Ben Witherington and the Challenge of "Culture Making"
Culture-making comes in many shapes and sizes, and sometimes the positive act of doing it proves to be not merely a diversion from but an alternative to culture destruction. I must tell you that reading the book 'Three Cups of Tea' (from the Pakistani/Afghanistani practice that goes as follows.. "We drink three cups of tea to do business. During the first you are a stranger, we are getting acquainted, during the second you become a friend, and during the third, you become family, and for family we will do anything, even die.') is a game changing and possibly even a life-changing experience. It has made me begin to re-evaluate what it is God primarily wants me to do with the rest of the ministry he has called me to."
So says Dr. Ben Witherington on his blog, Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture (http://blog.beliefnet.com/bibleandculture/). He's reviewing the book, Three Cups of Tea which tells the story of Greg Mortenson. In the professor's words, the book,
...is about Greg Mortensen's remarkable story of founding schools for girls and boys in the heart of Taliban country in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in part as an answer to the oppression of women by the Taliban. There are now some 80 schools Greg and his Central Asian Institute have started in that rugged mountainous region since the mid-90s. It is an amazing testimony about the power of hard work and culture-making and how it can change lives, and even cultural prejudices and assumptions. I will make a bold statement-- it appears to me that Greg Mortensen has done more to undermine the fundamental appeal of the Taliban in that region than all the war efforts we have undertaken in that war-torn region over the last twenty years, and with far less expenditure of money and lives.
Apparently Mortensen isn't a believer, but he's challenging the theologian in making a world changing difference. Read Dr. Witherington's post, and if challenged, read Mortensen's book, and ultimately, drink "three cups of tea" with those who don't yet know Jesus that they might come to know Jesus.
Kyle Phillips
Posted by Leadership Beyond
