The Return to Trucks, Fried Chicken, and Football

"I am not anyone’s slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible. When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can."

- Paul, 1st Corinthians 9:19-22 CEV

Me wearing lederhosen and
holding a German gospel tract.

For the two months I served in Heidelberg, I took the advice of the apostle Paul and diligently tried to integrate myself into German society (as comically illustrated in the picture). Paul strived to build bridges between himself and those around him by integrating himself into local culture. However, he did not change his beliefs nor the Gospel he preached. A good example of Paul's attitude is was Acts 16:3, when Paul insisted Timothy be circumcised as was expected of a Jew, even a Christian Jew. It was not wrong for Timothy to be circumcised, but his circumcision allowed him to minister to the Jews and be accepted by them as a Jew.

In Germany, I refused to speak English unless talking with native English speakers. I ate a very typical German diet, where breakfast and dinner were always bread, jam, cheese, fruit, and vegetables. I drank four to six cups of coffee every day (although I do not like coffee) as well as schorle, a roughly 1:1 mixture of a fruit juice and carbonated water. I even bought a pair of European man-capris on clearance. I did not compromise my beliefs or the Gospel I represented. My goal was to build bridges to those with whom I spoke and genuinely get to know them. Because my attitude, dress, and mannerisms made it very obvious that I was not truly German and certainly not a tourist, I was often asked in the course of a conversation such as "What are you doing here?" and "Where did you learn to speak German so well?" These questions were an incredible way to open up and share not only about the CVJM but also more importantly about the Gospel. So many Germans have grown up hearing about Jesus' death and resurrection, but very few ever understand why. To some, Jesus was a only historical figure or wise teacher. To others, He was the son of an impersonal deity and had no desire to have anything to do with mankind other than "ruining" their fun. By integrating myself into the local culture, the Lord used me to share the Good News of His love in a way not impossible for a typical American.

After making such strides to change cultures, it was hard at first for me to reintegrate back into Alabama's strange way of life. As an introvert who had lived as an extrovert for the past two months, I spent much of the first few weeks back avoiding unnecessary social contact. I dreaded going to gatherings with large groups of people, and at times, I did not leave my dorm bedroom if I knew one of my roommates was in our common space. Once, I accepted a friend's invitation to go to a Campus Crusade worship time to force myself to get out. I found the whole thing quite disturbing, and it was not the even large amount of people that bothered me. What shocked me the most were the students at the door cheerfully greeting us as we walked in. They were literally jumping up and down while yelling how glad they were that we had come. I had not seen behavior like in a very long time. I would not have even expected it from a group of hyper-charismatics! It also took me a while to readjust to cold drinks, overly-sweetened food, overly-friendly people, English spoken in public, and the necessity of driving everywhere.

Click image to enlarge graphs.

What surprised and upset me most when I returned was the very stark difference in attitudes towards the evangelism between my church family and believers outside of my church. I did not expect or desire any recognition when I returned. From my point of few, my Lakeside family financed so much of the trip that I was very much indebted to them, not the other way around. Still, they were very eager to hear about all the work God had done in Germany, even though many kept up with this blog. However, when a believer outside of the church asked me what I did over the summer, I told them I spent the summer doing missions work in Germany. The believer would usually give me a very confused look. A campus minister who asked me that question responded with "Oh. Well... did you learn any German?" I found it really upsetting that a minister of all people would not ask me how God worked or what He did. These reactions from those outside my Lakeside family seem to change when someone talks about going on a mission trip to Africa, East Asia, or South America. I do not care about any recognition from my service, but the great difference in attitude towards "traditional" missions work and sharing the Gospel in Germany upset me very much. It seems as though these brothers and sister find to strange to bring the Gospel to white people. The sad fact is that every American is familiar with the last hundred years of German history, and most are still surprised to hear that only 1-2% of the population has ever decided to become disciples of Jesus. While decisions for Christ have exploded exponentially around the rest of the world, the amount of just nominal believers in Europe shrunk over 30% in the last century, and this percent change does not account for the increase in European population, meaning that even the overall number of nominal believers in Europe decreased dramatically while the overall population has increased. I hope I can begin to bring more attention to the dearth of the evangelism in not only Germany but also in all of Europe. The Lord has tasked us with sharing the Good News with everyone.

In the end, I have readjusted well to Alabama culture, although I am still holding on to some German tendencies. (I rarely drink something cold besides milk.) However, integrating into the culture here is just as important as integrating into German culture, because while I am home, I am still obligated to share the Gospel.