Summary: You will find the audio to this podcast below. I hope that it will be a blessing to you. I do hope that you will comment. Let me know what you think. Let's talk! Relations with nationals Maybe the most important aspect of our work as missionaries, outside of the strictly spiritual realm, is that of our relationship with nationals. So many good men and women go to the field and do not accomplish what they could, even though they are very well trained and prepared for the work. It is not enough to have a good education or to be a spiritual man of God. You must also know how to relate to people. You are the visitor to their country. You must learn to think in terms of how they view things and not what you like or want. We must learn to identify ourselves with them. A. Identification: In order to have an effective cross cultural ministry, missionaries must first of all be students of culture--in other words, the way a particular people organize their world. Culture is an integrated system of beliefs (about God or reality or ultimate meaning) of values (about what is true, good, beautiful, normative), of customs (how to behave, relate to others, talk, pray, dress, work, play, trade, farm, eat, etc.), and of institutions which express these beliefs, values, and customs (government, law courts, temples, or churches, family, schools, hospitals, factories, shops, unions, clubs, etc.), which binds a society together and gives it a sense of identity, dignity, security, and continuity. Effective missionaries identify with the culture. Through intimate knowledge of the people, missionaries see the world as the people see it, and experience life as they do. We have no better example of this identification than Jesus Christ himself. He left his home in glory to become a vulnerable, dependent, human infant. He knew hunger and thirst, poverty and oppression. He experienced rejection, anger, and loss. He wept. His experience of human nature gave him a tremendous insight that he manifested in his earthly sojourn and provided a relational platform for a powerful ministry. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Hebrew 2:17 1. The example of Jesus2! And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Notice how Jesus in His incarnation identified with the people He wanted to reach. He became like those He had come to reach but without sin. A. Jesus came as a helpless infant. He did not come as a leader, teacher, expert or even as a visitor from a superior or dominant culture. If we desire to reach them we must not come in as the big shot. B. Jesus was a learner. He learned the language from his parents. He learned how to play with his peers. He, the very Son of God, was sitting in the temple “asking questions.” What a profound lesson for us. Will you be willing to approach your new people as a learner? Will you humble yourself enough to allow them to correct you? And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. Luke 2:46 God himself studied the language, the culture, and the lifestyles of his people for thirty years before he began his ministry. He knew about their family life and problems. He stood at their side as a learner and as a coworker. He earned their respect. He identified himself totally with those to whom he was sent, calling himself the Son of man. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation,
