The National Soul – European Version

(Part 8 of the Culture series)

If you’ve ever read the Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat Pray Love, she describes an interesting idea in the Eat/Italy section. What if every city has a word? And what if every person also has a word.  It is whatever word that is humming and dancing around in your soul, that summarizes something very deep and true about yourself. If your word matches the word of the city you live in, then you feel at home.

For instance, New York’s word might be “Achievement”. If that is also your word, then you will love living in New York. Washington D.C.? Probably, “Power.” Amsterdam? “Tolerance.” Los Angeles? “Fame.” Hogwarts? “Magic.” What’s your word? Does it match the city where you live?

I think that whatever your word is provides a window to whatever is pressed on your national soul.

It is such an interesting conversation starter to ask people what they think their word is, or what they think the word of their home town is. I have learned so much from people over the years by asking this very question.

In last week’s post I theorized that individual responsibility is one of the things pressed on the American soul.

What is pressed on the European soul? Before wading into these waters, I admit I’m not a European. If I offend or am wrong, it is not intentional. If some of the readers from there want to venture their own opinions, feel free to do so in the comments section below.

I think the European word is something in the family of security, safety and/or tradition. And why not? Europe has an incredibly long tradition of how things have always been done and they have a long and vivid memory of pain when things go wrong. It’s why, when reading the story from last weeks blog of the servant who ended up with no minas, Europeans respond by saying, “No one should be allowed to fall very far. Even if they did it to themselves.” And why Americans are usually ok with someone reaping whatever it is they have sown. It reveals a bit more of a collective mindset than individually-minded Americans have.

You can see a conflict brewing between the American and European soul then, can’t you? One values risk and reward, the other safety and security. One is willing to lose something old in order to gain something new. The other is risk-averse. One sees the world as a place of opportunity, where things can be won, changed or gained, so “full-speed ahead”. The other sees the world as a place of potential danger where things can be lost or destroyed, so “proceed with caution”. One says, “I need to take care of myself.” The other says, “We take care of each other.”

Neither side is right or wrong – just different perspectives based on historical and cultural events.

In this discussion, I am not taking sides and hopefully you can’t discern my personal opinion from this entry. (I suspect it would surprise both sides.) Instead, I am interested in what this subtle cultural divide means for communicating the gospel across this cultural barrier.

I’m not sure what all the implications are, but I do know that awareness is an important thing for anyone who wants to jump cultural barriers. If the gospel penetrates our lives at the heart/soul level, then what is already there is an important component to how we receive it. Our national soul is a part of who we are and can be either a bridge or barrier to the gospel. It is why an American can read the story of the servants (see previous blog) and how they managed what they were given and get one point from it, but a European can read the same story and see something very different.

The message of the gospel never changes between culture, language, time period, etc. But the subtleties of how we communicate it must take on appropriate shades of gray, or the message will get lost in the blunt force trauma of cultural mis-steps.

The National Soul – American version

(Pt 7 in the Culture series)

During my first week of living in Germany, I was in a Bible discussion group, where we opened up the word and kicked around ideas about a particular text.  This week our passage was Luke 19:11-27  which starts this way:

” ‘A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “

What follows is an account of how the different servants managed differently what God had given them. Some were given more and some were given less. Some did well and some did poorly. One servant came and said that he was afraid, so he hid the money, refusing to invest it. The master was furious and ordered the servants to take away his money and give it to the one who had managed it well.

The master concluded the story by saying, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”

The discussion among the German students was fascinating and I heard a perspective I’ve NEVER heard from an American. They wanted to know why the man who was given much didn’t share what he had with those who didn’t.

That question had never, ever occurred to me, yet it was the first thought of several Europeans. Why?

Because individual responsibility has been pressed on the American soul. America was founded by people who wanted to get away from “how it has always been done”, and strike out on their own. They were looking for freedom to live and believe how they chose, to create the lives they wanted, not the one they were handed by a government, culture, family, society, church or economics.

But with freedom comes responsibility. If you are going to strike out on your own into the wilderness, you had better understand that while you can reap tremendous blessings, things can also go horribly wrong in a heartbeat. If you are going to play the game, you had better understand that you just might lose. It’s a historically American idea that you should be prepared to lie down in whatever bed you make.

So when Americans read a story like the one found in Luke, we read it through a lens of individual responsibility. From this perspective, it’s easy to see that you reap what you sow. Good choices = reward. Bad choices = punishment. And you don’t punish the successful person by making them carry the bad choices of the unsuccessful one.

And apparently when a European reads this story, they see it through different lenses.

What is it that’s pressed on the soul of a European? Stay tuned for an American’s opinion on it in the next blog.

The National Soul – What is it?

(Part 6 of the Culture Series)

(Just an idea I’m kicking around.)

It is impossible to generalize and stereotype when describing Americans. Not that people haven’t tried (Europeans, I’m good-naturedly talking to you.) But how can you? There are 300 million of us from all corners of the globe, with countless people groups, languages and subcultures spread across a geographic region of 8 time zones and over 3000 miles, not including Hawaii? “It’s impossible to say “All Americans are… anything.” We are a people known for our individuality, non-conformity and diversity. And there are just so dang many of us.

BUT…each nationality has some things imprinted on their souls. These are the characteristics that make each culture unique, that are a default position we slide to. They are one of the things that unite a culture and separate it from others. You see it when someone is confronted with something different, a value judgement, a political conversation, etc. You feel it when traveling overseas and meet another person from the same area as you and you can say, “You know what I mean?”. And you know they actually do.  Or when you meet someone from another culture and just cannot understand how they can be that way. Most things pressed on the national soul involve something that ultimately is a matter of preference, but is often confused with an absolute right and wrong. Until you travel that is, and realize that millions of people live everyday with a different opinion and somehow manage to make their society work just fine.

Examples to flesh this idea out:

Some people, when confronted with pineapple on their pizza say, “That’s just wrong on so many levels.” Some people can’t conceive of soft drinks with no ice, eating with no utensils or in the car while driving. Some people think no coffee in the morning or afternoon is wrong, wrong, wrong. (Again, Europeans, I’m good-naturedly talking to you:) Some people think big government is wrong, or that small government is wrong. Some people think too much wealth is wrong, while others reject being forced to share what they’ve earned. Some react with heartfelt emotion to different music styles in worship or on the radio, different food or traffic rules because they are just so sure it is wrong. What is it that makes you say, “That’s just wrong.”? (Das geht gar nicht.) That question can give you an idea of what is pressed on your national soul.

It’s an idea I’d like to explore in a blog or two.