Living In The 3rd Culture: The Christmas Servant

We all have people that we admire. To some it is the powerful athlete who plays with strength and finesse. To others it may be the musician that makes a particular instrument come alive with majestic music. To others it may be a political figure, a physician, an attorney, a theologian or maybe even a preacher or two. They are our heroes. We admire what they do, and may secretly desire to do the same.

At the risk of sounding pious, I must admit the people I admire most, are not very well known. If I mentioned their name many of you would not recognize it. They don't have any shoes; balls or golf clubs embellished with their name. In the worlds eyes they are "nobodies!" You see I admire people who have a servant’s heart. A heart that is willing to please God regardless of the cost. I call these people quiet servants.

Though these quiet servants are rarely in the spotlight, mainly because they insist on staying out of it, it is people like them that God has used in the most radical ways. God called one woman who comes to mind in her teenage years. The task that she was called to was one that required great risk. A risk that could have had her thrown out of her family and community. A risk that could have resulted in an embarrassing label for life. Yet this quiet servant did not argue, protest or resist, but humbly submitted to the call of the Lord.

Her willingness to be a quiet servant resulted in her being used in a more dramatic fashion than any other woman in history! Who was this woman? Mary, the mother of Jesus, who when the angel Gabriel told her this news simply said, "Behold the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your Word” (Luke 1:38).

Oh to have that attitude and spirit! I don’t know about you, but when God asks me to do something risky, my first response is a series of questions! “What am I going to get out of this?” Thus with one eye focused on the impossibilities and the other eye focused on ourselves, we rarely serve as God has called us too.

As you celebrate this Christmas take some time and reflect on the quiet servant, who willingly became the mom of the greatest Servant who walked the face of the earth! Remember that Christ did not come “to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many!” (Mark 10:45) By being a servant Mary had the honor of playing a part in giving the greatest gift all! Christ came and purchased the free gift of salvation! Through Christ we are Free! Through Christ we are part of God’s eternal family! Wow, what an awesome gift! And a little quite young woman had a part in it!

This year as we shop till we drop trying to find the perfect gift for friends and loved ones who already have everything let’s take a minute and reflect on the gift of being a servant. Give a gift that is of great value and extremely rare today – quite service. In our faithfulness to quietly serve God and our neighbors, we might have the awesome privilege of being the bearer of the gift we call the Gospel and some we serve may receive that gift and inherit eternal life. I don’t know about you, but I take the free gift of eternal life any day over another tie!

Just imagine what God can do through faithful service! If God gave Mary the grace to serve, He will give it to you too. We all know that the average gift we give at Christmas, lasts only a short while, but the gift of service lasts a lifetime and the gift of salvation for eternity! Now that’s a great gift. Think about that and have great Christmas!

Third Culture Defined

The term “Third Culture” has been used in various ways. One “Third Culture” group “consists of those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectuals in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are.”Another common use of “Third Culture” in fact describes my personal experience. The term was first coined by sociologist Ruth Hill Useem, professor emeritus of sociology and education at Michigan State University. She used the term to describe children growing up outside their citizenship countries because of a parent’s work abroad. A “TCK or Third Culture Kid has since been defined as, “someone who as a child has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture" Though I am a TCK, it is my desire to use the term in referring to the people who make up the true Christian Church (Theologically defined as the “Invisible Church”). In other words, the Church is a Third Culture. Scripture teaches us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law and the punishment of Hell, and through faith in Him we become citizens of His Kingdom, receiving not only the full benefits of citizenship in His Kingdom, but indeed the right to become sons and daughters of God. The moment, we step into this Kingdome we experience a new and different culture. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but now live in the kingdom of light and that changes everything! At the same time we never went anywhere physically as we continue to work, live, and play with the same people as before, we see the world differently, we no longer truly fit – we are “in the world, but not of it” -- we have a new culture. For most of us this life changing experience occurs within our birth culture and our Christian experience is saturated by those influences. For those who grew up in non-Hispanic White North America, Christianity is uniquely different than those who grew up in an African American context. Our birth culture effects how we live out our faith in the Kingdom of Christ. Yet the Kingdom of Christ requires one more cultural shift and that is away from birth culture and into a culture made up of people of every ethnic and cultural group that has ever existed on the face of the earth. This Kingdom is no more North American than it is Tanzanian or Tibetan. It is a unique or shall we say a “Third Culture” that integrates elements of all cultures into one new and better one, where there is no Jew or Greek, slave nor free, male nor female“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:26-298). In fact Revelation 7:9-10 gives us a description what this will look like one day:“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." A Third Culture Perspective is one that understands and appreciates that God gathers people from every ethnic and cultural group and brings them into the new culture of His Son Jesus Christ. It is a perspective where birth cultures are appreciated and respected as coming from God, but none are superior. It seeks to have a deeper understanding of the Gospel, pays attention to culture, our own as well as others, and then attempts to bring them together. It is a perspective that “seeks first His Kingdom and His Righteousness” and lovingly and passionately enjoys and glorifies God in all we do. It is a perspective that welcomes immigrants….

The Christmas Servant

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