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Box 159, Carnation, WA 98014. ----------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, contact Return to God, P.O. Box 159, Carnation, WA 98014-0159; email: glenna@halcyon.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Communicating God's Culture" by Saul Wallach (an article from Return to God Magazine, Volume 1 Number 3, page 3). When this article was written, Saul Wallach was a Messianic Rabbi of Congregation Emmaus, a Messianic Congregation. Congregation Emmaus' Meeting Facility: 124 Plaza, 1600 124th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 (206) 454-0177; Office: 515 116th Avenue NE Suite 225, Bellevue,WA 98005 (206) 454-9958. ----------------------------------------------------------------- When we say we're believers in Jesus, people may jump to incorrect conclusions about what we believe because of the connotations that are associated with a believer in Jesus. People who claim to be believers do all kinds of things in the name of the Lord. How can we dispel all the misinformation about believers in Jesus, and communicate the true message of the Lord? My prayer for congregations, leaders and for myself is that we stop following our own ways and start learning, living and communicating God's culture. The world knows how to communicate far better than we believers. We should learn how to communicate the culture of God in a way that the world will understand. James, the brother of Jesus, was taught how to communicate by Jesus. James spoke up and brought an understanding to the council in Jerusalem of how people were to follow the ways and culture of God. The people listened, obeyed, and it became their life style. How can we likewise, effectively communicate the culture of God? James 1:19 gives us three checks for our communication: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK It is so important for us to listen to people, to understand where they're coming from, and then to consider our words carefully as we speak to them. It's important to learn about each person, to know what their needs are and how you can speak to those needs. SLOW TO ANGER ."...for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." -- James 1:20. The Greek word for anger or wrath means a smoldering anger rooted in ego needs. Most of the time we get angry because of our own needs and selfish desires. There is a tremendous difference between speaking the Word in God's culture or speaking it in a way that promotes our own egos. Jesus never became angry over people's response to him. His anger was a righteous indignation, not anger rooted in ego. There were two kinds of circumstances that angered Jesus: people not meeting human needs and God's worship system being used for man's purpose. An example when Jesus became angry at people for not meeting human needs is the healing He performed on Shabbat (the Sabbath). The rulers came against Him because He dared "work" (meet a human need) on Shabbat and that provoked His anger toward them. They cared more for their social status and power than to meet a human need. "...Then Jesus asked them, 'Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored." -- Mark 3:4-6 His righteous indignation was also provoked when God's plan for Israel was corrupted towards man's purpose. The most famous situation is when Jesus cleansed the Temple. "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 'It is written,' he said to them, "My house will be called a house of prayer," but you are making it into a "den of robbers"' --Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus became angry when a human need was neglected, or when God's religious system was used to resist God. He never became angry about people's response to him, as it is so easy for us to do. ACT ON THE IMPLANTED WORD The key to communicating God's culture is acting on the implanted Word of God. "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." -- James 1:21. Get rid of things that will distract you from God and humbly accept the implanted word. The implanted word will speak to others. It will save you from situations of condemning people and not leading them to a place of right understanding of the ways of God. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -- he will be blessed in what he does." -- James 1:22. The Lord has given you wisdom through the implanted word; so use this wisdom. Let's not go about doing things in our own way. True religion means living God's way and reaching out to those in need. "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. -- James 1:26. Our challenge today is to go beyond our own egocentric needs and to give Jesus all of our lives -- our possessions, the people that we cherish more than Him, the projects that we cherish more than Him. We must turn the Living Word implanted within us into action by helping others and remaining unpolluted by the world. We must listen, obey, adopt God's culture and walk as a testament of God to the world. Bible quotations are from the New International Version (copyright 1985 by the Zondervan Corporation).