Culture shock survival has as much to do with how we think about ourselves as it does with how we think about our host culture. We arrive on the field full of emotion toward the people and place where the Lord has led us. Before long, those emotions are tested and start showing cracks. Culture shock is not unveiled on one grand occasion. It sneaks up on us with combinations of seemingly small matters such as intense climate, babbled languages, weird food, horrid smells, a million little discomforts, constant staring, shameless extortion, always haggling, etc.... I’m starting to sweat just writing this.
Being a foreigner is uncomfortable.
One day after putting on my spiritual armor and missionary face, I went out to enjoy getting immersed in the market swell. As I took it all in, a strange thought dawned on me. All the people around me who were carrying anything were carrying it on their heads—except their children, who were strapped to their backs. One man was returning from the field with his machete on his head. Children carried their exercise books to school on their heads. Two ladies helped lift a hefty load of groceries for their neighbor onto her head. Was that shocking to me? No, it was everyday life that had become familiar. The strange thing was that I was the only person within miles of this place who was not carrying my things on my head. I was the foreigner. I was strange, not them.
Admittedly, Americans seem to have difficulty being the foreigner. When traveling abroad we’re stereotypically considered loud, boisterous, gregarious, and maybe above or oblivious to how the host culture views us. The whole world is ours, is there for our pleasure, like a kind of zoo that we peruse and about which we take selfies to show that we’ve been there. The role of a foreigner, of not fitting in, of being the odd man out in a sea of humanity, can be quite uncomfortable.
Going back home is uncomfortable too.
With time, after being scrubbed clean of our American mindset and brought to love the beauties of our host culture, the inevitable furlough arrives. We are then required to reverse course and relearn how to appreciate our own native culture. We again struggle with feeling above the culture and looking down on small-minded behaviors. We note that Americans can be obsessed with complaining about the inconveniences of their abundance, taking little thought for the rest of the world with its vast array of miseries. This mindset has made it to the dictionary under the term “first-world problems.” A missionary’s cynical attitude after reentry to the States is often akin to that of the brother of the prodigal son.
Three truths that enable us to embrace culture shock.
How can I keep my heart and effectively minister as I am ping-ponged across the world repeatedly? I need Scripture to impact my thinking in this foundational matter, and Scripture reminds me that I am a foreigner. This perspective helps me view culture shock as just temporary, as nothing compared to spiritual realities, and as an opportunity to shine for Christ.
1. Culture shock is temporary.
In Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16, God presents Abraham as having the faith to be a foreigner in his own land, a stranger, and an exile on planet earth. Does this mean that Abraham didn’t participate in the normal life and culture around him? No, he was living as anyone else of that time in the land of Canaan yet refusing to identify himself with or give his heart to that passing generation or culture. He chose to wait for his future home and live as a nomad in a tent because he had eyes of faith to see over the horizon of history to a heavenly city. In the same way, viewing my inconveniences of culture shock like someone on a short-term missions trip gives me strength to endure just a little longer, knowing that soon I’ll go home.
2. Culture shock is insignificant compared to spiritual realities.
The subject of a missions trip brings up the next point and the essence of being a foreigner. Have you ever taken a missions trip to a foreign country? You excitedly embark with the intent of ministry and discovery. You truly enjoy being shocked by the culture and quickly come to have compassion for the people. What deeply touches you, sometimes even to tears, is the common bond you have with local believers. You rely heavily on sign language and laugh heartily at the spectacle of communication. You’re obviously outside their culture but strangely inside their hearts. A “third culture” exists between you, raising you both above your own cultures.
As believers, that “third culture” transcending all earthly cultures is our union with Christ. Scripture teaches us that anyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior has died with Him, been buried and raised with Him, and is now seated with Him in the heavenlies. He is in us, and we are in Him. Therefore, we are joined through Him to every believer in the world.
3. Culture shock is an opportunity to shine for Christ.
The world should perceive that we’re foreigners. Philippians 2:15 highlights the need for us to “prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (NASB, 1995).
Yesterday my wife and I sat in our car with a needy lady who is fighting to keep her child alive with the best medical help available. She is like family to us and has closely observed our lives for seven years. As we witnessed to her again, she mentioned that we as Americans are good people, not like her culture where so many sins abound. Did we extol to her the glories of America? In contrast, we explained in a way she could understand how Jesus Christ is in us, empowering us to live out our heavenly citizenship. We look forward to the day when she shares our “third culture” and spreads her light to others.