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By a former missionary in the Middle East — When I was a child, it was drilled into my head that I should always ask myself: “What is the right thing to do?”
My parents and teachers told me that as long as I asked that question and then followed through properly, I would stay out of trouble. They said this because, in our society, you were either guilty or innocent.
In other parts of the world, namely the Middle East and Asia, where the majority of Muslims live, almost every culture is built on honor and shame. People in such places ask themselves if their actions would bring shame or disrespect to their family or clan. They don’t ask “What is the right thing to do?” They ask, “What is the honorable thing to do?”
People carry their worldviews with them wherever they go. Those who serve in other countries need to adjust how we share the gospel so that it speaks to the people in that area. We don’t change the gospel, we change how we present it. In a guilt/innocence culture, we explain that Jesus is strong enough to take away our guilt and make us innocent before God. In a shame/honor culture we emphasize that Jesus is strong enough to take away our shame and restore our honor.
But this is easier said than lived! The following story from our work in a medical ministry illustrates how easy it is to get tripped up by different worldviews:
The administrator whom I had hired was working out well. He had performed remarkably in handling some difficult personnel issues and he quickly learned the computer program we used for managing the inventory of hospital supplies. Since he could be trusted in smaller things, I was ready to teach him to handle our finances. We went over the big picture as well as the smaller details like balancing the cash drawer. We worked together until I was convinced that he had the hang of it, and then I said, “Okay, this will be your responsibility, and I will just check on you every now and then.”
At the end of his first month of handling the finances, I said I was going to do an audit, just like we had talked about earlier, when I’d handed over the responsibility.
He suddenly stiffened and a cloud came over his face. “You want to do what?”
“I want to count out the cash drawer and the money in the safe and make sure it matches our books,” I said.
“No, please don’t do that,” he replied.
Immediately my stomach began to sink and I became suspicious. In my experience, for someone to protest the audit, he must be guilty. He must have stolen some money, I thought, and he doesn’t want me to count it and find him out.
“No, we are going to count it out and make sure it will balance,” I said — knowing in my heart that it was not going to balance and that I was going to have to fire him for stealing.
He again asked me not to count it, which only furthered my resolve to definitely count it, and to count it right then. I opened the safe and the cash drawer and counted out the cash. I checked the cash against the numbers in the book and looked at him.
He had the saddest look on his face.
I was confused. No money was missing, and yet he looked like he had lost his best friend.
“I would never shame my family by stealing from you or the hospital,” he said. “Why didn’t you trust me?” He walked out the door and left the hospital.
It was my turn to have the sad look. I was trying to build a relationship with this man and had shared the gospel with him numerous times, yet this one simple thing had strained our relationship to the breaking point. In fact, I wasn’t sure whether he would come back.
I put the money away and went to seek the advice of our local senior doctor, a wise man and someone who had been around Westerners for almost 10 years. He offered to be the intermediary for me. He went to the administrator and explained that I was not seeking to shame him or his family name, but that I was following Western rules of accounting for the sake of our donors.
For the next six years, I only did audits when I was alone and knew I would not be interrupted. Our financial books were never off for that whole time!
May the Lord give us wisdom in sorting out how to live and share his truth in our multicultural world!
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