Learning from the Stranger: Christian Faith and Cultural Diversity Book

An excellent and important book!

Smith spends a good amount of time examining biblical accounts of intercultural moments that tend to be glossed over in our modern understanding, and discusses why and how we should reconsider our approach to "intercultural" relationships.

There are tons of specific, real-life examples of misunderstandings that have occurred between people due to cultural differences. Just a few that I remember covered the Navajo tradition of not speaking one's own name and leaving a length of silence before responding to another's speech, British greetings (they don't ask everyone "How are you?"), and Germans not extending invitations to others to go out and do things (but it's perfectly acceptable to invite yourself along).

I have so many quotes that I wrote down from this book, but I'll try to narrow it down here:

"We easily rush to interpreting cultural differences in moral terms (a different relationship to time becomes laziness, more direct forms of speech become arrogance, protracted silences become sullenness, indirectness becomes avoiding the issue, and so on)." p 116

"It is entirely possible to keep intercultural learning within the bounds of the academic. It is equally possible to travel the world and sustain our prejudices throughout the experience." p 126

I recommend to all Christians, particularly Western Christians!