December; A Jump Culture Phenomenon

December 5, 2025

December marks the time of year when most of the world celebrates what is traditionally known as Christmas. This season showcases a variety of cultural perspectives and ideas. For example, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, homes adorned with lights, gift-giving, indulging in rich foods, and enjoying traditional desserts are all aspects of the American perspective on this holiday.

My wife was raised in India, where Christmas traditions differ from those in America, such as not decorating houses with lights as is common in America. Nonetheless, they celebrated the holiday, valuing the birth of Jesus Christ and the tradition of exchanging gifts, similar to the Magi's offerings to Jesus.

We have no control over our beginnings. This is the one part of our existence governed by God, and acknowledging this reality influences how our lives, behavior, and work impact us. What might inspire us to delve into what I refer to as the “Jump Culture” phenomenon? This concept is crafted to address the needs of “Culture and Church” in every cultural context.

The concept of "Jump Culture" as I am using it here does not involve abandoning or rejecting one's past. It does not imply changing, modifying, or removing one's cultures or beliefs. Our culture is a permanent imprint woven into our historical DNA and is an enduring genealogical mark that should neither be erased nor denied. I believe we should appreciate the diverse cultural perspectives of everyone.

Making a Cultural Jump

In the film "Gone Baby Gone," the opening dialogue excellently captures how culture can be defined, as demonstrated by detective Patrick Kenzie's initial statement,

I have always believed it was the things you don’t choose that make you who you are, your city, your neighborhood, your family. People take pride in these things, as if it was something they had accomplished, the bodies around their souls, the cities wrapped around those. It helps to know where people started.[1]

Culture, better understood as enculturation, or socialization, like the statement above, is the gradual acquisition of the norms and characteristics of a culture or group by a person. The individual can become an accepted member of the culture and fulfill the needed roles within the group. More importantly, the individual knows and establishes a context of boundaries and acceptable behaviors dictated by the framework of that society. It teaches the individual their role within society, as well as, within their culture and lifestyle.[2] 

The portrayal of culture is apparent throughout society, representing God's diverse tapestry of traditions. Chancellor Granville Oral Roberts, the founder of Oral Roberts University, encapsulated this idea when he recounted hearing God speak during the early phases of the university's development.

“Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased.” 

I am influenced by the concept of "Jump Culture," as illustrated by Chancellor Roberts' call for his students to venture where God’s light is faint and His voice is rarely heard. My wife and children are also products of this ORU vision. Broadly speaking, "Jump Culture" signifies entering every individual's societal structure. I am molded by the vision of this "Jump Culture" phenomenon as a global ethnic infiltration.

George Hunter gives an anthropological definition of culture for us in his work, To Spread the Power. He writes that culture is “The integrated system of learned ideas, behavior patterns, and products characteristic of a society.”[3]

In this essence, as detective Kenzie implies in “Gone Baby Gone” that culture helps us to reduce decision-making, increases life’s predictability, and helps individuals cope with basic human needs. We have a bond to what was given to us from birth. The Psalmist and Jeremiah say,

Certainly, you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother's womb. (Psalms 139:13).

Before I formed you in your mother's womb`, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5).

No matter how much you ponder the facts, the text says that the choice was not even with your parents. We are not all called to be like the Psalmist or Jeremiah in the biblical text, but we were all created with a special cultural purpose. That is, inside the cultural boundary we came from, we can reach out to a world that is in desperate need of Jesus Christ and to call them to join in the heavenly cultural aggregation that culminates when Jesus returns. I love the picture of heaven as we see in the book of Revelation.

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands”. (Revelation 7:9).

I encourage you to please let Christmas be a reflection and display of the acceptance of the different cultural perspectives all around you. We live in a multi-cultural America, and world where there are many different ideas for a “Jump Culture” occasion to happen in your life.

Let your love towards others be the real reason for the season where we become a culture that spreads our life like Jesus describes in the parable of the yeast in the flour.

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.(Matthew 13:33 ESV)

A handful of yeast eventually permeates a large amount of flour, (the amount of ‘three measures’ which is enough to make bread for 100 people!). So, God’s work, the kingdom of heaven, may appear unimpressive at first, but appearances can be deceptive, and no one will be able to ignore it in the end. Like the current revivals that we are seeing on college campuses all around the nation and world are examples of this yeast of revival growing.

In the meantime, like yeast, each one of us as a disciple of Jesus Christ must be patient to “Jump Culture.” Remember that yeast does not rise immediately, so, in this Christmas season remember to be that yeast and spread some leaven in prayer and fellowship with the idea that the majority of the world’s population could be open to celebrate a “Jump Culture” reason for the season growing from love to them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Questions for Reflection:

1. As a member of the culture that you grew up in, do you feel that you have changed roles within that group?

2. How have you changed over the years seeing yourself coming out of that group or culture?

3. How do you understand the “jump culture” phenomenon in your life today.

4. Have you made influential changes to be a part of different cultures in society?

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[1] Movie Gone Baby Gone, Mystery & Thriller/Crime/Drama. (R, 2007, 1h 55m).

[2] Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Window on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Anthropology; McGraw Hill, New York (2014).

[3] Hunter, G. G., III. To spread the power: Church growth in the Wesleyan spirit. Abingdon Press. (1987).