CULTURAL BLIND SPOTS

One of the big advantages (& sometimes frustrations) in living & ministering in a second culture is the chance to see or experience things that are totally different from anything you knew back home.

A humorous example of this is skin whitening soap. Most Americans, if they heard that a whole section of the average drug store here is dedicated to products that promise to whiten dark skin, would probably laugh.

On the other hand, if Filipinos learned how much money an American can spend at a tanning salon, they would have a hard time believing it. The immediate desired results of these 2 actions are opposite, but they both arise from deep cultural values & ideas that define what is attractive.

A more serious example is how individuals see themselves in relationship with family, peers, & the larger culture. In the West, we tend to define everyone & everything else by ourselves as an individual.

Here in the Philippines, the opposite is the general rule. The individual is defined & finds significance based on his family & peers, & how faithfully he fulfills their expectations.

Which view is the right one?

Just now you may have, without thinking, started mentally listing reasons why your view of how individuals should see themselves is the right one.

Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Think for a minute about what would happen if North American Christians would interpret a verse like as a promise to their church rather than to just them as individuals. (It’s important to remember that Paul wrote this letter to a congregation, not just one person.)

While Western Christians are correct in seeing the individual’s accountability to God, they are often blind to the importance Scripture places on the individual’s place in the community of believers. “It’s just me & Jesus” reflects an over-emphasis on the individual. This is a cultural blind spot for many of us.

Sometimes in the Philippines, a believer takes his cues from a family or group that doesn’t prioritize living for Christ. Family loyalty is a biblical value, but this loyalty becomes a kind of bondage if it becomes an excuse to disobey God’s will. One of our most effective church planters in Mindoro had to put aside her family’s objection to her going into ministry. I believe that God will honor her obedience. She has recognized her cultural blind spot & overcome it.

There is something to be said for individualism & for valuing the family or other social grouping. Scripture places a high value on both, while also placing limits on each one. It challenges our cultural conditioning & calls us to open our eyes to our blind spots.