Extrapolation of Depravity

I had the privilege of spending the last week and a half in Mexico City, helping missionary Mike Goldfuss work on his house.

It doesn't take long in Mexico to find out that things do not usually move at the pace we might like to go. People make promises they never intend to keep, workers don’t do what they are paid to do, and suppliers overcharge for their products. Are Mexicans just bad people?

I would respond that Mexico does not have a monopoly on depravity. In no way do I underestimate the ability of the unregenerate heart of man to deceive itself and continually find new ways to manifest its autonomy and self-centered rebellion against God. We do ourselves a great disservice if we think that we are somehow beyond the blatant corruption and dishonesty we might see in Mexico, for example. Oftentimes, we are just more refined and sneaky about our corruption and dishonesty.

On the other hand, some might excuse this kind of sinfulness as "culture." Culture is often the untouchable sacred cow in a man-centered gospel. For example, Mexicans are stereotypically tardy. Therefore, one might say it would be wrong to encourage Mexicans to come to a church service on time, because that would go "against their culture." I remember vividly one time a family from the church in Mexico City invited us to play soccer on a Tuesday evening. They said they would come by around seven o’clock. At 6:20, they were knocking on the door ready to go--- and this was the same family that arrived at church fifty minutes late the previous Sunday!

Many times, it seems to me that culture is simply the extrapolation of depravity. It is the collective sinful patterns and behaviors of a group. Drunkenness and adultery are not part of "culture," they are manifestations of evil hearts bent of the lusts of the flesh. Dishonesty in business is not simply a social convention, it stems from a heart that refuses to conform to the character of the God of truth. As we examine other cultures (or even our own), we ought to be on the lookout for extrapolations of depravity.