Last month, we examined how caste systems function in different parts of the world, including our own. But understanding is not enough. The gospel compels us to respond—not with the weapons of the world, but with transformed minds, humble hearts, and kingdom vision.

If you’re a culturally curious, biblically committed Christian in America, you may be asking: “What can I do?” The answer lies not in political ideologies, but in biblical identity. It’s time to flip the script.

Start with the Heart: Renew Your Mind
Romans 12:2 calls us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This means examining our beliefs, our cultural habits, and the unspoken rules of our communities. Cultural adaptation research shows that growth happens when we leave our comfort zones and engage unfamiliar perspectives. Just as missionaries study new cultures, we must study our own—and others’.

Some of the most difficult internalized values that Believers must examine are our values of individualism, aggressiveness, and ethnocentrism. Individualism is the cultural belief that the individual is responsible for their own life and outcomes and that we must focus mainly on the good of ourselves and our immediate families. As opposed to collectivism, Americans who immigrated from Europe do not tend to believe we have responsibility for the larger community or the extended family. Individualism focuses on individual goals while collectivism focuses on group and community goals and needs. Individualism can lead us to myopia and self-centeredness.

Aggressiveness is highly valued by Western cultures. The United States is one of the top five aggressive cultures in the world (Hofstede), and while that does tend to drive us to “lead” our own lives and be proactive against all odds, it also leads us to many more wars and dominance by violence than other nations (both as a nation and as individuals). There is a lot to learn from more collective cultures such as the hard-working family-oriented Latino and Black population our government is targeting.

Ethnocentrism is the belief that our people and our culture (ways of doing things) are the best, and that all others are inferior. I believe that ethnocentrism is a fruit of original sin, the fall of humankind in the garden. Ethnocentrism is a result of the shame of sin where we have a need to prop ourselves up as superior to others who are also created in the Image of God. We see the first examples with Adam blaming Eve and then Cain killing Able. We can see the same self-serving biases and blame game in sexism, legalism, racism, and most of the other “-isms” that are constructed by human cultures.

The hardest part of change is admitting that we may not know what we think we know. We must be willing to listen deeply, especially to those whose voices have been excluded and to those who have experienced things we have not experienced. That’s how transformation begins.

Follow Jesus, Not the Crowd
In Matthew 20:26-28, Jesus told his disciples: “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.” This call to servanthood stands in contrast to worldly power structures. In a caste-shaped culture, we’re tempted to climb the ladder. Jesus flips the ladder upside down.

Conservative believers often trust the law and its systems, nuclear family values, and personal responsibility. European Americans tend to value justice, at least the part of justice that holds wrongdoers accountable.  Scripture calls us beyond comfort to courage. Proverbs 31:8-9 commands us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…defend the rights of the poor and needy.” But we are often conveniently short-sighted when it comes to recognizing Biblical principles of law, family, responsibility, and justice.

Biblical law provides not only for the punishment of the guilty but also for the restoration of the wounded. Biblical family values provide not only for one’s own, but also for widows, orphans, and otherwise vulnerable people, taking in and caring for the ones who have no means of provision and who are vulnerable to exploitation.

Biblical responsibility includes not only responsibility for our own personal behaviors and decisions but also for righting the wrongs of our culture and forefathers, working for the wellness of the whole community and those who have been and are still oppressed. Note: Generational curses are a result of the sins of our forefathers which we have not yet repented, and restored in our own lives and those of those who were wounded. If we keep those inherited stolen wages, property, and dignity without making it right, the curse continues to the next generation. See Exodus 34, Exodus 20, Numbers 14, II Chronicles, 7. I’ll expand on this more in July’s article.

Biblical restoration calls us, like the Good Samaritan to heal the wounded who we don’t know, and aren’t responsible for, but who God puts in our path and means to nurture back to health. The sign of a healthy and mature believer is that we don’t, “I didn’t do it,” or “My ancestors didn’t own slaves!” but that we say, “Dear God, use me! How can I help?”

Cultivate Cross-Cultural Curiosity
When we cross cultural lines, we not only encounter others—we encounter truths about ourselves. I’ve learned this in my own multicultural family, while teaching in the college classroom, consulting with multicultural churches, traveling abroad, and when coaching culturally curious clients. In every case, I see God through a different lens—and I am humbled.

Cross-cultural communication research teaches that humility, curiosity, and adaptation are essential to deep understanding. It is not just the foreigner’s job to adapt, it is the believer’s job to welcome, adapt, and protect the “stranger.” When we listen with love and let others shape our understanding of the world, we begin to build the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17 because we begin to see our Creator in a more full dimension.

Engage, Don’t Escape
Many believers are tempted to withdraw from conversations about race or justice, fearing political entanglement. But these are not political issues—they are human dignity and spiritual maturity issues. Caste systems are spiritual strongholds, and the church is uniquely equipped to confront them through proximity, hospitality, relationship, and discipleship.

Open your home to someone whose story is different from yours. Join or start a small group focused on cultural learning (if it is culturally diverse you will grow more). Partner with ministries that work for economic or educational equity—not because of your politics, but because Jesus came that we ALL might have life more abundantly.

Let Scripture Shape Your Imagination
What if we imagined justice not as “reparations” but as Zacchaeus-style restoration (Luke 19:8)? What if we saw neighbor-love not just as kindness, but as systemic action like the Good Samaritan—who crossed lines of ethnicity, religion, and danger to serve?

What if we pictured Jesus not as a Western man with blue eyes, but as a Middle Eastern, brown-skinned Jewish rabbi with calloused hands and a heart for the overlooked?

Flip the Script in Your Own Circle
You don’t have to change the world, start with yourself. Read books that are from culturally diverse authors and that challenge your political/cultural perspectives. Then move on to your Sunday School class, your family dinners, on your social media feed. Change conversations. Ask better questions. Invite deeper truth.

Justice begins when we choose kingdom over comfort, humility over certainty, and solidarity over superiority.

Culture Coaching Opportunity: Would you like a full week of Culture Coaching with Doc Courage! with no consulting fee? Go with us this August 11-25 to Rwanda, this will afford you the opportunity to flip your own script, learn new ways of being, of communicating, and also of helping restore a community that is still devastated by the genocide against the Tutsi.  Email for details, angela.courage@gmail.com