Life Is Not ‘All About Me’

The news reports from Japan have been amazing. Not the stories about the magnitude 9.0 earthquake March 11 or the tsunami reaching higher than 30 feet that did untold damage to northeast Japan. Those stories told of unimaginable death and destruction. The death toll is expected to climb near 20,000, and the economic cost is in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

We are not even describing the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where reports indicate some of the brave employees who tried to gain control of the threat may die in a few short weeks from radiation poisoning. Around the world, as well as in Japan, people are concerned about the health impact of the radioactive isotopes cesium-137 and strontium-90.

We are referring to the amazing stories about how the Japanese public responded to this crisis with cooperation, patience and resolve. There have been no reports of looting like those that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Instead reports show the Japanese public patiently doing the best it can in the face of numbing circumstances.

In places like Tokyo, where life now goes on in nearly normal fashion, individuals and businesses seem to accept rolling electrical blackouts in stride. News stories report how families and businesses adjust their schedules, knowing they will be without electricity and water for long periods each day.

The closest thing to a complaint was one lady saying she hoped the problem would be fixed by summer so there would be air conditioning during the hottest months of the year. These are reactions coming almost a month after the crisis.

Americans respond with great resilience to crises, but patience quickly wears thin much of the time. We want action and answers now. We also want to make sure our needs are being met.

This is not to say one reaction is better than the other, only to point out that the reactions are different. And that difference illustrates two very different cultural values that frequently go unnoticed. One relates to how cultures view time. The other is the concept of self.

In the United States, time is seen as a limited and valuable resource. This is often described as a monochronic view of time. There are only 24 hours in a day, and we do not want to lose any of them.

As Christians, we want to get the most out of all God gives us. This is part of Christian stewardship. We want to make every moment count, so we program our cell phones to remind us of appointments and make our “to do list.” If we fail to get everything marked off our list, then we think we have sinned because we failed to “redeem the time.”

Time is viewed differently in other parts of the world. If one has participated in a missions trip to Latin America, Africa or the Orient, then one knows that events seldom begin at the time announced. Events begin when the people get there.

In such places, people believe there is always more time. It is an unlimited resource. This is called a polychronic view of time, and it can be maddening to Americans. Schedules have little authority over how one spends his or her day. Tasks always take a back seat to relationships.

One scholar noted that fewer goods and services get produced in polychronic cultures but people have a deeper sense of community and belonging.

One doesn’t have to go to a foreign country to see this difference illustrated. Many Hispanic or black worship services in the United States illustrate the difference. In most Anglo churches, starting on time and finishing on time is important. Members have other plans that must be respected. But in many Hispanic and black churches, starting on time and finishing on time have no relevance. The service begins when the people are ready and goes as long as they are engaged. The clock is not important.

Another defining characteristic of the United States is the value placed on individualism. Americans stress the uniqueness of every individual. Advertisements challenge people to “be all you can be.” Businesses motivate employees to perform better than their peers by honoring the employee of the month, and every sports event has its most valuable player.

At church, this trend is encouraged as everyone is urged to do spiritual gift inventories in order to identify his or her particular spiritual gift and unique place of ministry. Fulfilling the individual self is the highest value.

Most of the world embraces a different cultural value. The well-being of the group is primary, and the role of the individual is minimized. The first time a Christian from another culture told me he was willing to sacrifice his personal identity and witness for the collective identity and witness of the religious group to which he belonged, it was a concept I had trouble understanding.

In these other places, maintaining the welfare of the group is the highest value. Individuals find their identity as they relate to the group. That is why individuals frequently have deep bonds with the various groups of which they are a part, be it their extended family or employer. These are lifelong relationships.

Christians in these countries frequently feel the local church of which they are a part is more important than their own well-being.

A book by Intercultural Press titled “Figuring Foreigners Out” placed the regions of the world on a graph between the poles of these two views. Not surprisingly, the United States was on the far side of a monochronic view of time and commitment to the concept of the individual. The polychronic view of time was most prevalent in Africa, while the importance of the group was most pronounced in China.

Japan fell closer to Africa than it did to the United States on the time graph and closer to China on the concept of self.

Perhaps that information helps us realize that when the immediate is not the primary and the group is more important than the individual, it may be easier to act in ways that demonstrate that life is not “all about me.”