Sometimes it’s the foreign culture I live in that most helps me understand the Word in a fuller way.

Last night I had a language session, and about halfway through, the topic of “thankful events” came up. In this culture, if you ask God for something big (i.e. a car, house, job, etc.) and He gives it to you, you have a “giving-thanks” party where you invite your friends and neighbors to celebrate with you by having a meal at your house. Growing up in the states, I hardly knew any of my neighbors names, let alone invited them all to a meal at my house. Yet, it’s what they do in this culture, and to me it looks exactly like the events Luke 15.

My language helper and I ended up talking through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. He was tracking with the stories, but it the parable of the lost son that resonated deeply with him. The flagrant disrespect of the son asking for his inheritance before his father passed, the wasting of it on prodigal living, the shame of hitting rock bottom by eating food meant for pigs (which are also viewed as unclean animals in this culture) are all huge, relevant issues my friend is well acquainted with from growing up in his culture.

After I relayed the stories, my friend continued, “I mean, what the son did was good that he finally came to his senses, but I’m really impressed by the father! To receive his son back and forgive all that he had done is something you just don’t see!” He got it! It was a small story of what grace looks like, but he recognized that the father was the hero of the story.

He went on to explain what that situation would look like in his culture. “That hardly happens today, and if it was our ancestors it would have never happened.” In this shame/honor culture, if a head of household is shamed badly, like the father of the prodigal son was, the father would never forgive them lest it bring shame on his own head. If the father would forgive someone like that and just receive them back, he would no longer have honor. And to be a man without honor would be the worst thing in the world for that man.

It was so neat to see the Word of God speak so clearly to a lost soul. I look forward in hope to the day when we get to celebrate, with heaven, when this lost language helper of mine is found.