Like a stranger in a foreign country

Though I'm a Christian, I feel as Australian as I ever did. Yet there are some things about me that are un-Australian. I don't feel a pull to buy Australian-made (because I worry about people overseas as well). I don't bitch about our politicians. I'm not looking to buy a home. I don't think that hanging with family and friends on the weekend is what life's all about. I don't always feel 100% at home here, and I even sometimes feel closer to foreigners who are Christian than to my fellow Australians. So perhaps I actually am a little less Australian than before. But I don't feel like I've been denied - being part of God's beautifully diverse people is better by far.

So much for my cultural identity, but what of others? I never want to be the sort of missionary who forces/entices people into giving up what is precious and good in their own culture. I certainly don't want to create a mini-Australia in Chile. But I do want the people there to give up the things in their culture that are bad or that come from an feeble vision of what life can be. I want them to join me in looking for a better country and for the heavenly city prepared by their unashamed God.