What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I said that we should be accepting and open towards other cultures. This is what we should do in order for others to accept us in return. However, for most of us, trying to accept new cultures instantly and reaching out to others may not be a natural behavior and we may also feel unwilling. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 says, "And now these three remain: faith, hope, love. But the greatest of these is love." If we are unwilling to love on our own will, then followers of Christ should remember these words of the Bible to motivate them. Not only does God say that the greatest is love, however He directly commands us to love as He has given us a commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself." If we don't feel the desire to love, then we should remember that loving others is actually an obligation for Christians and a commandment that we should follow to glorify God. My parents have been called by God to be missionaries in China and the only way that they will be successful as missionaries to spread God's love is to spread the love from their own heart first. That way, people will accept them as well and start to wonder where this love comes from and they will soon know that this love comes from the Almighty God. Not only will you make God happy, but you yourself can find lasting joy if you make the simple decision to love.

What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

I have had the privilege of growing up as a Third Culture Kid and am very grateful for that. Born in America, yet being raised by pure Korean parents had a bit of an impact on my cultural perspective. Not to mention having to move to China as a seven year old due to God's calling for my parents to preach and spread the Gospel to the unreached Chinese citizens. Throughout my inter cultural life until now, I have had the chance to experience what it was like to be a student at home, international schools, American public schools, and a Chinese national school. All of these experiences have had a profound impact on my world-view and have allowed me to accept other cultures at ease. Throughout the course of these years, I have learned that people of other cultures may be cautious and even unwilling to accept people who do not share the same culture as them. I have realized that we shouldn't be the ones standing back and hoping that others will eventually accept us because it normally doesn't turn out to be too successful. We should be the ones reaching out and embracing them and their cultures no matter how different it is to ours. There is not one culture that is "right" or "standard". Each culture is just simply unique and that is what brings the color and spice into this world that we all share. That is what we must all understand so that we can live in peace, free from judgment and hatred. Acceptance and love brings the warm path to peace and friendship.