Cross-Cultural Faith

What did Christ do when he died for us? Your answer to this question may have more to do with the country you live in than you realize.

Freedom is important to us Americans. After all, we’re the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We celebrate the freedoms that our constitution guarantees. Our nation was born in a struggle for independence, and it grew through pioneers and settlers seeking a free life. Given the choice, we would rather live a difficult life of freedom than an easy life where we have to do what someone else tells us to do. So it’s no surprise that, as American Christians, we would almost instinctively answer the question “What did Christ do?” by replying “He freed us from our sins.” And without a doubt, he did.

I’ve learned from my time in Ghana that unity and belonging is very important to them. In Ghana, your very identity comes from your family, community, and ethnic group. I suspect that the typical Ghanaian would gladly sacrifice freedom in order to maintain strong relationships. One of the hardest things for Ghanaian immigrants in the US is the sense of isolation that they feel here. This value shows up in a common Ghanaian political slogan: “One Ghana!” They are proud of the fact that, in spite of tribal, religious, and political differences, unity matters. I’ve frequently seen Ghanaians strongly debate an issue that they disagreed over. After a while, one or both of them would get uncomfortable with this point of conflict and declare, “But we are brothers and sisters!” Smiles, handshakes, and jokes would then reassure them that, despite their difference of opinion, they are still in relationship with each other. So, unlike us Americans, a Ghanaian is more likely to say, “Because Christ died for me, I belong to him.” The work of Christ has given us a family and a kingdom to belong to.

Christ’s atoning work on the cross means both that he has set us free from sin, and also that we now belong to him. Our freedom in Christ is not an absolute independence that allows us to do anything we want. It means that we now have a Lord who controls our lives and unites us with him and with his family. And the fact that we belong to Christ means that we are no longer bound or enslaved by the evil forces of our world or the sin deep in our hearts.

The point here is not that either Americans or Ghanaians are “right” or “wrong.” The truth of Christ’s amazing work is greater than what any of us can grasp. But when we learn about how others understand our faith, we can enrich our own in the process.