January 24, 2013

• My Value of Equality Needs Reedeeming

  In educating myself on how to embrace another culture, I have had to take a hard look at my priorities, my values, and my natural responses.

  It began while visiting Guatemala in August. I was privileged to visit several different houses, and discovered that most included a teeny, tiny maid’s room. I didn’t like that. It bothered me. I concluded that if Jesus was the owner of one of these houses, that he would give the maid the master suite and he, himself, would take the maid’s room.

  As missionaries, it is recommended that we have a house keeper; a maid. It is only a small amount to add to the budget, much cheaper than it would be in the states. The positive aspects are that it gives a woman a job and income to care for her family, it gives us the opportunity to minster to this woman and possibly her entire family, and it frees up my time to put towards other ministry responsibilities.

  I don’t want a maid. I feel like it is telling someone that I am more important than they are. To me, it seems degrading to expect someone else to clean up my mess, even if I am paying them. It seems even more so when entering into another country where my goal is to bring the love of Jesus.

  Through conversation at our staff training in California, added to our training here in Colorado, I am realizing that I see this whole subject through the lens of my American culture and my personal values.

  A lady that is a maid in Guatemala is content with her position in life. She is comfortable in her identity and in her social status. To give a lady who has experience as a maid a job as a maid, treat her with kindness, and pay her a salary that is good but still within what is normal for that position gives her value exactly where she is. You are honoring her for who she is at that point in her life. I get that now.

  
  (Hope listening in our combined adult/child class.)

  The personal awakening it brought about in me is that is has shown me how much I value equality, and how I could seriously afford to evaluate whether or not this “value” needs a significant dose of redemption. An easy example to use in regards to this, is how I handled the past three and a half years of being a pastor’s wife. I desperately didn’t want anyone to think that I thought I was better than them just because I was married to a pastor. A downside to that, which I was very aware of the whole time, was that I often didn’t speak up when I could have or should have. I stayed in the background most of the time. I was rarely assertive or proactive. In my mind, however, that was a price I was willing to pay in order to keep from looking like I had placed myself on a platform of importance and mega-spirituality. I am re-evaluating whether this was the best stance, but have not even began to process it enough to blog about it at this point. My big question I am trying to answer is, “Why is being important so important to me if I don’t want people to think I think I’m important?” You will probably have to read that five times before it even half makes sense. And so far I’m not liking where this question is leading me.

  
  (Blake leading worship)

  On the other hand, however,and this I HAVE extensively processed, is that I have a hard time with NOT being as important as someone else. I had a hard time with the fact that we weren’t as “important” as other people on staff or leadership. I remember one time helping a church member carry in several plates of yummy food for the senior pastor and his family for Christmas. I admit I was a little grumbly in my spirit that not only were we not given any food, but I was having to stop what I was doing (youth ministry for heaven’s sake) to help CARRY IT IN for the pastor!! “Shouldn’t we be giving this food to the poor instead?” asked my hurt pride masked by fake spirituality.

  Unlike the Guatemalans, I often times am not content in my position. I value equality, but God says though we are all valuable, we all have different roles; we are all different parts of the body. I need to learn the humility of a Guatemalan house keeper and realize it is an honor to carry in plates of food for my senior pastor. It is a privilege to serve someone in authority. It is an act of gratitude to God for where he place ME to go out of my way to speak a kind and positive word to someone in a high position. It devalues the position I am in NOT to do these things! I LIKE that!! I GET that! And THAT’s the person I want to be!

  God is not just calling me to serve and honor the poor. He is calling me to serve and honor “kings”.

  
  (Robin – our main instructor)

  
  (kids participating in a lesson on Expectations Meet Reality)

  • 5:57 pm
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