Ralph Winters on culture and faith

I came across this quote by Ralph Winter while surfing the net.

"One of the most important functions of the missionary movement is to continually rescue the faith itself from becoming lost through institutional and cultural evolution and absorption.... That process of trying to make our faith understandable cross-culturally has in many different but vital ways pumped back into the home church a constantly renewed sense of what is, and what is not the [gospel]... Unless we become as serious about rediscovering the true faith in contrast to the assumptions of our own culture, we will trumpet an uncertain sound wherever else we go"

This is the most significant thing that I experienced personally while living overseas. Like it or not, our faith and our culture get very intertwined and we begin to confuse the two. Look no further than all the people out there who confuse patriotism (the desire for success and prosperity for the USA) with following Jesus (the desire to see 'His will be done'). Living in a different culture (even for a short time) reveals what is foundational and what is cultural. (BTW. the US is not foundational to the gospel. It's not even in the Bible. :) ) If you have not travelled internationally on a trip where you get to interact with the local people and with God, you should. Careful though, it will mess you up (in a good way). You will never be the same!