“But why?! Why won’t you cut your beard?!”
This was the question asked to two other teammates and myself by someone at our ministry.
In Albania, rarely do you see a full beard. If you do, it’s scruff or closely cropped. Hence, our team of men, sporting mountain man beards, can be spotted a mile away.
I had to explain to her that for some men, this stems from our pioneering and frontiersman heritage. “The men in the 1800s were rugged! Men of grit who didn’t care what they looked like because their every thought was survival!” Today, that thought still remains and beards are now often seen as a sign of ruggedness, manhood and wisdom, but anyone who knows a hipster is aware this isn’t necessarily the case.
One of the most transformative concepts I have learned on my race is learning truth by examining the past; where that “truth” originated.
Although I used the mildly humorous example of beards, what happens when you consider tobacco, alcohol, cultural expectations, individualism, patriotism, manhood, sexuality, financial stability and the Great Commission?
Since I came on the race, my views on every single one of these topics (and then some) have changed. As we travelled through the 11 countries I’ve been in so far, I saw these topics handled very differently.
From Ecuador to Albania, Greece to Peru, views on things I considered “right” and “wrong” changed on a cultural basis.
Why is it an embarrassment for an American to live with his parents and shameful for an Albanian NOT to live with them? Why is it immature to be slack on the job in America when it’s a cultural norm in Montenegro and honorable in Japan?
I think this is one of the most beautiful parts of the Race. I am more easily able to identify the difference between “Christianity” and “Biblical” as I see conflicting norms. I am able to call out lies that I’ve considered truth and replace them with actual truth.
Things like work ethic, modesty, marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, gender identity, manhood, homosexuality, pornography, political affiliation, and every other abrasive topic have been changed as I realize a few basic concepts.
Jesus is bigger than my sin.
Period.
Shame and guilt have no place in my life. If I mess up, I don’t worry about it because I know
1. I’m pre-forgiven. There is no judgement.
2. I have already repented and accepted His forgiveness.
3. Jesus can, does, and will turn my sin into something that glorifies Him.
Jesus is bigger than “right” and “wrong”.
My teammate Mike Ward (mikeward.theworldrace.org) helped me through this. By labeling something as right or wrong, we put Jesus in a box and don’t allow Him to redeem the sin or let him turn the wrong into something beautiful.
Jesus doesn’t care about anything but your heart.
Shocker, Jesus isn’t republican. Or democrat. He’s not even an independent.
Jesus fulfilled the law. All the things we battle back and forth about are things that He has already set us free from and by fighting over these things, we are entangling ourselves in bondage which He never intended us to bear.
Jesus only gave us two commandments.
Love God
Love others.
Period.
You are free to do anything, live anywhere and marry anyone. You have the freedom to do that because as long as you follow those two things, you are doing the will of God and fulfilling His work.
As we learn to do these, which is the entirety of Christian life, we learn to see past race, political affiliation, gender, sexuality and cultural expectations because we know God’s expectation and that’s all that matters.
Love Him and love others.
