Cultural Differences In Research Paper

“Nigger,” the moment the word came out of my mouth I remember the eyes of my teacher. My Sunday School teacher. My black Sunday School teacher. I had just heard a joke from a friend and was laughing. She asked me what was so funny. At 5 or so years old I do not recalling actually knowing what the N-word meant, I don’t even remember the joke and why I thought it was so funny. Perhaps, early onset peer-pressure, but likely it was at least in part what Wendell Barry refers to as the “hidden wound.” The racism that has been passed down from generation to generation often times unbeknownst to us and even if we do not desire it. I told her the joke. When I hit the punch line, even in my childish innocence, I saw the pain in the depths of her eyes—the …show more content…
But, there are often cultural differences between Christians and non-Christians, there are differences between one Christian denomination to another, there are culture differences between rich and poor, there are culture differences between city-dwellers and country farmers, there are cultures differences between Democrats and Republicans, there are even culture differences between me and the next white dude with my background, between you and the next person of with your background. Why? Because we are all different. Our experiences are different—some beautiful and some horrible. Our cognitive and emotional processing is different. The filter or worldview through which we see, interpret, and apply milieu of life is different. Yet, the Holy Scriptures state, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Paul says we are God’s “workmanship” (Eph. 2:10). Isaiah says that “we are all the work of your [God’s] hand” (Isa.64:8). And, in his letter to the Galatians Paul emphatically declares, “for in Christ Jesus you are all [my emphasis] sons [and daughters] of God, through faith…There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26, 28). What we see in and through these select few passages is that through there are no hierarchy when it comes to the gospel, the Church, and value. We are equal and we are all wonderfully made by God. As such, to disparage another for their differences is to demean the gospel and the Creator. Rather, we should celebrate our uniqueness and our unity in spite of uniqueness and differences. Scott McKnight refers to this concept as the “Fellowship of