As part of my role at h.e.a.r.t. I have the distinct privilege of teaching our Cross Cultural Communication class. I absolutely love this class. Its entirely possible that the students get tired of hearing the stories of my personal experiences, but there is something special about learning to communicate effectively in another culture. As cross cultural workers, our students will need to be able to learn new languages, cultural rules, social cues, non-verbal communication, cultural beliefs and values, gender rules, and a myriad of other intercultural communication concepts. In this class we get to delve into each of those areas as well as discuss how their effectiveness in communication impacts their work, their ministry involvement, and most importantly their ability to herald the Good News of Jesus Christ to people who are very different from them.
Among the first things we talk about in the class are the definitions of culture and worldview. One of the more widely read Christian anthropologists and missiologists, Paul G. Hiebert, defines culture as, “the integrated system of learned patterns of behavior, ideas, and products characteristic of a society” (1983, p. 25). He defines worldview as, “the fundamental cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions a group of people make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives. Worldview are what people in a community take as given realities, the maps they have of reality that they use for living” (2008, p. 15).
In layman’s terms you could say that culture consists of the normal/general characteristics of people and products in a given people group. There are visible and invisible dynamics to culture. Things like language, clothing, religious beliefs, gestures and expressions, rules and roles, food, educational systems, legal systems, rituals, stories or myths, economics, social and family relationships, etc. all make up the generalities consistent of a given culture. Worldview can be thought of as a lens through which people in a given culture read and interpret the world around them. Questions like “what is real, what is true, what is right, what is good” are answered by worldview.
In our class we attempt to identify the differences in culture and worldview as well as to gain proficiency in identifying the generalities of a certain people group. The ability to identify cultural rules and how the people within that culture interpret the world around them helps us not only communicate more effectively, but it helps us understand more deeply how the Word of God can be understood and misunderstood within that culture. Moreover, if you are able to identify your own cultural makeup and worldview you can begin to understand how your particular life experiences and story have affected your personal understanding of scriptural truth and application.
Cross-cultural ministry is difficult. It requires astute observation, cultural sensitivity, contextual understanding of yourself, the Bible, and the people you serve, humility, willingness to learn, understanding of the differences between personal conviction and absolute Truth. It is very easy to fail in cross-cultural ministry because of poor understanding of culture, poor biblical exegesis, ethnocentrism, and failure to effectively consider the potential outcomes of missionary involvement in a given cultural context. It is our hope that students who come through h.e.a.r.t. can more effectively navigate the difficult task of ministering in a different culture made up of people who look, think, act, understand, and communicate differently.
Post by Dr. Mike Webb
Hiebert, Paul G. Cultural Anthropology. Baker Books. Grand Rapids, MI. 1983.
Hiebert, Paul G. Transforming Worldviews. Baker Academic. Grand Rapids, MI. 2008.