Living In The 3rd Culture: May 2019

“Your Word is lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105)

The more years I spend on this earth the more I have come to appreciate the value of regular and consistent times in God’s Word. By this I don’t mean a verse-a-day, or a quick glimpse at a selection of verses, but times of meditative reading allowing your mind and heart to marinate in God’s grace. The value of being in Scripture cannot be minimized. The Westminster Confession of Faith reminds us that although God reveals himself in nature and the works of creation, they alone are “not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore, it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare his will unto his church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary…” (1:1).

The authors of the Confession understand that not only was Scripture necessary to understand God’s will, but an essential means of grace in our fight against the sin of the world, the sin within us, and the schemes of our “adversary the devil [who] prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). When we neglect personal time in God’s Word we are setting ourselves up for an attack. It is like staggering down a dark path in heart of the Serengeti with no light. The light not only reveals, but it protects.

Martin Luther vividly explains it this way, “Satan is by nature such a wicked and poisonous spirit that he cannot tolerate anything that is good. It pains him that even an apple, a cherry, and the like grow. It causes him pain and grief that a single healthy person should live upon the earth and if God would not restrain him, he would hurl everything together in ruin. But to nothing is he a more bitter enemy than to the dear Word; because, while he can conceal himself under all creatures, the Word is the only agency that can disclose him and reveal to everybody how black he is. Since then, you have God’s Word, Peter says, and you cleave by faith to it, you should know beforehand that Satan will be your enemy; and you should know that he is not only a wise, cunning, but also a very wicked, poisonous, and powerful spirit.”[1]

I believe it was D.L. Moody who said, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.” Though I whole heartedly agree with this statement, I would like to modify it slightly with this, “The Bible will keep you from sin, the devil knows it, and wants to keep you from the Bible.” May I encourage you to spend more time in God’s Word? Not only is it the most effective guard against the devil, but as David discovered, storing it in our heart and delighting in it (119:16) has great benefit, including keeping us from sin (119:11), guarding our ways (119:9), giving us life (119:25,107), strengthening us (119:28), being our hope (119:74,81,114, 147), giving understanding (119:130,169), and so much more!

If you are not in God’s Word not only are you setting yourself up to schemes of the devil, but you are missing out on a whole lot of grace.

[1] Martin Luther, Commentary on 1 Peter.

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….