Do I have the Right to Cross an Ocean if I Won't Even Cross My Street? Bob RasmussenAs I get deeper and deeper into blogs and blogging I'm finding so many interesting thinsg to read and think about. But somehow what is more remarkable is the frequent collision of ideas and concepts that happens in a really short period of time. Bob Rasmussen is a name I've come across a good number of times over the years and I cannot remember why. However I have something to remember him by. The quotation is the title of an article he has written for MissionFest Seattle 2007. (see here)
He quotes Simon Zielger who commented, “Too often we think we must get on an airplane to cross cultures for Jesus. But North America is becoming increasingly diverse, offering innumerable opportunities to befriend those from foreign countries.”
A constant problem I run against is that sharing your faith is something you do over there in another country or another continent. Once you've done it that's it, and we return to everyday life. In fact the cross-cultural experiences are frequently lost both to the communities that sent them and the individuals that went. This seems to be a serious problem for any short-term individual and their faith communities. I'm not looking to cast fault rather name a phenomenon. What happens to the serious spiritual experiences of trusting God in often personally challenging situations? What happens to the potential for signficant growth in faith? Why are we afraid to cross the street? In fact why are we still inside our safe communities?
