A GUIDE TO Resolving Conflicts for the Propagation of the Gospel
Introduction -
Conflicts of values perhaps do more to stymie the progressive of cross-cultural communications more than any other thing, but why? The thwarting of the gospel’s communication is often misunderstood as a challenge to the things which are considered dependable, useful, desirable, and full of worth. Whereas metaphysics tries to help us know the whole reality of one’s view of nature, epistemology gives us insights into how far we are able to fully comprehend truth, values gives us a window into the processes and contents of how one evaluates everything.
Illustration: In Matthew 13:45,46 Jesus tells us about a merchant who clarified his values when he found the pearl of great price, the kingdom of God, and sold everything he had to possess it. Only when people come to a point of dissastification with their old values are they willing to exchange them for Christ’s kingdom values.
We can look at values from several angles. These can be one’s personal conscious level which is a reflection of the sum total of a man’s conscience. For example, if one’s conscience bothers him to question an elder, he will simply obey leaders instruction blindly of the consequences. Or we can examine values on a social construct level. If the society condones polygamy, we will have a harder time communicating a Biblical message that strictly emphasizes monogamy. Or we can choose to look at values from a law level. There are certain societies like Germany where there are even laws against using angry gestures to other motorists that are strictly enforced by the police. The whole nature of the German society is reflected in its close adherence to the laws of the land for fear of the consequences of disobedience.
Definition of Values - A value is a measure of the worth or desirability of something. It can be a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or a society, of the desirable which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action. A value is a formulation of the desirable, the "ought" and "should" standards which influence action. (Kluckhohn and Murray 1948:59)
There can be different approaches to values. For example, one man may value a woman for her beauty; another may value her for her ability to bear him children; another may value her for her capacity to bear him many male children; another may value her for network of powerful relatives; another may value her for ability to cook good food; another may value her for what status she gives him as a married man in the society; another may value her simply for the companionship she provides. These are illustration that values lie in the eye of the beholder.
Values, according to Charles Morris, in his book Varieties of Human Values (1956:10-12) are expressed in three distinct ways. First there are operative values which refer to the actual direction of preferential behavior toward one kind of object rather than another. In other words if a man values one woman as his selection for a wife, he is making an objective decision to marry that woman over all the others he may choose.
Second, Morris says there are object values which refer to values that are preferable if the person wants to gain a certain outcome. These values shape one’s goals, direction, and expected results achieved. For example, if the man wants to marry and have male children, he will select a wife whose family has a long history of strong healthy male children in the family. In this case the woman’s looks or her ability to cook are secondary matters compared to the man’s value of getting many male children from this woman.
The third approach to values is what Morris calls, conceived values. These values affect the preferential behavior directed by the expectation of a particular achievement. For example, if a man marries a woman expecting her to bear him many male children, but she is infertile, he might seek to put her away and take a second wife who will be able to meet up with his expectations.
In all three levels of values we can see that there are both objective and subjective elements. Objective factors arise in value selection when a person bases his values on standardized facts. In other words, there are particular hard evidences that one relies on to base a determination of one’s values for one woman over another. Some men have been known to make an objective list of who they would like to marry. This has helped them become more objective in their selection of which woman they want to marry when they are swept up in the wave of biochemical emotions during courtship.
The subjective element involves ones’ personal preferences based on one’s intuitive feelings, impressions, and sentiments.
Illustration: For example, when I was considering marriage, I fell in love with one particular girl because of the psychological chemistry I sensed everytime I was around her. No other woman had ever given me such a feeling as that one. However, if I would have allowed my subjective persuasions to determine my directions in life, I certainly would have throw out many objectives determinants first. Needless to say, I decided to give greater weight to the objective factors when I asked the girl a serious question regarding marriage. I asked her, "Are you willing to serve God as a missionary in Nigeria for the rest of your life?" When she said, "I do not feel a particular call to the mission field." I knew that objectively I could not marry her and give up God’s call for me to be a life long missionary to Nigeria. As a result, I am 99% certain that I made the right choice in determining the will of God, 11 years later.
The key to value clarification is learning how to prioritize one’s objective an subjective values in determining one’s operative, conceived, and object values according to the scriptures. Solomon wrote his son some valuable advice once regarding his decisions for the future when he said, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insights. IN all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." (Prov. 3:5,6) The Lord has a way of directing our value choices in life through the leading of His Spirit. Man’s values are always subject to changes. Trying to depend on our own value systems is futile and often dangerous.
CONTRASTING WESTERN AND AFRICAN VALUES IN TWO CASE STUDIES
Contrast the following two case studies in societal values. The first one displays the societal values of an African tribesmen’s attitudes toward women. The second comes from Germany where parents are given nearly $16,000 or N200,000 just for having a child in a country where the majority of people do not like children. Examine the following excerpt taken from the December 3rd,1991 edition of the International Herald Tribune, p. 5. by Jane Perlez. See if you can discern the best ways to identify the differences or similarities of values of marriage from your culture to this Tanzanian- Masai cultural system:
Case Study 1 - Parimitoro Ole Kasiaro, a 35 year-old elder of the Masai tribe, recently married his third wife. Waiting in the wings is a fourth, a 10 year old girl paid for with cattle by his father to her father before she was born. With three underfed wives and three scrawny children, Mr. Kasiaro, whose cattle are dying of disease and who often confesses to being hungry himself, knows he cannot afford another wife. But Masai custom, which is paramount among the mud and dung houses here on the edge of the Serengeti Plain, dictates that he must in time marry again. Mr. Kasiaro is proud of his Masai heritage. But he admits to being troubled by some aspects of his society, especially its miserable treatment of women.
"Men in this community live as supervisors," he said, surveying a group of women sitting in the dirt. The women were resting after lugging containers of water from a stream as men stood by watching. "They leave the women to do all the everyday activities. It is not unusual to see a woman, even if she is pregnant, looking after cattle, sheep and goats, or taking donkeys to fetch cornmeal from the very distant shops."
Traditionally, Masai women performed the heavy work, leaving men free to be warriors, defending territory and raiding cattle. The warrior days are over, but rather than pitch in with the domestic chores, men typically spend their days drinking alcohol or playing bao, a popular board game. The women walk miles to gather firewood and then trudge home with back breaking loads. The women build the houses. If a wife does not perform her chores, Masai custom says the husband must BEAT HER, Mr. Kasiaro said. "If the roof leaks, the husband beats his wife," he said. "I must, because other men will laugh if I don’t."
How would you go about trying to communicate the gospel across cultures to a man such as Mr. Kasiaro? What are the values that you would appeal to if you were trying to stimulate felt, perceived, and real needs? What do you suppose would be some of the values that would serve as stumbling blocks for the progress of the gospel within the Masai culture? These are just a few of the important considerations that should be taken into account when communicating across the value barriers of culture.
Case Study 2 - At first glance, it is every child’s dream come true: The next time mom or dad starts nagging about homework or that messy room, junior can turn the tables and threaten the parents with the law. The children’s commission of the German parliament last week proposed barring German parents from "spanking, boxing ears, withholding affection, constant nagging or threatening children with the bogeyman." In the country with the world’s lowest birth rate, where attitudes toward children sometimes make parents seem like petty offenders, the government is aggressively using public policy to inject some love and affection into German society... Germany, which already pays parents a child-bearing bonus of $520 monthly for 18 months, will increase that pay period to two years in January, and the job guarantee for parents who decide to stay home with a newborn will be extended from two years to three. Still, a solid 60% of German couples either stop after having one child or decide to remain childless, leaving the country with a birth rate that does not come close to replenishing the current population.
With a view toward changing Germans’ attitudes toward children, the government now wants to make it a violation of civil law to spank, pester or unduly frighten a child. "There is a gray zone in this country where many parents think they can hit their children," said Norbert Eimer, of the parliament’s commission on children. "We don’t want to send police into the nursery, but we want to make it clear to parents that these are not proper measures in raising children."
Germany has a long and deep tradition of using laws to regulate behavior that other countries might consider private or at least beyond the reach of lawyers. Laws require Germans to tell the police if they move to a new home and to inform the government of their religion. Germans are prohibited from making angry gestures at other motorists, insulting civil servants or participating in airline frequent flyer programs. German law prohibits loud noises in public places on weekend afternoons, making it difficult for parents to let their children play outdoors. Earlier this year, in the West German town of Wolfenbuttel, a group of residents filed suit against parents who allowed their children to play in the local playground during lunchtime and early evening. The residents said they had a right to silence during those times. The court sided with the children.
Government analysts and psychologists say that despite widespread affluence, the success of postwar democracy and the best efforts of professionals, kinderfeindlichkeit, the German term for antipathy to children has grown roots in a society suffering from excessive anxiety about the future. "The lost war and total destruction we suffered stripped away our certainty about basic values." said Ingrid Hoffman, spokesman for the German League for the Child. "The relations between generations were poisoned for a time." (Marc Fisher, Washington Post Service)
How would you go about trying to communicate to a German society that puts more emphasis on production than people? What are the chief values that you will have to spotlight in the gospel’s message in order to appeal to the felt needs of most Germans? What do you suppose will be the biggest hindrances for the complete trust in the message of the scriptures in a German culture? These are some of the contrasting values in a western society to those of the above emphasis in the Masai-Tanzanian culture. Both are equally valid in their societal norms. A cross-cultural communicator will need to know how to assess these values before he can effectively communicate through them.
The following are several guidelines offered to help you assess the values of a wide variety of cultural and human value systems. They are offered to help you evaluate values based on the spectrumal contrasts between rural and urban values. These will also tend to vary from individual to individual as well as from one age group to another. Nevertheless, the following criteria standards for measuring values will give you clues into the "whats, whys, and how people consider something important and to what degree!
CENTRAL 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 goods, which realize the economic value called utility. Being concerned with usefulness, profitableness, and its practical worth is essentially a utilitarian’s concern. Societies like Japan that are guided by their utilitarian values have profited the world with their keen sense for cars, electronic goods, and computers that enhance other people’s utilization of resources. However, this pragmatic concern can also belie the fact that values are based on faulty assumptions. We 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 realize the theoretical value called truth. What one considers true, the standard which one uses to measure the degrees of truth, and the way in which truth is derived 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 people’s greatest values.
3. Political goods, which 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, as Nigeria’s third civilian government runs the country after 1992 will be a direct result of the people and politicians power values. 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 people realize the 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. On the other hand if one gives obedience to one’s personal beliefs in the scriptures, he will conflict 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." 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 goods, which 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 people 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 know 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 man inter-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 God pleasers.
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 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 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 5 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. This affords 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 goods, which realize 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 and Supervised Spiritual Development - This person matures spiritually when he is guided through the process of faith development. This involves learning through trial and error 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 wholistic 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 and Augsburger, p. 171)
KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC VALUES OF BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS
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
Here is what they found about people’s values about beliefs and behaviors:
ORIENTATION VALUES OF BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS
Collectivistic - Rural
1. Human Nature
2. Relationship of Man to Nature
3. Sense of Time
4. Activity
5. Social Relationship
Basically Evil
Man Subjugated By Nature
Past-Oriented
Being (Stress on Who you are)
Authoritarian
Mixture of Good and Evil
Man In Harmony With Nature
Present-Oriented
Growing (Stress Development)
Group-Oriented
Independent - Urban
Basically Good
Man As the Master of Nature
Future Oriented
Doing (Stress on Action)
Individualistic
1. Human Nature Orientation - In collectivistic societies people usually do not have any trouble in believing Jer. 17:9 which says, "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it." Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the early missionaries went first to the village communities to do evangelism. They found the people quite receptive to the idea that they needed forgiveness for their sins, wickedness, and their consequential judgment. It became obvious that many Africans believed in man’s propensity to do evil. They accepted the idea that the only way to overcome evil was with a greater power of good through Jesus Christ. It is also this concept that leads many Africans to pursue power in various forms in a quest to overcome the evils that surround them.
There are numerous examples of Africans simultaneously seeking the power that comes from God while at the same time secretly consulting with mystics for intercessory power on their behalf. This had led many to syncretistic beliefs seen both in the private and public lives. Without a clear understanding of the nature of man through the scriptures and a Biblically interpreted anthropology, people will continue to look in the wrong places for answers to the problems of human evil.
In contrast many sophisticated urbanites believe that sin is a relative term. They value the inherent good in man and his capacity to overcome his limitations. It is for this reason that independent cultures tend to be more optimistic when it comes to believing the best in every person. To the urban mentality, man is innately disposed to good behavior. It is the society, environment, and one’s circumstances that eventually corrupt the person. These individualist cultures tend to favor the value that humans can overcome their shortcomings if given enough effort, educations, and problem-solving ingenuity.
A third school believes in the mixture of both good and evil in man. They believe that man has tendencies to practice good or bad depending upon the situations he faces. They are of the mind set that man is possessed with the dual capacity for constructive or destructive activities, depending upon the kinds of influences he is exposed to. This kind of thinking is usually found in a pluralistic society that has learned to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of both of the above perspectives on human nature.
2. Man-Nature Orientation - In more individualistic cultures man is seen to be in charge of all that he surveys. The urban individualist has a desire to control his environment and society. Man can control one’s destiny if given enough education, discipline, and cunning, says the urban - western oriented man. By the use of ingenuity, man is expected to control his surroundings as well as his circumstances. This is often seen in Westerners’ strong reliance on scientific technology to cure many diseases, political, and economic problems. It also is reflected in missionaries who enjoy using computers to try to solve African problems of disease, population, and educational deficiencies.
However, the rural - collectivistic oriented society says the opposite to this issue. They tend to view that man is driven and controlled by spirits, fate, or outside forces that are beyond his control. The rural man generally succumbs to the outside powers of his surroundings, culture, and spiritual forces that are too great for him to overcome. He resigns himself to being subjugated by the forces all around him. He says, "That’s the nature of life, there is nothing I can do but just wait on the will of God to be carried out to its conclusions." Here there is an attitude that we must simply resign our mentalities to the fate that our circumstances dictate. It is often seen in fatalistic attitudes that excuse men from their responsibilities to make the most of every opportunity. This passivity often leads to irresponsible behavior that lies at the root causes of many human suffering.
The third school tries to find a middle ground between the mastery over nature school and the subjugation of situation perspective. This group says that man has little power to counteract the forces of one’s circumstances, but he can modify his attitudes and behaviors toward them. These are the people who feel that even though circumstances may be against them, they can manipulate their friends, family, or personal outlooks to adapt to the struggles around them. In a real way, these people have taken on a harmonization approach to their situations which allow them to live at peace within seemingly impossible trials. Example of these peoples can be seen in Japanese culture.
3. Activity Orientation - The rural - collectivistic society will tend to stress the importance of being rather than doing. These folks are most concerned about the quality of a man’s character. Once they are confident that you are a person of upstanding character, they are willing to trust you regardless of your educational level. It is for this reason that spontaneous bursts of feelings, emotions, and desires are considerable good in this culture. They are considered true revelations of one’s personality. The more outgoing and forthright one can be with this people, the greater respect, receptivity, and openness can be generally anticipated.
Missionaries who have shown this trait in Africa have usually found the greater response from the people. In like fashion if they want to criticize someone they will go after one’s character deficiencies. They are sure that if they can undermine someone’s character trustworthiness, others will discredit them subsequently. This is a common technique through Africa when one finds someone waging opposition against an enemy. By using all means possible, enemies will try to undermine one’s credibility in the eyes of important people in the community.
However, the individualistic - urban man is more action-oriented in his values of beliefs and behavior. He tends to prize those people who are busy, productive, and possessed with the desire to make the most of the time. Keeping busy, useful,and deliberately hard-working are esteemed values for a western - oriented man. Often the business of the urban man is seen as dust stirring vain activities by the rural man. Yet the urban man sees the rural man’s sufferings as basically a result of his own laziness. In contrast the rural man looks at the urban man as superficially concerned about quantity actions over qualitative characteristics of love, patience, courage, respect, authority, and kindness. To him, these are elements that determine the real value of life.
The middle group sees being in becoming as the quintessential goal of life. By engaging in activities that allow one to develop the best character qualities, one is reaching the highest ideals. There is an emphasis on developing the whole man like the classical Greeks. They were concerned about pursuing the ideals with the mind, body, soul, emotions, and will in synchronization. They believed that to be a complete man, one had to take all the major dimensions of life into balanced and proportional growth. Perhaps, this is the context in which Paul wrote Col. 1:28 which says, "And we proclaim Him admonishing everyman and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present everyone complete in Christ."
4. Time Orientation - The rural-collectivistic culture tends to value what the elders have brought them from their historic values. They are concerned deeply with the historic legends in how their people came to believe and act the way they do. It is not that important what will happen in the future as much as what happened in the past. Change comes very slowly in rural areas as the past is consider something sacred and worth contemplating. Learning from one’s history is essential for the rural man to gain a sense of identity, security, and a fixation about the established responsibilities for each person. The more conservative approach will tend to get a greater response from these people than a fast paced progressive one.
The western man is quite the opposite considering the future to be far more important than the past. To him the values of his father probably are not going to be relevant to his needs. To him time is constantly changing along with the needs, desires, and tastes of people. He is often obsessed with the notion that time is money. He tends to be optimistic about the possibilities of the future and is predisposed toward accepting change and innovation easier than the rural man. Equating change with improvement, he is far more concerned with progress than traditions. Out of this obsession with making the most of the time comes an aversion for those who "waste time". This is seen in lack of patience in relationships or failure to show compassion to visitors in need. Time is often seen as a priceless commodity that once spent can never be recouped. This explains the western man’s passion to find time saving devices, techniques, or methods that amplify values of efficiency in work.
The middle group concentrates on the present. They focus on the immediate needs of those who are closest to them. If you are working with people who come from a present orientation, spend a great deal of time with them during times of critical decision-making. Realize that their concerns are centered around the most pressing concerns "at the time". Usually the last person to influence this person before a pressing matter will be the one who has some of the greatest impact on their decisions. Since the past is given little attention and the future is largely unpredictable, this group becomes almost existential in its outlook. Even Jesus took this mind-set at time when He said, "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself, each day has enough trouble of its own. Even the sparrow does not sow, reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds him. How much more are you worth than they!" (Matt. 6:32,34)
5. Social Orientation - The rural - collectivistic group tends to respond better to authoritarian leaders than democratic ones. They view social relationships vertically as opposed to the horizontal perspectives of the urban man. For the villager to come up to the chief without going through the proper greetings of respect would be unthinkable and dangerous in most rural societies. Similarly in some British circles they are very concerned about following proper lineality patterns. It would be a great travesty for someone in British circles to be seen approaching the Queen without passing through the proper channel of authority. Likewise, this is seen in their educational system which reflects the need to have so many O and A level credits before qualifying for the next levels of advanced education. The authoritarian system of social orientation reflects on certain value of relationships that is deeply imbedded in various perspectives and cultures. I can even see the difference between the British missionaries in our mission who are concerned to go through all the PROPER procedures and channels before making a change. They are programmed to rely on the authorities to make the major movements in instituting change for an organization and their individuals.
The Americans, on the other hand, are much more programmed to launch out on their own initiative, not waiting for the authorities to approv changes. This spirit of innovation and discovery is prized an important value for an American, but would be considered insubordination for someone from Britain. Learn how to work through the proper channels of authority in order to maximize your impact in cross-cultural communications.
However, in an individualistic culture, one man’s opinion is as valued as another’s. This social equality in the urban arena stands as a primary value that allows the ambitious, clever, and hard-working to ascend the ladder of social status. It is common for Americans to call their bosses by their first name as a sign of the equality of status, comraderie, and mutual assessibility of their values and beliefs. Similarly, a homeless man’s opinion is often considered as credible as a Harvard Professor’s by the American news media. They consider one man’s viewpoint to contain bits of truth that are equally valid as one who has high status, education, and expertise in the field.
It is on this principle that a democratic election system is critical for Americans to give aid to third world countries. Recently, President Daniel Arab Moi of Kenya gave in to the demands of the Americans to go with multi-party elections or have his U.S. aid suspended. He gave in because he valued the aid more than one party rule. Eventually, the Americans hope that their value of democracy will be embraced by the majority of the Kenyan system. There are natural weaknesses in this individualistic oriented society as well. For example, the family ties in western oriented societies are generally weaker than those of rural cultures for similar reasons.
The middle group tends to view relationships collaterality. At times individuals must subordinate their goals to that of the group or higher authorities. While at other times the individual may ignore the goals or delays of the group and proceed ahead with their plans. This symbiotic balance between group goals and individual goals is understood by both groups as having advantages that benefit all.
Reciprocity affords both the group and the individual the flexibility of using discernment to know which emphasis will be most advantageous. Horizontal and egalitarian relationships are often seen in extended family relationships. This preserves the unity of the family without forcing exact unanimity of methods by the individual members.
It becomes obvious that each of the three approaches have advantages and disadvantages. However, the more important lesson to learn is values provide a key to unlock the door to the deeper levels of beliefs in every culture. By understanding how to approach a person using their value system, you have an insight into the most likely buttons to push in order to gain a favorable response to the gospel. For so long, cross-cultural communicators have been pushing the wrong value buttons in trying to find receptive audiences with their message. By learning to use the above grid to discover the essential heart felt values and needs of a people, you will facilitate the deeper communication penetrations of the scripture.
This is partly what Peter talks about in I Pet. 3:15 when he says, "But revere Christ as Lord of your hearts always being ready to give an answer to everyone for the reason of the hope that is in you. But do it with gentleness and reverence (With a special sensitivity to the value systems of the people - doing what is right in the eyes of the people as far as it is possible being at peace with all men), but maintain a clear conscience so that, in case you are slandered, those who falsely accuse your good Christian conduct may be ashamed; for it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong."
VARIATION IN SOCIETAL VALUES
Values tend to vary along the lines of our most closely associated social grouping. While I was growing up, I found myself embracing most of the values of my Father. When he valued baseball I fell in love with the game. My Father’s favorite team became my favorite as well. However, as I grew older I found that I liked the New York Yankees better, but he preferred the Minnesota Twins, I decided not to follow his lead. A number of times, he took me to see the Twins play baseball in the big ball park and I watched, Harmon Killebrew hit a home run in the last part of the game to beat the New York Yankees. It broke my heart and I remember crying because my team had lost. But my Father said, "There are many more important things in life than a simple baseball game!" Little did he know how important his estimation of values would prove true later in my life. Nevertheless, I had to learn that societal values have a wide variance according to the group one most closely attaches himself with.
One’s values may also be affected by one’s associates. For examples Levine describes the differences he observed between two tribes that hardly associated with one another in their history - the Hausa and Yoruba people of Nigeria. He writes (1973:26-27) about the differences between the Hausa and Yoruba women’s typical emotional expressions during child birth. The Hausa culture commends a control of emotion while the Yorubas favor a free expression of loud emotional outbursts:
"A most obvious difference had to do with sociality. The Yoruba engaged in a great deal of jovial public conversation with many different persons, often accompanied by laughter and other indications of friendliness. The Hausa, though also sociable, were much more restrained in their expressions of friendly interest... The Yoruba sociologist, Fadipe, wrote: "The Yoruba is gregarious and sociable... more of an extrovert than an introvert. The self-contained, self-reliant person who can keep his mental and physical suffering to himself so that others may not express their sympathy for him is regarded as churlish and one to be feared." (This also seen in Fulani initiation rites as well)
In contrast, the Hausa value highly the personal quality called fara which has the connotation of a calm, stoical pleasantness no matter what the stress or provocation, and they admire the quality termed fillanci and filako, which connote reticence, the denial of one’s own needs in public, and the ability to endure severe pain without complaint. These differences in normative ideals of sociability and sharing one’s suffering with others seemed to be widely realized in ... actual behavior.... Physicians and nurses in the local hospital reported that Yoruba women cried out and moaned freely during childbirth, while Hausa women hardly ever made any sound even during difficult deliveries. Here is evidence that conformity with their respective cultural ideals is achieved even during the pain and stress of this universal biological event. This is programmed into personality functioning, determining emotional response to pain."
The contrast between the stoic Hausa value versus the loud Yoruba expressiveness is an expression of what their societies reward most. For a Yoruba man to be quiet and say nothing when he is being taken advantage of is a disgrace. However, a Hausa man in that same situation may quietly resign himself to seek revenge in a more indirect way. These two contrasting societies have ways of rewarding people according to their highest cultural values.
In America, for example, here is a contrasting list of values of most who trace their ancestry to Europe versus those who come from North American Indian stock. Study the following chart by comparing and contrasting the values expressed by the European Americans and their American Indian counterparts. See how your culture aligns with the values listed. Then see how you would try to communicate the scriptures across your culture to those of the following diverse cultural perspectives. Imagine what hindrances you would experience in trying to cross the barriers of values in culture and how you would overcome these.
American Indian
1. Be intuitive sensing what seems best at the time without applying lots of logical analysis to decisions.
2. Make evaluations yourself and with the help of elders
3. Weigh the relative seriousness of a crime, the personality of the man, and the surrounding circumstances.
4. Don’t criticize people directly especially your own tribe.
5. Cherish the traditions and legends
6. Be free as the wind with your time, travelling, and experiences.
7. Religion is universal to all
8. Be discreet with people especially in courtship and carry a low-key approach to outsiders.
9. Work for the purpose of enjoying life and having security for one’s family.
10. Value the words of the ancestors
11. Teach through the stories of the village and elders.
12. Honor the elders and their wisdom
13. Be humble, caring, and hospitable
14. Put the tribe and the extended family before one’s personal concerns.
15. Share all that you have with others. Remember that everything you have has been given to you by God.
16. Supernatural affairs are directed by spiritual forces.
17. Happiness is paramount in life. Learn to laugh at your sufferings as life is to be enjoyed.
18. Children are a valuable asset for one’s status in life.
19. Accept others as they are. Practice giving others a sense of belonging despite their faults.
20. Mystical experiences are reality
21. The fewer the rules the better. Most laws should be loosely written and interpreted.
22. Dance is an expression of one’s religion.
American of European Descent
1. Be empirical researching what is best. Rely on the advise of experts
2. Use standardized criteria for testing and measuring the accuracy of all things.
3. Preach that no man is above the law. Refuse to accept exceptions to the rules
4. Be analytical in criticizing everything and everyone to get to the root of truth.
5. Learn through your own investigation and get a good education
6. Learn to go along with the majority conforming to the proper standards.
7. Religion is private matter. One has an individualistic relationship with God.
8. Be straightforward with people. Go straight to the point with what you want.
9. Work so that you can attain success, wealth, and status.
10. Value what you discover to be true
11. Use objective principles to expose truth from a recognize authoritative guide
12. Follow the trends of the youth and with the rich and famous and powerful
13. Learn to compete if you want to win
14. Put yourself and your career first
Realize that then you can benefit others
15. Acquire as much education, wealth, and material possessions as possible. Ownership is 90% of the game.
16. Supernatural affairs are affected by man’s approach and knowledge of
God
17. Success is the key to life. The more successful you are the better reward awaits you in the this life and the next.
18. Children are to be disciplined in the ways that suit each person’s goals
19. Help to edify and exhort each person to be the best that they can be.
20. The scientific man can learn to solve his own problems.
21. Have a rule for every situation. Write out ideas in detail steps.
22. Dance is an expression of entertainment.
From After E. Richardson in D.W. Sue ed. Counselling the Culturally Different, 1981, John Wiley Publishers.
COMPARE WORLD VIEW PERSPECTIVES FROM YOUR CULTURAL VIEWPOINT TO THE RECEPTOR’S SIDE.
Take Paul Hiebert’s example between American’s and Indians:
AMERICAN WORLD VIEW
1. Empiricism - The Physical world is real, orderly. It can be tested, measured, controlled. Material things are worthy goals of human striving.
Absolutes - In the real world functional absolutes exist. There is a categorical difference between the natural world and our dreams and fantasies.
Naturalism - There is a sharp distinction between natural and supernatural world. We live in a natural world of objective events.
Linear time - Time is linear, sequential, and never repeated. Past, present, and future extend in a uniform scale.
Order and Immutability - The world is consistent, orderly, and predictable according to natural law.
Knowledge - The human mind by rational process can discover the order of the universe and control it. Knowledge has high value.
2. CATEGORIZED WORLD - The world can be classified into distinct categories. The sciences provide elaborate and particularistic categories.
Equality - Within each category there is equality, autonomy, opportunity. Since all people are within the human category, they are to be equal, free, voluntary.
Individualism - The individuality and worth of each person is taken for granted. Rights, freedom, self-reliance, and fulfillment are valued.
Competition - In an individualistic world all forms of life compete for resources and dominance.
3. Natural Management - By their knowledge of natural and moral laws people control their destiny.
Science and technology - These shape all education industry, research and daily life.
Uniform Morality and Justice - Society is based on self-evident principles of love, equality, respect for rights of others, and justice for all.
Mission - Those who have knowledge, whether scientific or religious, have a moral obligation to share it.
4. Expanding Good - The world of good is expanding, new frontiers are always opening, new opportunities are always available for those who seek them.
Achievement Orientation - Personal achievement, not illustrious background, is the measure of worth and position; work, effort, achievement are intrinsic goods.
Associational groups - Groups outside the family are based on voluntary association and contractual relationships. Status rises by joining new groups.
Success and Progress - The ability to produce results, to make profits, to achieve status and demonstrate superiority are the goals of life.
INDIAN WORLD VIEW
1. Subjectivism (Maya) The natural world has no ultimate reality. It is a transitory ever-changing creation of our minds.
Relativism - There is no sharp distinctions between fact and fantasy, myth and reality, dreams and daily life
Supernaturalism - There is no sharp distinction between natural and supernatural. Gods and spirits are as real as natural objects.
Cyclic Time - Time is a continual rerun of events and persons. The universe and all beings repeat in cyclical epochs.
Mutability and unpredictability - Things are not what they appear to be. The beggar may be a king, the lion a demon.
Wisdom - The goal of life is wisdom, an intuitive understanding of reality. Wisdom is an inner light.
UNIFIED WORLD - All things manifest one spirit. Life is stratified in many levels, yet is one; many castes yet all are one.
Hierarchy - All is organized by hierarchy. Gods, religions, persons, animals, and nature are all ranked in fixed hierarchies of values.
Interdependence - Specialization and interdependence link diversity and cooperation in society and family.
Patron-Client Relationships - Some people are born to greater rights and responsibilities, others to service. Hereditary patron-client relationships unite hierarchy and interdependence.
COSMIC LAW - (karma) In an organic harmonious universe all is governed by the law of karma-destiny.
Pilgrimage (samsara) One’s life condition is determined by actions in previous lives.
Relative morality - Right and wrong depend on one’s place in the universal and social order. Actions are not right or wrong but fitting or not fitting.
Tolerance and inclusivism - Cultural pluralism and ethnic relativism are inclusive, accepting diversity with no urge toward conformity.
LIMITED GOOD - There is a limited amount of wealth, land, power, status, love. It cannot be increased, so ambition is a threat to others.
Ascription orientation - Security and meaning are found in belonging, not in material things acquired. Relationships are the measure of status and power.
Castes (jati) - Membership in primary groups is by birth. Variation is permitted, but defying rules can lead to ostracism.
Release (moksha) - Not self-realization but release, not achievement and success but detachment and wisdom are the goals of life. (Adapted from Hiebert 1976:359-362)
Personal Case Study - A cross-cultural communicator will need the ability to read, interpret, and relate the realities and truths of the scriptures through the receptor’s world view for maximum comprehension to take place. Finding key intercessors, mediators, or approved cultural channels is needed to finding effective communications. Without the Holy Spirit’s enablement this cross-cultural process can be hindered easily in the transmission process. For example, when I first started teaching cross-cultural evangelism in a seminary in Nigeria, I made a terrible mistake. I said to the my class, "All of your relatives who died without Christ are in hell today!" This infuriated my students so much that for the rest of the semester I had a terrible time in all my subjects. Even though what I said was probably true, the way I went about it deeply offended them. My students interpreted my teaching as an act of an American trying to show how superior my cultural heritage was over the African ancestral heritage. To them history was sacred, but especially their ancestors were even more cherished. They said to me, "Are you God? Do you know how our relatives and ancestors responded to all the revelation God sent their way? Perhaps, God illumined them with supernatural manifestations of Himself like Melchizedek in the Old Testament." Of course, I did not and I apologized for being so presumptuous, but by then the damage had been done. I needed to realize that in my student’s world view, respect for their ancestors was still a very important value stemming from their world view perspectives. I needed to see that my categorized world did not fit their unified view of the world. Neither did my absolute view of reality match their relativistic view of legends and history.
My naturalistic - scientific approach to subject matter clashed with their supernatural outlook fusing natural and supernatural elements together. With my deep mission to use my knowledge to motivate them to share the gospel to all men, I forgot that I needed to exhibit a spirit of tolerance and the possibility that several of their relatives could have miraculously responded to Jesus through a dream etc. My narrow perspectives needed enlarging to include the world views represented in my class of African seminary students. To me the knowledge was most important, but my students saw the goal was the wisdom of interpreting both the scripture and the situation as equally valuable. While I saw heaven reached by placing one’s faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, my students saw it as a matter of relationships with a God who may choose to reveal Himself to their relatives in a myriad of ways - beyond one person’s level of comprehension. Whereas I relied on the natural management approach to knowledge, my student saw that life is not always manageable by man’s controlling mechanisms. Many times one’s destiny is determined by how God chooses to meet us where we are at in our own situations. I will never forget the valuable lessons of that crisis because it taught me to consider the world views carefully in cross-cultural communication.
The Effect of World Views on Values
World views can affect value shaping through influencing one’s acceptance or rejection of a cultural perspective. For example Charles Kraft indicates that there are several facilitating factors that can catalyze change in values:
1. Have similar premises of one’s reality to the receptor’s culture.
2. Resist the actual values of one’s own culture and embrace some of the values of the receptor’s culture.
3. Respect the values of the receptor’s culture and authority figures.
4. Be open to new value and ideas in the receptor’s culture.
5. Allow the pace of acceptance of new ideas to be tempered according to the rate determined by certain chief advocates in the receptor’s culture.
6. Approach the receptor’s culture with humility and overcome one’s own prideful values.
7. Do not espouse a self-reliant attitude, but show some measure of trust and dependence on the host culture’s values.
8. Show that you are not threatened by embracing some of the values of the new receptor’s culture.
9. Demonstrate large measures of adaptability, flexibility, and latitude in the acceptance of new values.
10. Gain the approval of significant people whom the receptors value as a person of credibility.
11. Show how the new value will benefit the receptors felt, real, and perceived need according to their world view.
12. Show how there is a congruence of present world view perceptions of God with the new value of the scriptures. (Kraft, p. 367, 1979) - Factors Influencing Acceptance of Rejection of World View Change.
All of these are significant guidelines for helping a cross-cultural communicator learn how to introduce a change of values through basic world view adjustments. People do not want to adapt something new unless they are assured they can replace it with something better than they already have. It is for this reason that introducing new values must penetrate to the level of affecting world views or the changes will only be superficial at best. World views compromise a person’s basic allegiance to what is real, true, and rewarded most in their cultural system.
Illustration: For example, when I first came to Nigeria I visited one of my Pastoral students. He lived in a Muslim Malam’s house where he used the veranda for a Koranic school during the day. When we were there a number of us asked the man why he did not want to send the boys to a government primary school. He became incensed at the idea that the westernized schools would be able to replace the valuable instruction that he was giving the boys in character and religious Islamic education of the Koran. He felt that his methods and contents were irreplaceable. We first of all needed to understand the world view behind the values that he was espousing before we could begin to appreciate the ways to bring about changes in his religious values. This would probably be best done by reaching some of the Muslim Malams that he respected most. Then we would be using one of the 12 channels to approach him on a world view level deeper than the value levels of his educational philosophies.
For example, Jeremy Hines, a former teacher at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria wrote several insightful papers showing how one could use the Koran to demonstrate the authority, power, and divinity of Jesus Christ. He showed how the Koran supported the truths of Christ’s deity in His role as the Messiah for a people needing deliverance from their sins. This would also take time, effort, and a trusting relationship built up over years. Furthermore, it would take a multi-channelled approach that may take several different twists of opposition that one must be ready to stand firm against in the process. Once the process began it would be necessary to take responsibility to see the process of cross-cultural communication taken to its logical and reasonable conclusions.
CONCLUSION
The cross-cultural agent needs to ask God for wisdom in understanding human values to facilitate the communication of truth. Values come in many different forms: objectively, subjectively, operative, object values, conceived, intuitive, preferable, functional, cultural, political, economic, ideological, social, etc. Often the biggest hindrance to the spread of Christianity lie in these value elements rather than a bold denial of Biblical truth.
Every culture is affected by the core of its values. The cross-cultural communicator needs to show how certain values have underlying inconsistencies with truth in order to create needs for change. Values are expressions of people’s world views that often are shaped by one’s interpretation of God and His messages. It is in the realm of understanding God that we want to help all people become aware of how essential values can be more consistent with Him, His message, and His will for the people’s lives.
Bibliography
1. Augsburger, David Pastoral Counseling Across Cultures, p. 144-174, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1986
2. Cole, Michael Culture and Thought: A psychological Introduction, p. 23-28, New York: Joh Wiley and Sons.
3. Hiebert, Paul Cultural Anthropology, p. 350-368, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott co.
4. Kluckhorn, Clyde, and Henry Murray, Personality in Nature, Society, and Culture, New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
5. Kohls, Robert Survival Kit For Overseas Living, p. 20-30, Intercultural Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1979
6. Kraft, Charles Christianity in Culture, p. 360-375, Orbis, Maryknoll, New York, 1978
7. Richardson, After in D.W. Sue ed. Counseling the Culturally Different, 1981, John Wiley and Sons.
8. Tshibangu T. The Task and Method of Theology in Africa, p. 37-45, found in John Parratt’s A Reader in African Christian Theology, SPCK, London, 1990
