The Bible is a Cook Rich in Cultures
Think for a moment of some of the cultures that have expression in Scripture: Hebrew, Chaldean, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Hittite, Mesopotamian, Syrian, Assyrian, Philistine, Canaanite, Moabite, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman, to name most of them. Here’s the amazing part: God worked in and through his servants crossing through these cultures to bring his grand story of redemption to us. The Bible is full of cross-cultural encounters that have lessons for us today. An astounding number of biblical characters grew in their understanding of God, the world, and themselves through, as Nelson Jennings puts it, “getting lost” in the wilderness wanderings of cross-cultural experience. Notable persons such as Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Ruth, David, Daniel, Jonah, Nehemiah, Jesus, Philip, Peter, Barnabas, and Paul stand out as individuals who worked their way through cross-cultural contacts and experiences. Some, like Joseph, Daniel, and Paul, had prolonged experiences. Thus it’s evident that there is much to learn from the cultural encounters found throughout Scripture and portrayed in the lives God used to unfold his redemptive story. The many accounts of individuals who crossed cultures as part of his design for their lives convey cultural lessons for us today that help inform our cross-cultural encounters as well. The anecdotes and teachings throughout Scripture related to culture—from Genesis to Revelation, from Eden throughout eternity—should not be ignored. Indeed, they have an increasing value to us who live in an increasingly multicultural world and wish to study the art of crossing cultures as portrayed throughout Scripture.
