Reflections in the mirror

Well, as I am laying in bed unable to sleep due to my long nap this afternoon, I have started to come across some questions in my mind. As we are making this transition to Malawi, one of the things that has been drilled into our minds throughout our training is the importance of understanding culture.

 

We as Americans tend not to pay any attention to culture since most of us tend to stay within our own, and we fail to realize how much that shapes our understanding of the world around us. We make assumptions and judgments based on our own worldview, which we fail to realize is largely cultural. Even our spiritual understanding is so deeply tied to our cultural values that often we are unable to separate the two.

 

For instance, Americans in general tend to value blatant, brutal honesty. People value truthfulness at all costs, no matter how hurtful or damaging it may be. We only need to look as far as our reality shows, court TV, and media coverage of politics and celebrity gossip. However, Malawians tend to value respect, propriety, and honor above all else, even perhaps at the expense of complete and absolute honesty. American Christians would tend to be very judgmental of that; we may make judgments about the spirituality of those who claim to be Christians but do not follow our understanding of spirituality, citing Biblical teachings on honesty. But what then do we make of passages that teach patience, kindness, meekness, and peace? Perhaps Malawians judge our spirituality based on our failure to exercise those values. So, in God'€™s eyes, is one of these views correct and one incorrect? Which of these Biblical values are most important? Have we let our cultural background dictate so much of who we are that it taints a true spiritual understanding?

 

The more I begin to question these things, the more examples come to mind- views on dating, marriage, divorce, family, extended family, work ethic, the distribution of wealth and resources in our world. There are endless examples. I am beginning to think that we cannot have a true, accurate spiritual understanding without being in community with people who are different than we are. Being able to understand the differences of others forces us to look in the mirror and see ourselves as others see us, which is very often drastically different than we see ourselves.

 

 I wonder, if we could see ourselves through the eyes of Africans, what would we as Americans look like? Do they see us- a small group of people with the largest amount of wealth and resources- as selfish? Do they wonder why, if the Bible teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, we turn our backs on our African neighbors as their children die and their communities are ravaged by disease? Do they see our ambivalence to their life and death struggles as a form of racism and hatred?

 

I can't say that I can accurately state how Africans views these things. But, I can say that as I look now at where I am and consider the place where I came from, I feel very uneasy looking at the reflection in the mirror.