Cross-Cultural Crisis; Where does it Start?

The verdict is reached! Actually, it has been for years.  There is a cross-cultural crisis. Why is there a crisis? How did it start?  How does one respond?

As a young adult approaching the end of college and getting ready to enter the workforce, I find the discussions I will face with my co-workers to be fascinating. 

Already, I have encountered conversations relating to cross-cultural crises.  People talk about the struggle with death and disease, sex trafficking, political greed and the driving forces behind each crisis.    

As a follower of Jesus Christ, how do you respond to the questions your co-workers have?

1.      Define the reason for the crisis

a. In Jeremiah 17:9 we read, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”   Man is in a state of crisis. Therefore, it should come as no surprise when the cultures of man reflect the state of their hearts.

2.      Explain how man got into a state of crisis

a.      In the beginning, God created everything and everything was good (Gen. 1).  When God created the first man and women He only gave them one institution; not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  However, they disobeyed. 

This disobedience brought evil, suffering, and death into the world.  This is where we get our word sin; missing the mark of what God asks and calls us to do.  This brought separation between man and the holy God.  Holiness cannot look upon evil and accept it.  Every person is born with sin. Therefore, the real issue is a heart issue and if the heart is changed the culture will gradually change too.

3.      Tell them how the heart can be changed

a.      God loved people so much that He wanted to restore the relationship He originally had with us.  So He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to take the penalty we deserve for disobeying God.  That penalty is death. 

Jesus died in our place and came back to life, conquering death.  If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, accept His sacrifice, and ask Him to live in and through us, He will change our hearts.  Our relationship with God is thus mended.    (Gen. 3, John 3)

While these steps don’t show the whole picture, it is a place to start.  Just as my conversations with co-workers never ended here I am sure yours won’t either. 

Each week I will be posting a current cross-cultural crisis that you can talk about with your family or co-workers.  It will be accompanied by thoughts of how to respond, as Christ followers, to those topics. 

Wishing you the best in your conversations!

Ivy 

Sources:Photo courtesy of Answers in Genesis , KJV Bible