Cultural Background Paper 2
Cultural Family Background
My understanding of my family background is rooted in Italian, French and Irish/Scot-
Irish origins. On my mother’s side, I do not have information about her family culture. She
passed away when I was 2-and-a-half years old and I don’t have much of a relationship that
family anymore, but I do know they’ve of Irish and Scot-Irish descent. I have not ever personally
done a DNA test or felt a singular need to search out my family history. This could possibly link
back to a concept from McGoldrick et al. (2005) that shares most white Americans don’t feel
connected to their ancestral roots and ergo do not really give thought to searching them out.
However, I have a first cousin, on my father’s side who has done the DNA tests and in-depth
research and asked that I collaborate with him on the historical research of our family lineage.
On the Lombard side, or my paternal side the roots trace back to a northern region of
Italy referred to as Lombardy, to a man who was born in 1095 A.D., named Peter/Pedro/Pierre
Lombard. Peter was a bishop, scholastic theologian and author whose literary work primarily
focused on the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit and the Sacraments (Peter Lombard, n.d.).
I was surprised to see how Peter’s life paralleled the current Lombard family. Our family culture
physically and spiritually started and have carried on throughout, by the grace of God. The roots
of seeking God and theology have always shown to run deep in my family. My great grandfather
was a preacher from there the line of ministers (both ordained and laity) reaches to a minimum of
45 members of the Lombard bloodline that dedicated their lives to the study of the Word/word, to
live out biblical principles and to follow whatever it is that the Lord has called us to do. Those 4
generations started in 1898 and as a family we trust that the culture will continue.
The two most predominant cultures in my family are the first and foremost, God-
seeking/faith and being family oriented. I was raised in a home where God was put first, just as
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my father before me and his father before him. It was never demanded, but instead joyfully
accepted and pursued. The concept of God was not the “far away Supreme Being,” but instead
the God that loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son in order to re-establish an
open door for us to commune with Him. My family is not rooted in religious legalism, nor do we
trust in the letter of the law, as Paul writes about, but it is the Spirit of the law and in the
understanding that God gave His all for me, so how can I not give my all for Him.
It's not that I was never given a choice, but I saw it all correctly modelled before me at all
times. For example, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she found out she was
pregnant with me. Her doctors were very nice about it, but they recommended that she interrupt
pregnancy and immediately begin treatment for the cancer in order to have the highest chance at
survival. Mother never hesitated. Emphatically she stormed out of the doctor's office, anger filled
tears running down her face, saying I will not kill my baby. Instead, she decided to forgo all
doctor visits until the time she was about 24-and-a-half weeks into her term. By this time the
cancer had significantly spread, eaten a vertebra and had tanked the odds of survival to a cold
zero percent chance. During that time my family saw the hand of God move mightily and work
many miracles that are too lengthy to tell at this time, but the end result was I was born, and
mother was able to live for a miraculous 2-and-a-half years after. Why is this important to my
family’s culture? It was so long ago, sure, some 35 plus years, but there is not a day- I dare say
an hour of a day, that I am not aware of the sacrifice that mother made for me. I am a living,
breathing product of one person’s faith in God. I’m a product of my mother’s faith and the
constant awareness of her sacrifice relentlessly reminds me and directs me to the supreme
sacrifice that Jesus Christ became for me. It serves as a constant reminder, that just as mother
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loved me before I knew her, God the Father showed His love for me, that while I was yet a
sinner who didn’t know Him, Christ died for me.
Through our fellowship with God and like-mindedness, fellowship with each other, my
family has always been family-oriented. While we do not always agree on everything, we love
and respect each other. We are always there for each other in all the capacities that each
individual can be. An example of this is when my first wife died some years back, my cousin (the
same I had done the family research with) took a significant time off of his work to spend the
days with me and my children. He and I have always share an unspoken bond. We’ve never
discussed it, but we’re both aware of it. I like to call those types of situations, “nonversations.”
We have that unspoken bond because our family spent time with each other yearly. We
never considered ourselves to be ex-tended family. We are just the Lombard family. When we
have a get together or a type of reunion, there’s at least 150 family members come together and
spend time with each other. Beyond the reunions we know at any time we need them, we can
reach out to anyone of us and we’ll do whatever we can for whatever the need might be.
Similarities and Differences
It was always bizarre to me as a child when I would meet someone who didn’t have that
concept of God or the same sense of family. I remember through my childhood and most of
adulthood how the people I was around always expressed a kind of dread about being around
family and a completely different view of how God worked, yet they would proclaim
Christianity just as I did. In high school (I attended a small private high school in Jasper,
Alabama.) I remember meeting a fellow student who saw God as an angry kid with a magnifying
glass who liked torturing the ants far beneath Him. That was completely foreign to me, but that is
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how he was raised. On the other extreme, in kindergarten, a classmate of mine spoke up one
morning and said, “I love the devil.” When the teacher asked him why, he simply responded
with, “My momma told me that God said we have to love everybody.” The teacher responded
with, “I don’t think that’s exactly what your mom meant.” My classmate didn’t backoff his point.
I didn’t agree with it, but it was an interesting take, even to a five-year-old. Most of my other
experiences were with classmates and then adults who never really developed an in-depth
spiritual perspective. Many were agnostic, a few were atheist and there were a few gnostics-
those were the ones who dealt and still deal me the most grief.
Perspective Influence
The exploration of my family’s background has always brought me back to the
Word/word of God. I firmly believe that in it are the keys, answers and guidelines for all of life’s
conundrums and successes. In His word and in His action, God shows us how to strive for His
perfection/maturity, that is to pursue His holiness and His righteousness. It clearly teaches that
His holiness is the standard of living as a child of God. We don’t hear shared or preached as
much in this day and age, but holiness is so much more than just avoiding sin and avoiding doing
wrong. Instead, holiness is started with pursuing God’s heart and His pathway for our life. From
there it continues with pursuing God’s heart and living out our faith to the world around us. It
culminates in a life that ministered to those around us through deed and when necessary, the
spoken word. One of the greatest concepts we have in the Holy Scripture is being clearly shown
how to treat those around us, our neighbors, with love and respect. The Apostle Paul writes to the
church in Philipi and says that we shouldn’t do anything out of selfish ambition, but instead,
esteem others as better than ourselves. In the fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul explains that he
is compelled by the love of Christ to fulfill ministry and reach out to others. That is something
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that is sorely lacking in the American church culture and social Christianity of the west, we need
to get back to the core belief of the love of Christ compelling us, not man-made religiosity and
legalism.
That concept is what guides my life, especially when dealing with people of other
cultures. It’s taught me to respect and value every individual, first as creation of God Almighty
and then as a person with thoughts, feelings, values and purpose, regardless of whether or not
those views line up with mine. The concepts in Scripture have taught me that I can’t use my
faith, my beliefs, as a tool to bring division or as a measuring stick that I hold up to others to see
if their culture is tall enough to ride with mine. Instead, they’ve taught me to stretch myself and
to be as flexible as I can possibly be, obviously without compromising my beliefs, when it comes
to dealing with individuals. I do my best to become everything to everyone that I might by all
means save some (1 Corinthians 9:22b). It’s a core concept of my perspective of pulpit ministry,
but it is also a core concept of my personal life. It is the influence of my family’s culture that
brought me to that revelation. I saw it modeled before me and was then taught about it. We have
a saying in our family. “We do our best to preach what we practice.” This means we believe that
we should always do our best to model the behavior of Christ, to live it out before we shout it
out.”
Social Justice and Client Advocacy
In the realm of social justice and client advocacy, I firstly need to look no further than
word of God. Moses fought for his people to be delivered from the oppression of the Egyptians.
David, as a young shepherd boy, fought and killed a giant who was bullying his people. Jesus
advocated for the woman who was caught in adultery and thought she was going to be stoned for
her wrongdoings, which after all, that is the letter of the law commanded. A common theme in
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the word of God is clearly seen and clearly stated. That theme is that He, God Almighty, is the
voice for the voiceless. He fights for those who cannot fight for themselves. While the world id
tilted to the rich and the powerful, God in His mercy is tilted toward the underdog (Phillip
Yancey, n.d.). This is something that greatly helps me remember why I have been called to the
ministry of counseling. It’s the same “heart-motion.” It’s helping those who don’t have a voice
and can’t fight. It’s helping to equip them with the tools they need to be heard and how to
properly use the weapons they need. Ultimately, social justice and client advocacy are a pathway
to healing that I will facilitating others through, Lord willing
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References
McGoldrick, M., Giordano, J., & Garcia-Preto, N. (2005). Ethnicity and family therapy (3rd
ed.). Guilford Press.
Peter Lombard. Theopedia.com. (n.d.). https://www.theopedia.com/peter-lombard
New King James Version, 1982, Philippians 2:3
New King James Version, 1982, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
New King James Version, 1982, 1 Corinthians 9:22b
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