While living in a Middle Eastern country one of the hardest cultural differences I had to overcome was “saving face.” I was brought up that if you lied and were “caught” lying you own up to it.
Well, in this country if you caught someone lying to you, they just kept on lying to you, even though you both knew it was a lie. No one wanted to be humiliated.
Here is how it played out practically. I would be walking down the street and need directions. I would stop and ask someone where the place I was looking for was. If I was heading north, they would say keep going north, even though it was just two blocks to the south.
You say, that doesn’t make sense, but in that culture, it made perfect sense. If they told me, I was going in the “wrong” direction that would humiliate me. So, to avoid humiliating me they just told me to keep going in the direction I was headed.
At times God tells us things we may not want to hear. It is best to listen, and humble ourselves before Him. The alternative means we just keep heading in the wrong direction. Choose saving faith over saving face.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6 NIV
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