Ambassador meets politician - the chicken conundrum

To my fellow disciples of Christ:

The big news this week has not been a fiasco. It has not been a triumph either. The world is fallen and words are used and abused every day; it just became more apparent this week. It's one shining example in a sea of humanity.

We are in a nation experiencing culture shock within its own borders. The reason? The Kingdom of God has no borders.

Christians will always be strangers in a strange land, wherever we live. I consider myself blessed to live in the U.S.A., but my first allegiance is not to my country of birth but to my kingdom of rebirth.

When U.S. citizens meet Kingdom citizens, culture shock is the norm, not the exception. We have different values, and vastly different definitions for the same words, thus we speak different languages. But we somehow still expect that we'll understand each other easily, with all the nuances and undertones that exist in the universe.

This is how words are so easily misunderstood: two very different groups of people can read the very same set of words and feel very differently about them. Did I say very enough for you?

One group reads a message of hate and intolerance, the other group reads a message of steadfast - yet tough - love, tempered with thankfulness.

Are either of these groups wrong in their interpretation?

No, because (again) they are citizens of different kingdoms. In one kingdom, those words are fighting words, filled with anger and venom directed at a specific group of people. In the other kingdom, those words are just as dispassionate as stating that the grass is going to die because we didn't water it enough, and being thankful that we have water.

Comments about dying grass can get ugly, too. If you tell your neighbor he doesn't water enough, he's gonna be offended. Maybe he just doesn't want to water his grass. Maybe he doesn't want to pay a higher bill. So where do we draw the line?

We can start by remembering that we're ambassadors, not politicians. A politician is talking to his own statesmen and has a general idea of what he needs to say to garner more votes. An ambassador is a representative of his country (or Kingdom) who lives on foreign soil.

Imagine the uproar if an official American ambassador to France called a Frenchman a wimp and gave him a white flag. This guy would not be an ambassador for much longer. Who doesn't enjoy a good white flag joke, right? And remember "freedom fries"? Still, would you make those same jokes while in France? Unfortunately, some have done so. No wonder many French don't speak English around American tourists.

(You see the similarity, here? I'm not just talking about Christian versus non-Christian culture. I'm also talking about American culture versus any other culture. Many Americans seem to assume their own culture should be the dominant one. And when two cultures both deeply steeped in their own versions of American culture meet, therein lies our problem. This is the stuff of loyalty, nay, fealty. This starts boycotts. This starts discussions of "our rights as Americans.")

That's politician stuff. Let's think again for a minute about being ambassadors. What does the job entail?

Ambassadors have the difficult role of trying to be diplomatic with people groups who lead different lives and have their own culture. Living on foreign soil doesn't mean abandoning your own culture, it means living the way you normally live in your home country, but gently. Some customs offend, so always be prepared to offer an explanation. Also, be prepared for more misunderstandings, and pray continually that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to diffuse an argument peacefully.

And that's just about all I have to say about Chick-fil-A.

Now, check out this song!

How many birthdays have you?

Imagine a few more candles and we're there!

I'm 18 today.

Surprised? 

Here's the story: 18 years ago today, I understood for the first time what Jesus' sacrifice on the cross had done for me. I recognized that I was a sinner, realized that I needed Jesus and accepted Him into my heart. That was the day that I was born again.

I know for certain that it was June 27, 1994, because the amazing, godly woman who led me in that prayer keeps records of such things, and I asked her about it a few years ago.

So, now I celebrate two birthdays each year; one physical and one spiritual.

This year is a milestone for me. I've been saved for 3/4 of my life. Also, it signifies the true end of my teenage years. I have gone through six years of college and finally graduated; I've gone through two breakups that both taught me a few valuable lessons; I've experienced the ache of ending friendships - and the miracle of resurrecting one I thought was lost. I've gone through so many changes as a person, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, that I am not even the same person I was a year ago.

And now it's time to enter a new phase: adulthood.

An 18-year-old may not act like an adult, but she is still legally considered an adult and must suffer consequences and receive rewards as an adult does. There are different benefits and different rules that come with being an adult. An adult has more responsibility, yet more freedom to choose how to deal with her responsibilities. An adult does not make excuses, but admits when she is at fault and strives to overcome her weakness. An adult recognizes that "independance" is just a wishful invention of teenagers who think that the rules their elders set for them are restrictive, when, in fact, they are for protection. There is no independence-only a misplaced reliance on the self, which falls away when each person recognizes that they need each other and God to get them through life.

An adult is not defined by what she does, but by who she trusts in every minute of the day. But acting like an adult certainly helps! C.S. Lewis said it well in Mere Christianity:

"Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children's games are so important. They are always pretending to be grown-ups-playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits, so that the pretence of being grown-up helps them to grow up in earnest." 

So, from this day forward, I am going to really start acting like an adult. And I will start becoming one. I will keep my trust in Christ always, even when my fears try to tell me he's turned his back. I will strive to know his nature, and lean on him when I know I need his help.

And I'll celebrate little milestones like this: my birthday.

In closing, I'd like to share the second verse of the Birthday song. I'm not sure how many of you have heard or sang this before, but we always sang it in the Grace Brethren church I grew up in, so I've become very fond of this verse:

Happy Birthday to you,
Only one will not do;
Born again means salvation,
How many birthdays have you?