Review of "Ministering Cross-Culturally"

Sherwood G. Lingenfelter and Marvin K. Mayers. Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2002. 128 pp.

In Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships, Sherwood Lingenfelter combines his own cross-cultural experience in the Micronesian island of Yap, the anthropological research of Marvin K. Mayers, and biblical references to provide a meaningful examination of how a missionary or other cross-cultural minister can become incarnate into the culture of the people to whom he or she ministers. Lingenfelter examines the values that different persons and cultures hold, the challenges associated with these values, and the ways by which a cross-cultural minister can move beyond these values to share the message of the Gospel with the people.

Lingenfelter examines six tensions that cross-cultural ministers may face. The first tension deals with some cultures being time oriented while others are event oriented. The second tension addresses how different cultures regard judgment – dichotomistically or holistic thinking. Third, Lingenfelter addresses tensions associated with handling crises – whether persons are crisis oriented or non-crisis oriented. The fourth tension deals with whether goals are task-oriented or person-oriented. Fifth, tensions regarding one’s self worth, whether status focused or achievement focused, are examined. Finally, Linger addresses the tension between concealing or exposing one’s vulnerability. As he addresses these tensions, Lingenfelter examines the biblical perspective, scientific research, an episode from his own missionary career as illustration, and the implications of each tension for cross-cultural ministry, thus providing a well-balanced explanation of each tension.

Before discussing any of these tensions, the author provides a questionnaire for readers to discover their own values before reading about the values of others. This tool proves useful for engaging readers to interact with the text rather than simply reading about other cultures and the “stereotypical” American societal norms.

In a book such as this where categories are addressed to talk about such stereotypical cultural values, Lingenfelter is careful to address the fact that not all individuals within the same society share the same values. Lingenfelter describes personal culture as each individual’s values which are learned through his or her life experiences and shared culture as those beliefs and values that people in a society hold in common. “In their collective sum, our personal cultures have enough in common with one another that outsiders look at us and see us as being alike, even though we find great differences among ourselves.” (p. 21) Such an understanding suggests the possibility that different strategies and incarnational methods will be needed for reaching all the people in a society. It is important, however, to keep in mind the shared culture of all persons in a culture.

Lingenfelter bases this book on the thesis that “the Bible speaks to all people and all cultures and that Jesus Christ is the only faithful example of divine love in interpersonal relationships and communication.” (pp. 14-15) Jesus, whom Lingenfelter describes as the 200% person – 100% God and 100% Jewish human, came as a helpless infant and immersed himself into the Jewish culture, learning as he grew. We cannot become 200% persons, but, according to Lingenfelter, we can become 150% persons – 75% from our home culture and 75% from the culture to whom we minister. This requires understanding the values and learning to live like the indigenous people. Lingenfelter sites other biblical examples throughout the book. One which is referenced several times is the example of Paul writing to the Corinthians: “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22, NRSV)

Lingenfelter presents the possibility that by understanding the cultural values of a culture (by become the 150% person), cross-cultural ministers can begin to define and identify sin in other cultural contexts. Since different cultures have different values, the missionary must not mistake personal or cultural preferences for universal sin. Once sinful attitudes and practices are identified, the cross-cultural minister is able to begin transforming the society into Christ’s likeness rather than into the likeness of the missionary’s home culture.

In the second edition of this book (2003), Lingenfelter updates some of his positions from the 1986 edition. With the added support of recent research, the new edition keeps this meaningful work current, while still relying on some of the principles of earlier research.

Lingenfelter’s work with the Yap culture of Micronesia presents an easy example to contrast with values held by North Americans. My experiences in Romania have not have been as dramatically different from my home culture. During the time I spent there, I did not notice remarkable differences between my values and those of the Romanians with whom I interacted daily. If I were to return with these tensions in mind, I might discover some tensions which were not brought to light in the past. Even though there were not remarkable differences, I did observe two of Lingenfelter tensions. The most noticeable is the value of time. Although Romania is still a time oriented (rather than event oriented) country, they are less dependent upon the clock than North Americans. This is readily observable by inconsistent start times of worship services, train schedules, and even television programs. The second tension deals with status or achievement-based worth. My status as an American citizen allowed me to certain international traveling privileges which my Romanian friends did not share. From an achievement-based perspective, I found it hard to understand what I had done that allowed me these privileges that my Romanian friends were denied, simply because I carry a different passport than they do.

Ministering Cross-Culturally informs the cross-cultural minister of differences in values between his own culture and the culture of the people to whom he wishes to minister. Only after the minister becomes incarnate in the new culture can he or she gain a sense of that culture’s values and work to communicate the message of the Gospel in culturally relevant terms. The six tensions identified by Lingenfelter provide missionaries with six values held by all peoples and how properly understanding the culture’s values is essential to effective ministry.