Real Hope: Opinion & DisagreementEsimerkki

The Gift Of Difference

New York City is magical – an iconic skyline with 21 bridges, and home to nine million people from all walks of life. It’s one of the most diverse cities in the world! Almost every block is a unique expression of heritage, language, tradition and personal interest – arts, academics, business, sports, music, food, fashion. These expressions have created a culture that is distinctly ‘New York’.

New York culture can seem daunting to an outsider. Why would people talk like that? Why do they wear their clothes like that? I don’t like pizza! Yet being different does not necessarily mean something is wrong or evil. In fact, being different is often a gift to experience, to learn from and to value. In its purest form, culture reflects the people who inhabit a place, and is a window into their own world – their hurts, pains, loves and desires.

In Acts 17, Paul walks the streets of Athens, immersed in the culture. He notices a religious altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown God’. Rather than dismissing it as heresy or sin, Paul embraces the opportunity to connect to the Athenian culture. Their artefact is an expression of a longing within their hearts to discover God – a clue to what is deeper. Christians should be informed, well-read, open, inclusive, listening, attentive, curious and embracing of all cultures as a means to awaken people to God. How would culture transform if people were awakened to their true nature as sons or daughters of God?

Written by SAM FAGAN

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