A couple of friends, one old and one new.  This was taken while out visiting homes in a village community.  

(This post is part of series which starts here) Monday it was time to leave.  The plans for this trip had been made the previous month.  However, there was a glitch.  The parts that were needed to get the work done on the had taken longer to get than anticipated.  Everything was pushed back a day because of the delays. 

So here I was waiting.  I reluctantly made phone calls to the others that were planning to go along on the trip (all Brazilians) and told them that our trip would be delayed one day.  Here is where culture comes in… no one had any problem with that.  It was fine that we would leave later because the relationships involved were more important than the schedule that had been made. 

                After 19 years in Brazil, I still fret about the schedule and wonder if everyone is going to be good if things are off a bit.  And I am always refreshed by the fact that punctuality is rated beneath relationship.  It gives me pause to consider how we rank relationship, punctuality and other “values” in our scheme of life.  Is Western culture (primarily North America & Western Europe) or our own personal preferences based on Biblical values?  How far have we strayed from what Jesus modeled concerning relationship?  Or was he yielding to the cultural preferences of his time and place?

                I believe that many third world cultures align more closely with how God values relationship.  Why would I think that?  We quickly see that God prioritized relationship with humanity over many things, or should I risk saying, over everything?  Since He was willing to die for others because He wanted to have relationship with them, whether they even recognize what He did for them, won’t that draw relationship into the very center of what God is doing, and more importantly, into the center  of who He is? 

                So what are we about? Who are we in our essence?  How important are our plans, our “to do” lists, our expectations, and our doctrine?  How often do we usurp God’s purposes because we let other things trump relationship?  We need to ask our God where we can deepen our relationships in spite of our differences.  

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A self portrait with a friend and fellow pastor