Ethical Twister

Do you like the game “Twister”?  If so, you should try the cultural ethics game of Twister.  For example:  in America, we have an ethic that says “Only ask for help if you can’t help yourself.”.  In a Hunter / Gatherer culture like the Kaonde, this principle has a new twist.  A man came to my house the other day after seeing our demonstration vegetable garden and asked for “free food”.  I told him that I don’t have any “free food”.  To which he responded, “Then let me buy some food.”     My first response was, “If you could buy your food, why did you ask for free food?”  (You can hear my cultural outrage as my ethical values were violated.)  But the man looked at me after I asked that question as if I were an idiot.  From a Hunter / Gatherer ethic, gathering something with the least expense of your resources is frugality and is responsible.            The rub comes when the Hunter / Gatherer system is being replaced by a cash economy.  The same cultural ethic is used, but the economic ramifications have changed.  One of the missionary’s jobs is to help the culture interpret Christ’s ethics and encourage them to apply them to their present cultural setting.

“Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?”

Luke 12:57  KJV

Trying not to get too twisted up…

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured:  free food?

Linguistic Languor

I was ready to use my new KiKaonde phrase that I had memorized, a greeting in the Lord.  A visiting Kaonde evangelist was just the right audience.  After greeting him, he looked a bit angry.  Then he asked me, “Why did you greet me in the name of your dog?”  Obviously something had gone terribly amiss.“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”

Colossians 3:8  KJV

Skating too close to blasphemy on that one,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured:  Kambo = Lord; Kabwa = dog.  That’s important to know.