Engaging People From Another Culture

By Gerald Coates

My friend Dr. Linda Adams, bishop of the Free Methodist Church in Canada, tells the story of her experience welcoming Central African Free Methodists to their church in Rochester, New York:

On a normal Sunday morning in May 2007, seven members of a family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo made a pretty grand entrance into the sanctuary of New Hope Free Methodist Church in Rochester, New York, and changed our church. With 28-year-old Heritage interpreting, the father, Prudence, said to me, “We are orphans. We have no mother, no father; no motherland, no fatherland. The Free Methodist Church is our family, and you are our mother!” A little taken aback, I blurted out, “Welcome home!”

We had so much to learn from this family of 11 and the 22 others from Burundi who joined us later that year. Their prayers and strong faith, their family solidarity and eagerness to learn English and fit in with our church family were a joy for us to discover. In time, we also heard their stories of extreme suffering, of tribal conflict, child soldiering, banishment from their homeland, and a massacre in a refugee camp that killed their 7-year-old daughter in front of their eyes. We also found out that we had more to offer than we had ever dreamed — appliances and household necessities, English lessons and driving lessons, orientation to our grocery stores and the maze of social services available to refugees, but most of all, friendship and love. The day our African brothers and sisters found their “long lost family,” we were radically changed for the better. We thank God for that day in May.

In Dr. Adams’ story, there was a crucial moment. When presented with the opportunity to welcome the first-generation immigrant, she could have shrunk back thinking of all the inconveniences this would mean for her congregation, or she could simply say, “Welcome home!” That moment in time was a reflection of her theology — a sound biblical theology.

Notice in succession from Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, God’s special instruction for how the Israelites are to treat the foreigner:

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33–34)

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:17–19)

Notice the instructions: do not oppress them, do not mistreat them; and love them (as yourself). Notice the substantiation for the instructions — it is repeated three times, “you were foreigners in Egypt.”

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“Not a person in the whole of Israel would have been at home in the land where they were going.”

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Among those receiving this command in Deuteronomy, only two people, Joshua and Caleb, would have been adults in Egypt. Many of the people would not have any active memory of being slaves in Egypt. All they knew were the stories of their parents and grandparents. Most of these receiving the instruction would have been born in the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

But the instructions talk about the collective understanding of what it means to be a foreigner. They all had that in common. Not a person in the whole of Israel would have been at home in the land where they were going. They were all foreigners, and that was to inform them as to how they were to treat foreigners.

Loving as God Loves

But there is another level of substantiation for the instructions: “God loves the foreigner residing among you … and you are to love those who are foreigners.”

That’s a biblical perspective that informs how we respond to the foreigners living among us. The first level is to not oppress them. The second level is to treat them as if they are native-born. The third level is to love them as we love ourselves. The fourth level is to love them as God loves them.

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“What God did for us is to include us in His promise that was originally made through the nation of Israel.”

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Dr. Adams’ reception of the family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a level-four response: “Welcome home!” It is what God does. He welcomes the stranger. Even Jesus used this as an understanding of what it means to welcome Him.

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:35–36)

The word translated “stranger” is the Greek word xenos, which is also translated foreigner.

It is the same word used by Paul to describe those of us who were Gentiles by birth.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands) —remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11–13)

What God did for us is to include us in His promise that was originally made through the nation of Israel. But even this is the mystery of the gospel. Paul describes it to the church at Colossae, “I have become its [the church’s] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:25–27)

Reflecting Our Theology

God’s heart is for those who are foreigners to Him. Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. God sends the rain on the just and the unjust. We are in no place to regard ourselves from a position of prestige or power or privilege. Our identification is as foreigners whom God loves, and we in turn welcome those whom God loves.

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“It terms of engaging in cross-cultural ministry, there is the moral minimum of not oppressing the foreigner.”

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We live in a day in which we encounter people for whom this country was not their country of birth. Our response to them reflects our theology. At one level, it is good if we are not oppressing them or cheating them. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people taking advantage of the first-generation immigrants. But what would happen if the church of Jesus Christ in the United States was known for its adherence to the theological framework that treats the foreigner as the native-born and loves them with a welcoming love?

When our children were small, we taught them the concept of moral minimums and moral excellence. We would often frame it in terms of good, better and best. As an example, we would train them that when a guest came into our home, the moral minimum was to stand up when they came into the room and say “hello.” But it would be better for them to go over and to shake their hand and say something like, “It’s good to meet you!” But it would be best if they would look them in the eye, shake their hand, and ask them about their trip and engage in conversation about what is important in their lives.

In terms of engaging in cross-cultural ministry, there is the moral minimum of not oppressing the foreigner; there is the better of treating them as if they were natural born citizens; and there is the best option of welcoming them into relationship fueled by God’s love for them.

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