Reality impacts our spiritually

I want to do a few short blog posts about the development of culture and the affect it has on communities. These are simple observations, but have an impact on approaching other people. Knowledge of another person is important when trying to get to know them, not the history only, but the context. There are generalities that are seen when dealing with people groups, they are not absolute truths about the person, but could be the lens they see through.
 There is a Catholic article that shared an experience of a local priest trying to get the people of his Latin American congregation centered on God. They were involved in saint worship to the point of idolatry, even having alters set up to the saints to worship at. I don't want to discuss the nuances of the Catholic theology, but the cultural indications that were discovered. The priests eventually realized that they were not fighting the idol worship but a political mentality. To put it simply, the people were responding to God in the same way they respond to the reality they lived in. The way the people viewed the government influenced the way they viewed God. For example, they understood that God was sovereign, and this equates in reality to the governments claim to sovereignty.
 The governments of many Latin American countries have a history of corruption and elusiveness. Here in Bocachica it is very true. If you need the government to do something, good luck. Here they say that you need a contact. So to get what you need from the Sovereign you need good contacts. That is the reason for such a strong focus on Padrino programs, they are your connection to get the necessary items, sometimes even food and clothes. If you borrow money, you ask your boss not the bank. Not because the sovereign (the government or municipality) is bad, but it is too far away, takes too long, really it is unreachable even if the sovereign has your best interest in mind. You can see how this translates spiritually, God is good but unreachable in most cases, so you need good contacts, padrinos, an intermediary. When approaching this worldview (versus for example the American worldview), to change the culture for the better may involve redirecting these cultural norms that have existed for a long time, generations.

 This brings up the idea of the influence of powers and principalities. Sometimes the brokenness of society isn't answered with telling them to work hard, get a good education, or become like the worldview that I exist in. It would require restructuring the whole political system of a country to be like your country. The authorities have to be restructured to make the sovereign more approachable, and this may be the powers we struggle against to help the poor. The answer isn't making all countries the same per say, but changing the problems to allow the growth of a new culture that doesn't degrade or take advantage of the weaker part of society. If you are going on a short term mission trip, it is hard to learn the depth of the culture in a week. Helping is important, but for long term changes, it will take greater time and possibly confronting the powers and principalities that exist in the form of political injustice. Once there is room for change, the people have to be retrained to follow a direction they have never experienced. Next time we encounter a group that is different then our people group, we may need to take into account the context of their political history to know why they don't see things the same way we do. When we share, we need to be sure to give truth, and not our cultural preference attached that could become an additional burden to them even though it would make us feel more comfortable.