Where do you live?

I've noticed an interesting dichotomy in my behavior as I travel to different parts of the world.  When I was in Spanish-speaking countries, such as Spain, I was shy and very hesitant to speak Spanish, regardless of the fact that I was nearly fluent and could communicate perfectly well.  You see, my mother is Hispanic, and so I look like a native Spanish speaker.  And so I feel (almost certainly erroneously) that actual native speakers expect me to talk like they do.  So I would get nervous whenever I spoke with them, despite the fact that I can talk about pretty much anything I want to with ease.

But here, in Korea, it's a different story.  My Korean skills are rudimentary at best - my accent is bad, grammar atrocious, and vocabulary tiny.  But in Korea, nobody expects me to talk like them.  As a foreigner in the most culturally homogenous country on earth, I stick out like a sore thumb.  Everyone instantly knows that I'm not Korean, and nobody expects me to be able to say anything at all to them - even a simple "Hello" from me in Korean elicits all sorts of delighted gasps and comments on how well I speak the language.

This knowledge that I will always stick out and be instantly noticed as different here in Korea has elicited a curious response from me.  Whereas in Spain, because I blended in, I didn't want to open my mouth lest I make myself look silly, here in Korea I don't care.  I know that I already stand out, they already don't expect much of me...so I have nothing to lose.  I try, I sound silly, I make mistakes, I put myself out there...it doesn't matter what I say or don't say.

As Christians, we are foreigners in this world, too.  But sometimes I wonder where we think we're living.  Are we in Korea, where everyone knows that we are different, and we are not afraid to speak out?  Or have we put our roots down in Spain, where it's easier to just keep quite and blend into our surroundings?

John 17:6-8, 25-26

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
   ²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”