue this discussion by looking at the culture-bridging benefits and dangers facing the business person.

One Tribe—Are You Native?

Been There...Bought the T-shirt!

While on vacation, we were looking through the large swap meet (crafts, clothing, and food) on Maui, where you can buy all the handmade touristy stuff (for less money) and I saw a T-shirt with some interesting Polynesian-looking art down one side. The vendor said all their art was done by local artists and that it was a very popular tribal band on the front. In thinking of how the Hawaiians from the different islands used to war against each other, I asked, “Which tribe?” She said with incredulity, “There is only one tribe here!” I am not sure if her answer was culturally accurate or merely the view of the dominant culture being expressed. But it reminded me of a song…and a story.

I know there have been (and still are) intercultural tensions here in Hawaii. Whether it was rooted in the whites discarding the Hawaiian culture and language in the past, in the internment of Japanese 70 years ago, in the native Hawaiians' hate for the white person, or the demeaning of the Micronesian, or in the often insular communities of Korean and Japanese immigrants. No place is a perfect paradise. No people are untainted by pride. We have a strong ethnocentric cultural filter that is convinced that our cultural norms are the way things should be.

For years my wife has desired to take the whole family to Hawaii for a family vacation. She is one of those people that lives for a sunny day in the midst of all the grey Oregon winter weather we get. Hawaii has been her dream for weather relief as well as time away. So a couple of years ago in keeping with her Hawaiian focus, I bought her the CD of Hawaiian music Mele O Hawaii (Songs of Hawai'i) they had at the counter in Starbucks which has some very interesting songs. The last song is a rousing, upbeat, song called Are You Native? by Brother Noland. Its lyrics are a bit repetitive as is expected in a Hawaiian dance tune, but I have typed them up as best I can understand them…

One world, one race!

One world, one race!

Nananananana…native!

Nananananana…native!

 

Who are these creatures? Where do we come from?

Who are these strangers with different voodoo?

Who live for danger when we are near

You ask us “Are you native? Are you native?”

They come from outside, then they come inside

Then they make contact as they cross the border

They get a drink of water

Then they ask us, “Are you native? Are you native?”

Someone ask us, “Are you native? Are you native?”

Everybody sing it to me now!

Nananananana…native!

Nananananana…native!

Red, Yellow, Brown, White, Black…Native!

Red, Yellow, Brown, White, Black…Native!

 

I ask questions… will you give answers?

Are we invaders that come to visit or just the neighbors?

Maybe were tourists. Ask us…

“Are you native? Are you native?” Ask us…

“Are you native? Are you native?” Everybody is…

“Are you native? Are you native?” Everybody

Nananananana…native!

Nananananana…native!

Red, Yellow, Brown, White, Black…Native!

Red, Yellow, Brown, White, Black…Native!

“Are you native? Are you native?”

                          (Nananananana…native!)

Are you native? Are you native?

                          (Nananananana…native!)

Are you native? Are you native?

My momma always told me, (Are you native?)

She said,           (Nananananana…native!)

“Son, we are all native of the planet Earth.”

Are you native? (Nananananana…native!)

One world one race! One world one race!

                          (Nananananana…native!)

Are you native? Strut your stuff!

 

My kids in the waves.

It is a fun catchy tune, and the message is clear. On the one hand, there is the sense of being marginalized and treated as “other” in what was once their land. On the other hand, it sees beyond geographic and cultural boundaries to our common trait of being indigenous to the planet. Which leads me to ask, when we see people as “other” is it because our matrix for “native” is too small, too ethnocentric? We all spring from one family—Noah’s—which is brought to mind even more clearly on an island surrounded by the pounding waves of the entire Pacific Ocean. I am certainly glad the ark had more stability than I did on a paddle board!

On a somewhat related note, recent census statistics show that most resident Hawaiians marry someone of either a different race or ethnicity (55% in 2008). So the idea of “One world, one race” is not far from the truth. But as one of my mentors used to say, “What do the Scriptures say?”

·         We’re all created by God…in the image of God

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7)

·         We are all descended from one man so we are all one family (from Adam through Noah).

“From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.” (Acts 17:26 — HCSB) The KJV actually uses the phrase “from one blood…”

·         We are all loved by God

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

·         We are all redeemed by the same blood, the precious blood of Christ.

 “ And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  (Revelation 7:9-10)

·         We’re all of equal value in God’s eyes.

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-3)

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:27-29)

·         We’re all to be agents of God for reconciliation in the world today. “…in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:19-20)

Our human goal is to be able to live our lives in peace as a fully human family—parents and children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our spiritual goal is to all be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. In Christ, everyone has an equal place at the table of God’s family. There every nation, every tribe, every culture, and every language will all be a part, joining together in that new song as one tribe—The Redeemed.