How to Be Mindful of the Wholistic NEEDS OF HUMAN AND SOCIETAL VALUES
Still we can look at values from a cultural point of view which emerge from seven central needs of humans and human society interacting together, these are:
1. Economic good which one realizes the economic value called utility.
Being concerned with usefulness, profitableness, and practical worth are essentially utilitarians’ concerns.
Societies like Japan that are guided by their utilitarian values have profited by the world’s hunger for their cars, electronic goods, and computers that enhance other people’s standards of living. However, corruption in the Japanese political systems seem to be endemic. This pragmatic concern can also belie the fact that values are based on faulty assumptions. Cross-cultural communicators are interested in finding out how these values will indicate inconsistencies that may need altering. It is for this reason that economic values are seen to be surface symptoms of underlying beliefs in deeper truths.
2. Ideological good which one contemplate a theoretical value called truth. What one considers to be true, is a reflection of one’s ideological priorities. The greater someone or something conforms to the facts of reality, the more genuine value can be placed on that truth. Since all truth is God’s truth, Christians are going to start, but not end with the Bible in their quest for truth. They will be open to exploring for elements of truth in the social and behavioral sciences as well as the hard science subjects. Through a combination of deductive and inductive investigation, Christian communicators will look for ways that truth can be expressed in ways that embody the culture’s greatest values.
3. Political good which one realize the power value called dominance or governance. Power is an ability to do or act in a way that suits one’s values. The way in which families, societies, and governments carry out their political values is a reflection of the highest values of influence, authority, and control. For example, the way African governments are run is an indirect and a direct result of the people and politicians power value systems. However, this power source must be explored if one is going to properly assess the nature of one’s values. For instance, if one gets power through spirits rather than from God, His word, and His Holy Spirit, the power will tend to corrupt, distort, and abuse truth. Cross-cultural communicators should probe to find out the areas of misuses of power to expose areas of needs for power shifts back to the scriptural foundations.
4. Solidarity is good - Meaning that some people cherish a social value called fidelity or loyalty. If, for example, one is steadfastly faithful to a father’s advice and expresses a deep allegiance to the value of fidelity to one’s family’s head, a person is considered loyal. On the other hand if one gives obedience to one’s personal beliefs in the scriptures, he will tend to have conflicts with family values. Jesus once encountered this problem with His mother and brothers. To this question He replied, "Whoever does the will of God are my brothers and sisters and mother." (Mark 3:35) In cultures where solidarity is a deep value, cross-cultural communicators need to look beneath the surface for the reasons for the solidarity value. Perhaps, the main reason why certain tribes remain united is not through mutual goals, but because of fear of isolation, vulnerability, or punishment. When a communicator is able to show how to relieve these fears, the solidarity barrier to the gospel can often be overcome. In other cases, the solidarity value can act as a catalyst for the communication of the gospel across cultures. These instances are often seen in the people movement concept popularize in Don McGavaran’s Understanding Church Growth.
5. Ethical good in which one realize the ethical value called morality. Lawrence Kolhberg has postulated that there are four levels of moral development in people and societies. Without a deep understanding of the shallowness of some peoples’ ethical values they may not feel the need to develop ethically or morally.
Paul said to the Corinthians who struggled with moral development in I Cor. 13:12,13, "When I was a child, I thought like a child, spoke like a child, reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things..." This same approach can be an effective catalyst for change in people’s ethical value systems through the following levels of moral development progressive steps:
a. Obedience - Punishment Orientation - This person will only do what is right because he knows that disobedience will bring about shame, disgrace, or punishment. He does not follow any ethical standard. This person responds best to a strong authority figure.
b. Instrumental Orientation - This person will do what is right since he believes that it will bring benefits to himself or his family. Unless there is some reward, this man will not aspire to help anyone but himself. This individual responds best to people who tell him how to profit from an idea or how to avoid harmful behaviors.
c. Social Orientation - This person lives morally only because he knows it will bring social approval. He is willing to obey the rules of society because he is afraid of being shamed, disgraced, or rejected from his group. This person responds best to people who stress how to show love, compassion, and forgiveness in socially practical ways. Fellowship is very important to this person who needs to be connected to his community. He craves acceptance and a sense of belonging. However, people who remain on this level end up being men pleasers rather than pleasers of God.
d. Moral Principle Orientation - This person operates on a Biblical ethical code. He is responsive to preaching that speaks to his conscience, either individually or his major family value. He is able to make a decision based on the principles of the scripture without having to test it first with his experiences. This individual or family operates by faith more than feelings, culture, or traditional values.
6. Educational Orientation - Even though some people may value education, they may not understand the underlying levels of real motives for educational development. The following are the levels of a person’s motives for getting an education are seen in the following four levels:
a. Satisfaction orientation - This person thinks of learning simply as a means to meet his immediate needs. If he cannot get what he wants (Advancement, more money, power, position, prestige, etc) he is not interested in any more education. Jesus served, but did not have much time for these people who only followed Him because of His miraculous healings, feeding of the 5,000, and demon exorcisms.
b. Impressing Others Orientation - This person seeks an education because he thinks it will help him gain greater social acceptance and positions of respectability. He is mainly interested in impressing others with his degrees for social approval sake. Yesterday at our seminary’s 9th graduation, we spent 50% of the five hour ceremony recognizing people for their positions, achievements, and contributions.
c. Competence Orientation - This person wants to be educated so that he can perform a task with a measure of proficiency. He is interested in being able to fulfill his social responsibilities through the exercise of the skills acquired in school. It is very important for him to be considered acceptable by his peers with his jobs.
d. Management Orientation - This person wants to learn so as to deepen his understanding of God, his family, his culture, and himself. These abilities afford him greater capacities to manage all these elements of his life with confidence and effectiveness. Communicators should aim to bring all people to this level of motivations for learning. This is part of what Paul referred to in Col. 1:28 when he said, "Presenting everyman complete in Christ."
7. Religious Orientation - One realizes the faith values expressed through what is sacred, righteous, or holy. Some people may believe themselves to value religion but fail to realize that they are remaining on the lower levels of religious development. This realization can point them to greater development of faith, love, knowledge of the scriptures, and obedience. These religious values are usually expressed through one’s faith development on four levels:
a. Imitation - This person relies on others to show him how to act, think, and believe in an acceptable religious system. He cannot successfully progress until someone has shown him the information through a visible demonstration of what, why, and how to do things. Communicators should realize that even some adults stay on this level being content to remain spiritual infants. This is only a beginning point to spiritual maturity. We must press on for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus through obedience, trust, and learning.
b. Lead Me By the Hand Orientation - This person insists that he be led by the hand through the stages of praying, witnessing, reading the scriptures, and obedience. He lacks the confidence or faith to try to mature on his own. Communicators should stress the teaching of Christ in sending out his disciples in Luke 10 two-by-two in witnessing in His name. The disciples learned best when they took responsibility for their own growth.
c. Discovery & Supervised Spiritual Development - This person matures spiritually when he is guided through the process of faith development. This involves learning through trial and error learning in a self-discovery mode of spiritual growth. He is using his faith to emphasize that scriptural obedience is done by being faithful in little things before being entrusted with greater responsibilities.
d. Integrative Faith - This person has developed a sound Biblical philosophy of ministry, family life, and personal life through seeking holistic truth by faith. He is acquiring a firmer grasp on who he is in Christ, what is the maximum will of God for his life, and what are the new roles, responsibilities, and ways to maximize Christ’s kingdom in all aspects of life. (Matt. 6:33)
(Adapted from Fritz, p. 84-91 & Augsburger, p. 171)
KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC VALUES OF BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS OF CONTRASTING CULTURES
Several years ago Clyde and Florence Kluckhohn along with fellow anthropologist Frederick Strodtbeck, gave the world a unique tool for assessing values. They looked at how people analyze the answer to five basic questions in life: (Kohls, p. 22-26, 1981)
1. What is the character of innate human nature? - Their human nature orientation
2. What is the relation of Man to Nature? - Their Man-Nature Orientation
3. What is the temporal focus (time sense of human life? - Their time orientation
4. What is the mode of human activity? - Their activity orientation
5. What is the mode of human relationships? - Their social orientation
