Respect In The Home Series

Waren Webster, missionary to Pakistan, tells of his first attempt

to be friendly to the children who came to watch him as he tore a

crate apart to rebuild it as a desk. He said, "Hello," and they

frowned and ran. He felt disappointed, but later they came back

and he said it again, and again they took off like a shot. He was

puzzled, and later he asked and English speaking Palestinian what

was happening. He explained to him that in their language the

sound of hello meant scram, get out of here. In our culture it is a

friendly sound, but in that culture it is the sound of hostility and

rejection

Communication of love is often very complex in the world of

cross-cultural ministry. When Webster preached his first sermon to

the people they began to laugh and giggle, and he was preaching a

serious message on the feeding of the 5000. He had to ask again

what was going on, and he got another lesson on the fine points of

the language. There are two words very much alike. The word for

fish is kurady, and the word for lizard is kirady. When he told of

the lad who gave his lunch he said that he had 5 loaves and 2 lizards.

They were laughing first at what kind of a mother would pack such

a lunch. He said it was a sacrifice, but anybody would be glad to

give it away, and it was no wonder that there were 12 baskets left

over, for no one could imagine who would eat the stuff.

That slight difference in the sound of one word turned his serious

sermon into a stand-up comedy routine. It is a very humbling

experience to try and communicate across cultural barriers. You

wonder why anybody ever tries, but the reason is simple. They do

so because Jesus said go into all the world and preach the Gospel to

every creature. If Christians are to honor their Lord's final

command, they have no choice but to tackle the tough job of

cross-cultural communication. We also help pay for the very

expensive job of teaching missionaries the language of the people

where they are going to serve. It is all costly and time consuming,

but it is done because of respect for the command of Jesus.

To forsake the task of fulfilling the Great Commission would be

to dishonor our Lord and lose respect for His will. The theme of

honor revolves around Jesus in the New Testament. Paul, Peter,

and John used the word honor frequently as they exalt Jesus as the

one who was worthy of honor, glory, and power forever and ever. It

is the theme song of heaven that Jesus is worthy of honor. The

Greek word to describe the honor of Christ is time. It is the same

spelling as our word for time. This word translated honor 32 times

in the New Testament means the worth one ascribes to a person. In

I Tim. 2:7 where Peter, referring to Christ, says, "Now to you who

believe, this stone is precious." The Greek word for precious is time.

This word for honor can mean precious, for that is the value you

can place on a person. They can be precious to you, and if you

honor Christ He will be precious to you. This is a word you use to

describe someone you treasure. They are worthy of honor, praise,

and your highest respect, because you value them and esteem them

highly, and you long to dignify them with your devotion. It is no

wonder that such a powerful word is used most often for the honor

we are to give to Christ. But it is a wonder when the same word is

used to describe how we are to relate to one another within the

family. When Peter says in I Peter 3:7 that husbands are to treat

their wives with respect, that is the word time. It is the same word

used of the honor and respect we are to show Christ.

The very dignity you ascribe to your Lord you are to give to

your mate. This does not mean we worship our wives, but it means

we are to treasure them as one of our most precious gifts. We are to

treat them like we do a new car that we do not want to get scratched

or dented. They are of great value and we do not want to see them

damaged. We have paid a great price to possess the car, and so why

should we not long to preserve its value and beauty. Many a wife

would love to be treated with the respect her husband gives to his

new car. But instead, she often feels like a junker, for he does not