Living In The 3rd Culture: “He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed?”

For the first time in a half a century - yes I am that old - I am not in in a worship service on Easter. In fact, I cannot remember a time when I was sick on Easter. Easter is my favorite holiday, and I love worshiping with other believers on this special day. Yet on this Easter God has made me more aware of the profound gift God’s people have received in the resurrection of Jesus. This awareness has come through the health of my father and the loss of a son.

A week ago today, mom called and said she had to call an ambulance as dad could not get himself out of his chair. After testing and a couple X-rays they found that he had pneumonia and would be in the hospital for a while. On Maundy Thursday we got him home and settled in his favorite chair. In the process it became clear that I needed to stay for a few days. At 81, my rough and tumble missionary dad, was very weak and confused.

As I type these words, he is once again in his chair. He is moving better, but still needs help getting up and one of us walks close behind him when needs to get to the bathroom. He is extremely weak and in all probability his muscles and his mind will continue to weaken. Words cannot express how difficult this is for me. My dad really is my hero! He has been a mentor and a dear friend. He has been a gift of grace that has allowed me to have a clearer picture of my heavenly Father. The reality of losing him is truly depressing!

If I were not completely convinced of the promise of the resurrection, I don’t know what I would do. As I look at his frail frame the resurrection of Christ gives me confidence of his future resurrection! One day, he like all believers will receive a new and better body that will be perfect in every way!

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive . . .⁴²So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.^{^[1]}

When Lent began however, it was not my dad that was on my heart and mind, but our son Noah Zachary. His little headstone sits at the foot of the grave site where dad's physical body will one day be laid to rest. When we lost Noah almost 15 years ago, it was my dad’s request that he be buried at the foot of his grave-site And since it is a private cemetery in the hills of East Tennessee we were able to do just that.

There is not an Easter that goes by that my wife and I don’t reflect on our little man. Each year we ponder what he would be like in whatever age he would have been. This year we had an early reminder when a friend sent us a picture they had taken when they came across his grave. With our other son away at college, the reminder of his loss seemed to have a deeper sting.

Honestly, I don’t know how I will face the day when I lay my father next to my son. Though he is a shell of the man he used to be, it is a joy to sit here with him and to be honest I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! This is very sweet fellowship! But I know that day is coming, and when it does I am trusting that God will give me the grace to soak in the promise of the resurrection, and through a tear stained face cry out to those around me, “He is Risen” to which I will hear the reply of joyous response, “He is Risen Indeed!”

^{^[1]} The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (1 Co 15:20-22, 42–44). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

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….

“He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed?”

No comments: