SERVING you can’t serve someone you do not understand.
UNDERSTANDING you can’t understand others until you have learned about, from and with them.
LEARNING you can’t learn important information from someone until there is trust in the relationship.
TRUST to build trust other must know that you accept and value them as people.
ACCEPTANCE before you can communicate acceptance, people must experience your openness – your ability to welcome them into your presence.
OPENNESS openness with people different from yourself requires that you are willing to step out of your comfort zone to initiate and sustain relationships in a world of cultural differences.
Note: Couple weeks ago I blogged a post on a book I recently finished, Cross-Cultural Servanthood. Over time, I will post entries from the book that has touched my life and changed my cultural mindset.
The process of servanthood (shown above) is in reserve order with serving being the last complete step in the process of servanthood. Servanthood starts with being open with people different than yourself.
All six steps of the process are crucial however I want to highlight acceptance and explore what the author (Duane Elmer) relates to us.
Acceptance is one of those goals that many of us chase daily. We value to be accepted by others. Who doesn’t want to feel accepted? Who enjoys the feeling of being rejected?
Acceptance is the ability to communicate value, worth, and esteem to another person.
The foundation of acceptance begins with God. Romans 15:7 states, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” However it is noted that acceptance is not approval. You can accept a person as they are and still not approve of their behavior, attitude, or motives. We are simply called to ‘accept one another.’ Why? Because Jesus accepted people.
Many people get hung up here. I can’t accept this person because I can’t see passed the (you fill in the blank or blanks). Let the author try to explain how he was introduced into perceiving others.
How do you perceive others? The author captures this moment:
I decided to join a colleague (Mark) who ministers to people by walking the streets of Chicago one night a week. We would arrive at 8 pm and slowly walk the same route each week until 3 am. One night, I noticed a lady at the corner who was scantily clad. I asked, “Is she a prostitute?” Mark paused, he replied firmly, “No! That’s not a prostitute. That’s a person in prostitution.”
What do you think Jesus would have seen? Mark saw the image of God in everyone in spite of their activity. He accepted this person in prostitution just as Christ would.
How do you perceive others? Do you see them with the eyes of Christ? Do you see the image of God in everyone in spite of their activity?
I am reminded of the song, “Open the Eyes of my Heart.” Do we really want God to open our eyes? Will we see others as God sees them?
Being in a developing country, I am challenged daily to accept people from a different culture. My prayer is that I may see others as God sees them. I may see the image of God is all mankind.
Tyler and Emily in PNG 
This is a great reminder about acceptance. It’s easy to get into a pattern of labelling people as this or that based on their actions that we see. God sees the heart, & we need not label actions as if they were identities of others. Thanks for postings from this book. I’m also enjoying listening to the music of the kids you recorded!