• About

Mouthpiece Ministries

~ A voice to the nations

Mouthpiece Ministries

Tag Archives: culture

In…But Not Of

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by lisagreat in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American, culture, Foreigners, Malaysia, Values

John 17:14 “…they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”

As Americans, one of our core values is that of giving people the benefit of the doubt. We tend to err on the side of trusting people rather than being suspicious of them. We are an authentic culture that is open about what we think, feel and believe, whether it is always appropriate to share or not, we want people to know where we stand. As Americans, we are so accustomed to this, that we assume everyone that comes to this country will be that way. The challenge is, most other cultures are not nearly as loud as we are, nor are they are open about their thoughts and feelings as we are. One of the gifts of democracy is the freedom of speech and we speak and we speak it loud at times. But because we are Americans, living in America and this is our modus operandi, we assume anyone who claims to be an American will live with the same core values. However, the truth is, culture and values come more from family than they do a country.

I lived in Malaysia for 9 years as a missionary. While living there, I did what I could to understand the culture and operate according to their rules and regulations, rather than my own. But one thing I did not do in 9 years of living there, was become Malaysian or take on the Malaysian value system, the reason was, because I am American, I love authenticity, I love sharing my opinion, I love freedom of speech. But Malaysia on the other hand, values saving face, not sharing what they are really thinking and not wanting to rock the boat. For an American, living in Asia was like living with people I never really knew.  But now that I am home, in America, and I hear the political rhetoric about the challenges that face our nation as it pertains to borders, visas and refugees, I realized I carried one piece of the puzzle, which might be helpful. They are in our country, but they are not of our country.

My son was born in Malaysia, but on his Malaysian birth certificate it says, non-citizen, because his mother is not a Malaysian. Malaysia understands that the values a child carries with them throughout life comes more from family than it does from the country they live in. Our home in Malaysia was very American, we ate American food, we spoke English, we lived culturally as Americans in our home, even though we lived in Malaysia. I think what we are seeing is people who have come to America for the financial benefits and other freedoms of our country, but they have not necessarily taken on the American value system.

One thing we need to understand is that values do not come from the country you live in, they come from the family in which you are raised. I know a lot of people who go to church, but they have never taken on the value system of the kingdom of God. So, we see the in…but not of idea in many aspects of our world. As Americans, who have American values, I think it is important for us to educate ourselves about other cultures, rather than let others tell us what they think we need to know or what we should believe about other people. Being American means celebrating diversity, but it also means our value systems.

Ignorance is not an option in a Google/Wikipedia world. We must realize that other cultures are not like our own. Most other nations do not allow freedom of speech, they do not like democracy and they are operating out of a religious and political belief system that is intricately tied together, where we have one that has been constitutionally separated and is becoming more obviously opposed to one another. Living in another country for 9 years helped me to realize that we can live in…but not be of. And for Christians, is this not what Jesus told us to do, to live in the world but not to be of the world? If you have wondered how to do this, now you know, keep your values that you learned at home in your life no matter what that the country you live in says or does. Remember, this is just one piece of the puzzle.

The Ways of Wisdom

08 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by lisagreat in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

culture, Foolishness, Listening, Patience, wisdom

We live in a fast-paced culture, that believes if you are not going, going, going, then they wonder what is wrong with you. Some people think you are lazy, not wanting to work, not with the times, or they literally will just scratch their heads, because you are going against the grain of culture. Wisdom is a person and this person is not bound by our culture, but rather represents the kingdom of God in the word of God. Wisdom teaches us how to increase, obtain favor, make good choices, live in peace and even be happy. Wisdom says, she is worth more than gold, silver, or even rubies, yet so few people find wisdom. But why? Why is wisdom so hard to locate, so difficult to ascertain? Why does wisdom seem to allude us as people? I believe it is because wisdom is living at a different speed than we are and if we do not adjust to her speed, we will never hear nor heed her voice.
Marriage is one of the greatest gifts God gave me, for it revealed me to me in the face of my husband, that I was impatient. Oh I did not like what I saw and many times did not want to see what I saw, but the Lord used him as a mirror for me to see me. One of the things I knew about me, was that I was impatient, impulsive, always in a hurry. I knew this, but did not realize the destruction this was causing to me or to those I was trying to serve, love and be a friend to. My husband, who is an extremely patient man, showed me the ways of wisdom in his patience and it changed my life forever.
Proverbs 8:34-35 says, “The one who listens to me (wisdom), who carefully seeks me in everyday things and delays action until my way is apparent, that one will find true happiness. For when he recognizes and follows me (wisdom), he finds a peaceful and satisfying life and receives favor from the Eternal.”
There are things 3 we are required to do if we want to find wisdom: 1) Listen; 2) Seek; 3) Delay action until wisdom’s way is apparent. In a culture of unlimited noise, unlimited information and unlimited opportunities to buy something, do something or be something, wisdom is truly a counter cultural experience, which is why so many people choose foolishness over wisdom. Foolishness hears, but does not listen, it sees, but does not seek and it wants it now, and see’s delay as denial or reason to make a decree. Many are living their lives as fools due to their inability to slow down and we are seeing the fruit of this in our relationships with God and others.
The ways of wisdom are listening, seeking and delaying, when we live with these as our highest values, we find favor with God and man, untold riches and relationships that are abundant. Now, let me warn you, this does not come easy, nor is it handed to you. This pursuit of wisdom is hard work, it takes dedication and discipline. You have to want to be wise, to be one that pursues the ways of wisdom. The temptation to return to foolishness is at every turn, but if you put your hand to the plow and never look back; if you stay the course, I promise you will find wisdom and your life will never be the same again.
Yes, you will speak less and listen more, you will enjoy silence over noise, and you will not buy everything that you see, but you will hear people’s hearts and the voice of God, you will live in peace and quiet, and you will not be in debt to any man. The rewards of wisdom are truly better than gold, silver or rubies, for what we really long for is relationship with God and others. These are the ways of wisdom.

An Unshakable Kingdom

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by lisagreat in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christianity, Christians, Conform, culture, Kingdom, kingdom of God

Hebrews 12:28 “Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe.”

One of the most challenging things to change in ourselves is the culture in which we were raised. Our culture is so much a part of our DNA, that we do not even recognize the strength of it until we live in another country, marry someone or try to understand those of another culture. Churches all over the world are predominantly of the same color, race or creed, because we struggle so much to change the culture in which we were raised.

I lived in Malaysia for 9 consecutive years. When I first got there, I did not realize how American I was; I did not recognize how law-abiding I was; how Christian I was; how much I wanted them to become like me, even though I was in their country, their culture. I chose to move to Malaysia, no one made me live there, yet I was so ingrained with my culture, that I wanted them to become like me and to do things my way. This lasted about 2 years, but it finally dawned on me, they were not going to change, this was their culture, their country and they had no intention of changing. So, for me, this was my first official culture clash.

American culture is not as well liked as we may think around the world. They see us as loud, opinionated, big, and immoral. They want our money, they want our power, they want our influence, but honestly, they do not want their people to adopt what they perceive as our bondage that we call freedom. To them to have a voice is dangerous, to speak out against your President is unacceptable, to elevate women is destructive, and to be democratic is undesirable. They want to keep their value systems, while they take over our land, our money, our influence.

This is true for other cultures and countries, but it is also true for Christians. Many Christians, who have voluntarily accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior did not realize how American they are, how Asian they are, how African they are, how Australian they are, how European they are. Until they came into the kingdom, they did not realize how anti-Christ they really are, for in this kingdom, there is only one King and there’s only one culture. No matter how much we try to change the kingdom of God to be American, African, Australian, European or Asian, we find that the kingdom demands us to conform to its image. But many are not willing to conform, so they seek to take the land, the money, the power, the influence of this kingdom, but they are not ready to adapt the values of this kingdom.

Many are in a battle, for no other reason than they refuse to conform to the kingdom culture.

The kingdom of God is not like America, it does not conform to other cultures, allow for sub cultures and change laws based on people’s personal values, whims or desires. The kingdom of God is an unshakable kingdom, if you do not want to conform to it, you will never succeed in it, and the truth is, no matter how hard you try you can’t have the blessing of it, unless you submit to it. Unless I was willing to learn to take on the Malaysian culture, I was not going to succeed in that culture, for it was not changing for me, I had to change for it. The same is true in the kingdom, you will never succeed as a Christian, until you conform to the kingdom culture, which is an unshakable kingdom.

The Kingdom and Your Culture

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by lisagreat in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bible, Christianity, culture, divorce, kingdom of God, marriage, win

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.

Everyone has a culture they were raised in and that culture speaks to you, whether you realize it or not. Your culture taught you what to value, how to deal with conflict and what you see as normal. Take someone from another culture and put them in America for 6 months to a year. Once the honeymoon of being in America wears off, they will see how their culture conflicts with American culture, because they bring their culture with them everywhere they go and so do you. Your culture cannot be separated from who you are. I lived in Malaysia for 9 years and even though there are a lot of things about Malaysia I love and will cherish the rest of my life, it is not my culture and I could not live there for the rest of my life. They do things so differently then I do and it caused me conflict every time I parked the car or drove down the road, it was a culture war I was fighting and did not realize it until many years into it. The one thing I learned, is you cannot change anyone else’s culture, only they can change their culture inside of them and only I can change the culture inside of me.

In the natural this can be easy to see if you have lived in a cross cultural marriage; had cross cultural employees or bosses; or have lived for more than a vacations stay in another culture. But everyone of us that calls ourselves Christians is in a cultural battle as well. When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we agree to switch cultures. We declare in our profession of faith, that I am going to leave my culture and take on your culture, Jesus. The challenge is, we still have our culture inside of us, so for Americans, our culture says, divorce is an acceptable form of conflict resolution, but if you are a Christian, the Kingdom culture says, there are specific reasons to get divorced and “falling out of love” or “I can’t do this anymore” are not options given. So, what do you do, your marriage is in an intense battle, stalemate if you will, it seems as if nothing is going to change, and you feel like the only option is to get divorced. As an American this is an acceptable option, because our culture promotes this idea, but for an African from Africa, this is not an option. Their culture says, that divorce is never an option, it is actually a shameful thing. So, to an African, marriage can get hard, feel like they are at a stalemate in their communication or whatever, but the idea of divorce never crosses their mind, because their culture teaches this.

Therefore, when in a culture conflict what do you do? Christians run into culture conflicts all the time and many default to their culture of birth, meaning, if they are American they act like an American, if they are Chinese, they act like a Chinese, but the Bible says, when you are in a culture conflict, you choose the Kingdom culture. So, if you are an American and you are contemplating divorce, but you have no Biblical grounds for that decision, you can either be an American Christian or a Kingdom American. The difference is amazing. If you choose Kingdom culture over your culture of origin, you are choosing life, and the battle of your flesh begins. If you choose American culture, you take the easy way out and though it seems right in the short run, in the long run, it will be a decision that affects the rest of your life. It is time that Christians start putting Kingdom before their culture. We are to live the abundant life, and the way to do that is by being Kingdom first. If we can be Kingdom first people, we will see so many of our issues begin to fade away, yet, this will be a battle and unless you quit, you will win. We can do this, we have a King that is the head of this Kingdom and He has given us everything we need to win this war. Your sword is prayer; your attitude is humility; your shield is worship; and your goal is the advancing of the Kingdom of God in your marriage on earth. You did not marry the wrong person, your enemy is invisible, it is not your spouse, you got this, fight my friend and remember this is a battle over the Kingdom and your culture.

Recent Posts

  • Hearing Matters
  • What Cup Are You Drinking From?
  • T.E.D. Movement
  • National Jubilee Decree
  • Bigger Than We Think

Recent Comments

Deborah McLellan on Time To Be Sent
Rob van't Wout on I See A Truth Movement
Deborah McLellan on 300
CHARLES CHINGWALO on When the Glory Comes
lisagreat on What’s Your Life Verse?

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • September 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013

Categories

  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Mouthpiece Ministries
    • Join 220 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mouthpiece Ministries
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar