Taking Values for Granted
"People here need examples to follow."
This statement jolted me out of the lull caused by the humming of the vehicle. One of our dear Zambian friends driving was earnestly explaining to me what he saw as the problems in his culture. In his estimation, the reason I had to go to the government office and nearly beg for my residency permit four times was this: a deep, long-engrained lack of discipleship. People do not have examples to follow.
In the USA, people take many cultural values borrowed from the Bible for granted. They expect to walk into a government office and not be solicited for a bribe. They assume that stealing is wrong and expect law enforcement and justice systems to help recover losses. But these things are from generations of discipleship—they are gifts from parents, family heritage, this country's history, and God. They are not "normal" or "given" in most places in the world—especially Africa. Here we have sayings like, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." These reflect cultural values (although these values are eroding daily). But, in Zambia sayings similar to "steal things as long as you don't get caught" reflect an entirely different set of cultural values.
As my Zambian friend explained these things to me, Paul's appeal to the Corinthians grew new legs for me:
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1
Zambia's people need the gospel, and they most desperately need leaders who will do the deeds that flow out of right doctrine. They need to see the care that comes from correct content. The content is proven true by the accompanying servant's heart.
- They need fathers to model the proper instruction and discipline of their children.
- They need husbands to model sacrificial love for their wives.
- They need wives to model submission and respect for their husbands.
- They need pastors to model being the slave of all like Christ instead of lording it over their flock.
We go to Zambia to aid in training servant-leaders to set these examples.
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Pray for the Spirit to help us be the kind of people who demonstrate the fruit of the gospel in our own lives!
Jesus Over Everything.
