Cultural Intelligence (Youth, Family, and Culture)

Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World

David A. Livermore, Clark, Chap, Chap Clark

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780801035890
• eBook ISBN: 9781441210630
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Twenty-first-century society is diverse, and Christians must be able to understand other cultures and communicate effectively between and among them. Following up on the bestselling Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers, this new addition to the Youth, Family, and Culture series explores the much-needed skill of Cultural Intelligence (CQ), the ability to work effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultures. While rooted in sound, scholarly research, Cultural Intelligence is highly practical and accessible to general readers. It will benefit students as well as guide ministry leaders interested in increasing their cultural awareness and sensitivity. Packed with assessment tools, simulations, case studies, and exercises, Cultural Intelligence will help transform individuals and organizations into effective intercultural communicators of the gospel.

EXCERPT
What do you do when you encounter someone who isn't like you? How do you feel? What goes on inside you? How do you relate to him or her? These are the kinds of questions we want to explore in this book. Few things are more basic to life than expressing love and respect for people who look, think, believe, act, and see differently than we do. We want to adapt to the barrage of cultures around us while still remaining true to ourselves. We want to let the world change us so that we can be part of changing the world. And we want to move from the desire to love across the chasm of cultural difference to the ability to express our love for people of difference. Relating lovingly to our fellow human beings is central to what it means to be human. And when it comes down to it, Christian ministry at its core is interacting with all kinds of people in ways that give them glimpses of Jesus in us.

The billions of us sharing planet Earth together have so much in common. We're all born. We all die. We're all created in the image of God. We eat, sleep, persevere, and care for our young. We long for meaning and purpose, and we develop societies with those around us. But the way we go about the many things we have in common is deeply rooted in our unique personalities and cultures. So although we have so much in common, we have as much or more about us that's different.

part 1

love: CQ overview

Cultural intelligence: reaching across the chasm of cultural difference in ways that are loving and respectful.

From my journal:

Figure 2

A large, elderly white man. A petite Asian teenager. A woman with a burka and jeans. A skater dude. Those are the last four people who just walked by my window while I was sitting here at Starbucks in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne, of all places! And now it’s a Latin-looking mother and her child. Okay, and a group of very Midwestern-looking professionals. Do any of these people hang out together? Who among them would feel most welcome at the three Christian churches I passed just around the corner on the way here? The world is here! In Fort Wayne, Indiana!

—November 19, 2004. Fort Wayne, Indiana

Love. That’s our destination. We’re on a journey from the desire to love the Other1 to a place where we effectively express the love of Jesus to people of difference. Be encouraged. The desire itself, along with the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, provides the fuel we need to embark on this sojourn.

Stop and think about what group represents the Other for you. To which culture or subculture do you find it hardest to relate? In what context do the skills that usually come to you naturally feel incredibly awkward and strained? Jot down a few names or examples as we move forward in improving the way we love and serve.

There’s something secure and stabilizing about being with people who view the world like us. Laughing together about things we find funny, ranting together about things that tick us off, and sharing an appreciation for some of the same food, art, and perspectives on the world can be the ingredients for building serendipitous memories together. But quite honestly, there’s nothing very remarkable about enjoying time with people like ourselves. Everyone fares pretty well there. But to love and appreciate someone who despises the very things we value and vice versa—now that’s another story. Yet the real mystery of the gospel lies in how we deal with those relationships of difference.

I can’t think of a more scandalous example of friendship than the one shared by Larry Flynt, Hustler magazine founder, and Jerry Falwell, the late founder of the fundamentalist Moral Majority. On the day Falwell died, lots of news pundits were brutal with their critiques of his life. But here’s what Flynt said: “My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face-to-face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. . . . I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.”2

Not to fear. I’m not interested in setting up Falwell or Flynt as examples we’re interested in following. But there’s something beautiful about Flynt being able to call Falwell a “good friend.” And when the gospel comes up close—face-to-face—something mysterious happens. Many fields and disciplines are interested in cultural intelligence. The business world is tapping into the research to become more successful in culturally diverse markets. Government officials are being trained in cultural intelligence to become better at “winning” in foreign settings. And educational institutions want to know how to accomplish learning objectives among students coming from different cultural backgrounds.

But nowhere does cultural intelligence find a better home than in the Christian faith. Sadly, Christendom itself has often created some of the most notable examples of cultural ignorance. Missionaries have gone into foreign lands insisting that locals adopt dress, use music, and build churches that mirror their own. Older generations have shamed younger generations for the use of inappropriate music genres in worship. And it has been noted far too many times that Sunday morning is the most racially divided time of the week in many American cities. Furthermore, some of the greatest controversies entangling many churches and ministries today revolve around the issue of contextualizing the gospel to various cultural contexts—what’s up for grabs and what isn’t? Throughout this book, we’ll explore several realities facing ministry leaders in contextualizing the gospel to culture. We’ll examine both positive and negative examples of how many ministry leaders are responding to these challenges. Rather than perpetuating unloving, disrespectful interactions in these varying cultural contexts, the church can lead the way in authentically expressing love across the chasm of cultural difference.

This first part of the book describes the essential role of cultural intelligence for ministry leaders, whatever their ministry context. There’s little need for more information on why cultural intelligence is necessary for people serving internationally. But we want primarily to consider how developing cultural intelligence is becoming an increasingly important skill for ministry leaders serving in places close to home. Before immersing ourselves in the cultural intelligence framework, I want to answer the question, why CQ?

Ultimately the answer is “Love.” Jesus synthesized all the teaching of the Law around the greatest commandments, “Love God. Love Others” (see Matt. 22:37–39). Maitri, a word for love found in the Sanskrit language, is rooted in the idea that compassion and generosity begin with an individual’s desire to love. But maitri is expressed only when one knows how to move from desire to action. Based on my research, I’m confident most ministry leaders want to love the Other. But gaining the ability to love the Other and leading others in our ministries to do the same is the journey we’re interested in exploring in this book. That’s why love is the center of the CQ map (fig. 2), reminding us that our journey is from the desire to love the other to the ability to express that love in effective ways. Cultural intelligence is a pathway to help us along the journey from desire to action. It’s the bridge that helps us more effectively express and embody Christ’s unconditional love across the chasm of cultural difference.

Because we want to live out our love for God and others, cultural intelligence is an essential issue for us in the twenty-first century. Chapter 1 addresses the relevance of cultural intelligence in light of the sociological realities of the twenty-first-century world. We examine the multicolored mosaic of the communities where we live and minister as the backdrop for our need for cultural intelligence.

Chapter 2 approaches the topic of cultural intelligence from a theological perspective. How do we ensure that we aren’t simply selling out to a politically correct view of tolerance toward different cultures and viewpoints? This chapter examines the essential place this topic has continually occupied in the life of Christians and presents a framework for how God contextualized himself to us through Jesus.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of the cultural intelligence framework and examines some of the many helpful theories and approaches to cultural sensitivity and intercultural competence. This chapter compares cultural intelligence with some of the other theories and posits why cultural intelligence is uniquely suited for the challenges facing twenty-first-century ministry leaders at home and abroad. The chapter also provides a brief overview of the four factors of cultural intelligence, each of which are more thoroughly described later in the book.

The first leg of our journey is an exploration into how cultural intelligence helps us live out the primary command to love. Most of us probably don’t need much convincing that love for people is central to the Christian life. Loving and serving the Other has always been at the core of living out our God-given mission, even when the Other may be the “Flynt” to our “Falwell.” But today more than ever, we need cultural intelligence in order to authentically and effectively express our love for the people we encounter day in and day out.

1

twenty-first-century CQ

Getting Along in the Flat World

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years researching some of the paternalistic, albeit usually unintentional, attitudes reflected in many cross-cultural1 ministry efforts. The research process has been a bit of a voyeur’s dream: going through stacks of journals to read the personal musings of others. I’ve read the journals of American high school students serving in places such as Mexico, West Virginia, and Kenya. Pastors have allowed me to observe their reflections about their efforts to bridge the racial divides that exist in their communities. Inner-city ministry leaders have shared vulnerable confessions of how it feels to be the recipients of suburbanites’ good will. This isn’t something I treat lightly. And I’ve read enough of these that there aren’t many reflections that now surprise me. In fact, one of the disappointments has sometimes been the familiarity of what is recorded again and again.

But I was unprepared for the effect that reading one short-term missionary’s journal had on me. The observations seemed much like those that I had read before. But this one hit me differently. Here are a few of the excerpts with certain phrases italicized for emphasis:

April 10. The support letters just went out. Now I wait and pray. Lord, I believe you want me to bring the gospel to these people in the Amazon. So please provide the monies needed.

June 20. The money has come in. I’m humbled by the generosity of so many people. . . .

June 22. This is our first day in Iquitos. The challenges began as soon as we landed last night. The airport looked like a dilapidated barn. But they sure took baggage security seriously. They wouldn’t let us have our bags until they checked the tags. I guess they have to do that here; otherwise people would probably steal them.

June 25. Wow! The Industrial Revolution obviously skipped this place. . . .

The cool thing is everything is so cheap!

June 27. We’re staying in one of the missionary’s homes for a couple days while they’re away. If we weren’t here, the place would probably be robbed.

June 29. I spoke at one of the churches today. They don’t speak English so I had to use an interpreter.

July 3. It was a productive day. Two souls were saved.

July 4. It’s so weird to be here on the Fourth of July. . . . Being here makes me so thankful for our country. Why did I get the blessing of being born in America? What if I had been born here instead?

This short-term missionary demonstrates many of the things I’ve critiqued throughout the years, such as thinking we’re “bringing” the gospel to the Amazon, assuming everyone in a developing country is out to rob us, emphasizing others’ inability to speak English rather than our inability to speak the local language, and assuming people aren’t “blessed” if they are born outside the United States. The problem is, the short-term missionary who wrote these reflections was me! I discovered this journal a few months ago when I had decided to reread all the journals I’ve kept over the last several years. As I read the musings I wrote during my first missions trip in 1986, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could it be that my own hand wrote some of the very things I’ve ranted about elsewhere? It quickly reminded me of my own journey through the fascinating domain of cultural intelligence—reaching across the chasm of cultural difference in ways that are loving and respectful. The journey across the chasm of cultural difference begins with a desire to love people of difference but must move toward an ability to effectively express that love. It’s an ongoing journey for all of us, myself included.

I’m still a far cry from the ideal of cultural intelligence. You’ll read many more episodes of cultural ignorance from my life in the pages that follow. But I’m on the journey toward more lovingly and respectfully interacting with those unlike me. And so are you. The very fact you’re reading a book about cultural intelligence gives me hope about your interest in joining many others who want to strengthen how we live in the Way of Jesus as we interact with people unlike us.

The world is more connected than ever. As a result, cross-cultural interactions are no longer the exclusive domain of seminary-trained missionaries or of official, State Department diplomats. We all find ourselves encountering people from vastly different cultural backgrounds. As a result, cultural clashes and the ability to lovingly relate to one another are some of the critical issues of our day.

I think most Americans want to be effective cross-culturally. I’ve interviewed and talked with thousands of Americans about this issue over the last decade, and for the most part, I have found people who desperately want to defy the “ugly American” image. Yet by and large, Americans continue to fare poorly in effectively crossing cultures in ways that cause the people they encounter to feel loved and respected. Unfortunately, there is little difference between the cross-cultural sensitivity of American Christians and that of Americans in general. Some would suggest that Christians fare even worse, but there’s little conclusive evidence to support that opinion. Regardless, if there were ever an area where the Christian church should be leading the way, it is in being a living picture of what it looks like to interact with our fellow human beings from different cultural backgrounds in ways that are collaborative, respectful, and loving.

The following findings are a sampling of the recurring sentiments that emerged from my research on the cultural issues facing many churches and ministries. I’ve included a finding here only if it appeared with enough frequency to make it a noticeable trend among the subjects sampled.2

From locals who received North American short-term missionaries:

We’re not a zoo of poverty. So please put away your cameras for a while.

You conclude you’re communicating effectively because we’re paying attention, when we’re actually just intrigued by watching your foreign behavior.

We are not naive and backward. . . . Instead we are your brothers and sisters in Christ.

From ethnic minorities to white evangelical churches:

I’d love to be invited to speak at your church about something other than issues of race.

The crime in our neighborhoods is not purely a matter of work ethic. We need your help in breaking the systems of oppression that continue.

I [don’t] need [one] more message to the kids in our community that says, Guess what? This six-year-old white kid got you a better gift than your schmuck of a father did.

From various generations in the church:

Don’t assume that just because we’re old, we have nothing to offer anymore. We’ve given our sweat, blood, and tears to this church. And now we’re just being written off.

Please give us a chance...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1: Love: CQ Overview
• Part 2: Understand: Knowledge CQ
• Part 3: Go Deep: Interpretive CQ
• Part 4: Express: Perseverance and Behavioral CQ
• Appendix A: Glossary
• Appendix B: Self-Assessment of CQ
• Appendix C: Research Context
• Appendix D: Forming a CQ Ministry Environment
• Notes