I am glad I can have complete confidence in you. – 2 Corinthians 7:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 21, 2014): 2 Corinthians 7

Lebron James, beyond playing some great basketball of late, earlier this month also succeeded in offending the Brits. The offending moment came during a photo shoot with basketball’s King James of Cleveland and Prince William and the Duchess Kate Middleton of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. During the photo shoot, James placed his arm around the shoulder of the likely future Queen – a breach in protocol which sent the British tabloids into a feeding frenzy. To be blunt, it is unlikely that the Duchess was actually offended by the friendly touch of James. But that didn’t stop British watchers from their condemnation of the basketball player – and American culture that they find much too touchy.

Again, the reality is that Britain has long ago become used to North American protocol breaches. And James arm around Kate was just further proof that, at least from a reserved British perspective, North American culture simply places too much emphasis on the idea of touch, or maybe it is that we simply don’t understand how touch is viewed in a reserved culture. The result is that the breaches in protocol have almost become – expected. From a British standpoint, North Americans simply have no idea of the proper way to act.

Paul had sent Titus to Corinth hoping that the problems that Corinth had been experiencing could fixed. He had sent them a letter (1 Corinthians) and Titus to help make the change. And the experiment had been successful. It was not that everything was perfect in Corinth, there was still work to be done. But the Corinthians had made improvements and were heading in the right direction. And because of that, Paul had confidence that the Corinthians would make it the rest of the way. Paul was proud of the Corinthian Church, and he simply wanted to make sure that they knew that.

Paul’s confidence in the Corinthian Church was pretty much the reverse of the confidence that the British have in North American culture. Paul was confident that the Corinthians could – and would do the right thing. The British, on the other hand, seem to be confident that we will mess up and breach protocol. And yet they continue to come and visit our fair shores. While Paul was encouraged and was sure that the Corinthians would continue to be an encouragement to him, the Brits seem content to be sure of our commitment to continue to be a disappointment to them. Our disappointment is simply a reminder of the distance that has developed between our cultures. And while the British might hope that we will make the journey toward them, we privately wish that they would move toward us – and neither of us is likely to be encouraged by the way our cultures move into the future. Everything points to the fact that we will continue to disappoint – continue to be an example of the opposite kind of relationship that Paul had with the Corinthian Church.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 8 & 9