CNN recently interviewed Phillip Yancey.
CNN: How is the practice of Christianity different in China than in the U.S.?
Yancey: At my church, when something bad happens, people immediately ask God to fix it: get me a job, heal my aunt, whatever. I pray those same prayers, and I see nothing wrong with them. In China, though, I heard different prayers, not “God, take away this burden,” but “God, give me the strength to bear this burden.”
1 comment:
The Chinese have a saying, "eating bitterness." I take it to mean something similar to taking your lumps. We in the West expend a lot of energy trying to change people and situations we don't like. I marvel at how the Chinese focus instead on bearing up under it or learning from it. But it is interesting to see how the introduction of the Gospel is appropriated into the cultural psyche. As Westerners, which part of 1 Corinthians 10:13 do we focus on, the "way out" part or the "stand up under it" part? :)
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
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