How do You Change Cultural Mindsets?

A lot of us were raised with preconceived notions about many different subjects. I remember thinking the veins that bulged on my grandmother’s hand was cool! It’s not so cool when you reach that older age where your veins bulged. I also thought I was stronger than my mother because I could wring more water out of the washcloth than her. Sure, these are childish perceptions, but they plant ideas in our minds.

While I was in the service, I visited England, the Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and lived on six different bases in less than 4 years. It was quite an eye-opening event to see how other people lived outside the United States. It changed my whole perspective on people and the world.

I was very fortunate to be exposed to different food experiences, the Ice Capades in Cleveland and trips to Florida as a child. My mother lived in Cleveland before I was born. This gave her a desire to try new things. My dad, who was raised on a farm in Minnesota, was totally different. He wanted meat and potatoes at every meal. He had a bad experience with different races in the service, so he wasn’t fond of any other race. He never voiced that opinion until years later, but he always treated every race with respect. We had a family owned gas station with the store connected to our home.  It was “Steel’s Atlantic Service Station” and working there taught us to treat all customers with respect.

Our View of the World Around Us!

The reason I am talking about how people are raise is to show how the culture we are raised in effects out view on our world around us. That is how cultural mindsets are formed. It isn’t right or wrong it is just a truth that we view the world through our own experiences. I realize this is one of the reasons there is so much confusion in our world today. People are trying to force their perspective on everyone else. This method causes more resistance and even less power to influence the people that you want to educate on your view.

When I was reading the Bible, God revealed to me how Jesus handle preconceived ideas towards racial bias. The Samaritans were once part of the Jewish linage. They later departed from the teachings by having mixed-ethnicity marriages, worshiping on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem and disregarding the rules of worship. They were a place of refuge for criminals and even opposed the reconstruction of the wall of Jerusalem that Nehemiah was rebuilding.

Staying Focused on the Right Path!

Jesus was on a mission to go to Jerusalem and planned on entering a Samarian village to get prepared. The Samarians would not allow him to visit. This destructive mindset towards Samarians was so firmly planted in the disciples’ minds that the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samarians. Jesus just rebuked the disciples and went to another village. Notice that Jesus did not judge the Samarians, try to force them to welcome him or try to change their mind. He just kept focused on his mission to go to Jerusalem. This is kingdom of God thinking by not getting distracted on road blocks.

The first time Jesus sent out the disciples, he instructed them to follow their religious training. He said, “Don’t go into any non-Jewish or Samaritan territory. Go instead and find the lost sheep of Israel.” “Perhaps you think I’ve come to spread peace and calm over the earth—but my coming will bring conflict and division, not peace.” Then Jesus talks about the division that the Kingdom of God would bring in households. He explained that when people received the preaching of the Kingdom of God, no matter who they were, they would be rewarded. For the disciples to operate in faith, they were sent to the Jews first which was in line with their religious training.

Jesus was already laying the ground work to tear down religious traditions that were put in place by men and not God. He picked Matthew, a Jewish tax collector, to follow him. Tax collectors were despised by other Jews because most were corrupted and would collect more than required to fill their own pockets. Jews saw them as traitors to their race. Jesus went to Matthew house for supper and ate with what the Pharisees called lowlifes. This action of Jesus hit the Pharisees religious structure of clean and unclean. Jesus responded to Pharisees with the word of God. “I want you to show mercy, not just offer me a sacrifice.” “For I have come to invite the outcasts of society and sinners, not those who think they are already on the right path.”

New Seasons Require New Mindsets!

Even John the Baptist’s disciples were confused by Jesus’s treatment of outsiders and how the Jesus’s disciples were not required to fast. He was exposing them to the new wineskin of the New Covenant. It didn’t fit the old religious structure. When we enter a new season in God’s kingdom, we need to be careful not to judge what is happening through an old mindset. We need to take our questions to God and ask to see how God is looking at everything. Without our God glasses on, we may end up on the wrong side of God’s will for this season.

When a religious scholar came to test Jesus’s doctrines, Jesus redirected his thinking with an illustration on neighborhoods and neighbors. The main point of the story showed how two different religious leaders saw a wounded Jewish man on the side of the road and walked pass the wounded man. Then a Samaritan man, stopped and had compassion for this wounded man. He helped him by bandaging his wounds, transporting him to a safe place, and paid for the care of the man. This showed a heart of kindness and mercy that was open to others in need no matter their race or circumstances.

There were ten lepers who cried out for Jesus to have mercy on them and heal them. Jesus instructed them to go to the Jewish priest and as they went, they were healed. It was the Samaria leper that turn around and thanks Jesus for the healing. Think about this! It was an act of faith for the Samaria to go to a Jewish priest because they were despised by the Jews. The Samaria recognized that Jesus was the Messiah and glorified God. He was rewarded for this act of faith with salvation and healing.

Reaching Across Boundaries!

Jesus had to pass through a Samaritan village on his journey. He was waiting at a well, when a Samaritan woman came to draw water from a well. He asked her for water. She was so shocked that a Jew would even talk to her that she questioned why he would do this? He answered her by offering her what she was really thirsty for which was God’s love. Then he corrects her doctrine of worship from a place of worship to a heart of worship. The disciple returned from their grocery store trip and are shocked that Jesus is talking to a woman who is a Samaritan. This woman then proceeds to call the village to meet Jesus, the Anointed One we have been waiting for. The whole village comes to see Jesus and Jesus changes a community. Then Jesus teaches the disciples that all people are part of the harvest of God’s kingdom.

After Jesus’s death and resurrection, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, you can see the new season’s mindset in action. The disciples start in Jerusalem but because of the persecution they go into other countries. Philip went to Samaria where he was received with great joy. Later, Philip witness to an Ethiopian, who served in the Ethiopian’s queen’s court.

Do you see the pattern on how Jesus dealt with wrong mindsets? He spoke God’s heart intent into the laws of religion and the cultural mindsets. He refocused people back to God’s compassion and mercy. He spoke the truth without beating people up for their preconceived mindsets. He paved the way for the new wineskin of walking in love and compassion. He showed, with his actions, the desire of God for all people to come and be reconciled to God. He always offered redemption and a way to God.

Prayer

Father God,

Please, forgive me for any preconceived mindsets that have caused me to not walk in your love. I want to see people and events the ways you see them. Allow your compassion to rule in my heart and give me the boldness to walk in this compassion. I ask for your wisdom and strength to make the changes I need to make. I want to be a vessel that you can use to change my circle of influence and culture. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice that allows me to walk in your kingdom instead of the world’s chaos. “Your kingdom come and your will be done in earth as it is in heaven….” Amen!

References

2 Kings 17:24-28; Joshua 20:7; Nehemiah 4; Luke 51-56 TPT; Matthew 10:5-42 TPT; Matthew 9:9-12; 14-17; Luke 10:25-37; 17:11-19; John 4:1-42; Acts 2:1-4; Acts 8:4-8; 25; 26-40; Matthew 6:10