“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must dwell in the Adventist Bubble forever. For whoever wants to save their life should avoid the world, but whoever spends their life in the world for the sake of my lost sheep shall be considered unclean’” (Matt. 16:24 New Laodicean Version).

Okay, I made that up. I was just trying to avoid overwhelming anyone with culture shock at what Christ really said.

Culture shock: The catastrophic, paralyzing stress that arises when two vastly different ways of thinking and living collide. Drop a good Adventist cross-cultural missionary in the middle of a fishing village along the Mekong River or among nomadic herdsman in the arid steppes of Namibia, and he will soon be bowled over by crippling culture shock. Surrounded by so many cultural aspects he finds mystifying and/or disgusting, he will feel a powerful temptation to retreat to his bedroom, draw the curtains and never venture outside again. However, instead of looking away, AFM missionaries are taught to stay engaged with the culture, analyzing and deconstructing even its most off-putting elements to look for cultural bridges—worldview hooks on which to hang the Gospel of Christ in people’s hearts.

AFM missionaries aren’t the only ones in danger of culture shock. What if a good Christian like you were suddenly dropped in the middle of a big urban dance club or a Saturday-night bar scene in your city? Surrounded by people dressing and talking and behaving in ways that mystify and/or repulse you, how’s your culture shock-o-meter? Will you give in to the overwhelming temptation to run away, or will you look for ways to forge redemptive relationships and speak to people’s deep spiritual hungers?

Whether or not you feel called to minister in such culture-shocking contexts, your Christian culture will frequently grate against the world wherever you find yourself. When that happens, will you dive for cover, or will you push through it for the sake of the lost?

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