Burning Vapor

Culture Shock

The culture shock has been sudden and slow.  Let me explain.  On one hand it is sudden – southern drawl, sweet tea, the obvious diversity in population, hot humid weather and family.  On the other hand it is slow – trying to acclimate to a religious society after living in a secular society for 15 years has been…difficult.  There are so many religious rules and ‘Christian’ expectations in the general public.  Everyone here has heard the Gospel a thousand times and have been dunked an equal amount.  But it goes beyond religion and creeps into traditionalism.  People here say ‘yes sir and nor sir’ and expect your children to do the same.  The big sins here are drinking, smoking, and not wearing your ‘Sunday best’.  Which I fail in all three – I love smoking a cigar, while drinking a beer, while wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt…I know, I know – scandalous.

Probably the biggest difficulty for me has been changing my mindset in dealing with cultural norms.  The issue of Baptism came up in a staff meeting on  Monday and I forgot that it was a cultural norm.  At FBC and even at VBC if you were baptized it was a big deal – you were sealing yourself to Christ – you were publicly committing yourself and expecting the Body to walk with you in this life.  It was a big deal.  Here it seems like a church status thing – like, you measure your success by how many people are baptized or how many people attend Sunday School.

On the flip side – people are incredibly kind here and outgoing.  People talk to me that I do not even know and they are not asking me for money.  I had gotten so use to walking down the street and not saying a word to someone that it always catches me by surprise when strangers say ‘Hey, how ya doin?’ as we pass each other on the sidewalk.  People wave to you when you are driving down the road – like, strangers, people you don’t know….wave to you.  It’s wonderfully odd.

Ministering in an urban context has also been a huge change.  While in Spokane I read some and was drawn to ministering in an urban context.  I took youth groups to downtown Spokane to work in the mission and other street ministries, but it wasn’t enough for me.  Now I’m in downtown Macon and I’m working and ministering and will be soon living in an urban context.  I have no idea what I am doing or even the right way to do it, but I love it.  I love interacting with panhandlers, street workers, and the corner drug dealer.  It’s exhilarating to have the opportunity to build a relationship with them for the sake of the Gospel.  It’s been a culture shock and I have a lot to learn.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 9:57 am and is filed under Family, Gospel, Missions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.