Cultural and Respect

References:
- Acts 17:16-34 NAS
- 1 Corinthians 9:16-27 NAS
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
- The Kingdom (2007)

I love a good, thought provoking movie, as well as a good action movie or a good thriller. For me, the movie has to have depth. I want to be touched by the message of the movie, not just something meaningless to watch. Yes, I am a bit picky about what movies I watch. Each of us has our own preferences. A movie that I have just recently added to my “very much enjoy list” is “Lawrence of Arabia.” This movie has a similar theme to other two movies that I really enjoy, “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Kingdom.” But, I will get to that in a few minutes.

In the passage from Acts, we see Paul and Silas were traveling together on Paul's second missionary trip (Acts 15:36-41) and were currently in Athens, Greece. Paul sees all sorts of idols, including any empty pedestal, and uses them as a springboard for preaching to the local populace in a manner that they could understand. In the 1 Corinthians passage referenced above, we see Paul's strategy a little more in depth. He seeks to understand the culture that he is working in, and then uses that to inform how he teaches them about Christ. He doesn't change the Message of the Gospel, just how he explains it and how he lives amongst them. He does that so that they can understand who Christ Jesus is.

You see, each of us view life through the lens of our unique blend of culture, heritage, and experiences. All of this informs us how to view life. It's the framework that we use in order to understand the world around us. Not only does each country have its own unique culture, but communities within the same country have different forms of culture. Although a whole nation may share some similar cultural features, different areas within the same country will differ somewhat. Local customs, dialects, and unique histories vary greatly from place to place.

Besides the United States, I have experienced the local cultures of Europe and some parts of Iraq. Through visiting distant relatives in Europe and spending a semester in Strasbourg, France, I have a lot of first hand experience with European cultures. I have been able to see local history, experienced local traditions, and visited with many different people. This personal experience, combined with basic knowledge of the German language and history, has opened many doors for me. Whether traveling on a train, sitting in a restaurant, or some other environment, I have been blessed with some fascinating conversations with German people. There have been awkward times where neither of us had enough vocabulary to express all that we wanted to say. But yet, we strove to understand and to be understood.

My experience with the Iraqi culture is a bit more limited. But, especially during my third deployment in 2010-11, I did get to interact with some of the business, government and military leaders in Baghdad. That was because of my job with creating vehicle security passes for vehicles within the International Zone. Not only did I get to interact with some of the Iraqi citizens, but I also got to interact with many of the members of the different embassies. Although I had many positive experiences working with each of them, one situation in particular really stands out with me.

One of the PSD (Personal Security Detail) teams that I worked with was from the Korean Embassy. While in high school, college, and in seminary, I have gotten to know many people from different Asian countries. Because of these experiences, both good and bad, I had fairly good idea of what I should do. When they came to the door, I stood up, walked towards them, and then bowed to them. I acknowledged them according to their culture. They hesitated a moment, then returned the bow. We then got down to business. For whatever reason, they had to leave and return. When they came back a few days later, they literately stood at the door and politely told the OIC (Officer in Charge) that they would like to talk with me. They then patiently waited for me to be ready. Because of the way I had shown them respect, they went out of their way to show me respect.

Over the years, I have talked with many people from different countries while they were either visiting or studying in the United States. While many people do try to show respect to them, it is unfortunate that others within the US do not. This happens while Americans have traveled to different countries to visit and while foreigners have visited the US. Sometimes it's because someone just does not have any experience with other cultures and doesn't understand the differences. There are so many different cultures out there that it would be impossible to understand them all. And most foreigners visiting or studying here understand that. But, there is a big difference between not understanding because of no experience, and not even trying.

Each of the three movies have a common theme. Major world events caused two different cultures to have to work together. In each of the movies, each side had their cultural stereotypes of the other. These stereotypes caused a lot of friction and frustration initially. But, during the movie, people on both sides made the attempt to try and understand the others' perspective, while seeking to more clearly explaining their own. It took time, patience, and a lot of work. But, by the end of the movie, their work paved the way for a lot of mutual respect and learning. In working together, they were able to accomplish a lot of awesome things. Something they could not have accomplished separately.

There have been many times where, in trying to interact with someone of another culture, I 'put my foot into my mouth.' I have made mistakes. I have also striven to learn from those mistakes so that I can better interact with people from a different culture. It is not easy. What is normal in some cultures can be offensive to others. These are easy to find. However, will we strive to set aside the things that we find distasteful and annoying and seek common ground? That is something each and every one of us will have to decide when the time comes. For those of us who follow Christ, we are His ambassadors to this world. How shall we live this out?