Philosophy of Cross-cultural Ministry When looking at the Philosophy of Cross-cultural Ministry in this society, one will understand why it is important to carry the gospel across the world. Truly, when it comes to ministry, one must seek understanding as well as pray and seek God’s face diligently. As the scripture tells us, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8, NIV). In this Philosophy of Cross-cultural Ministry essay, I will define my philosophy of ministry as it applies to cross-cultural ministry as well as key elements, how I believe Christians should relate to different ethnicities, …show more content…
Looking at how I define my philosophy of ministry as it applies to the cross-cultural ministry is studying the word of God through praying and fasting when seeking God’s face for direction. For this reason, when it comes to ministry I believe how Christians should relate to different cultures is by studying and reading up on them. Because one can never be too careful how one can present the gospel without knowing the belief that he or she believes in. According to lecture 1, (2010), stated “It is important to learn about other cultural groups, identify idiosyncrasies within oneself or one's cultural group, and grow in sensitivity to other cultures” (GCU, CHL …show more content…
Truly, one must not take for granted of the values and the pillars of which the ministry was founded upon. Yet, these have been put in place for those who want to know about, how, who, when, where the ministry was founded. As a result, when I look at the biblical basis of my beliefs, it is what I was taught from a little boy up to the man I am today. Because of these values that I have today upon growing up, I am able to instill these same values in my boys. So they can grow and be the young men that God call them to be. As a result, when looking at the ethnic and cultural lenses, one will understand the impact it has on biblical interpretation. For this reason, how one can see ethnic and cultural as an impact through biblical interpretation is by taking what they have learned and apply it to their daily life. Again, lecture 1, (2010) stated, “It is in challenge and seeing things from a new perspective that individuals will have new opportunities to see what God may want to do with them as they develop in Christian leadership” (GCU, CHL 465, Lecture 1,
If as believers we fail to completely trust the Word of God and form our life under its direction then our witness will become misleading and even confusing. Believer’s effort in diligently understanding, applying and holding full trust to the word of God in all aspects of our life will be instrumental in building our faith. Such a faith will elevate us to enable us rise above the unrelenting wave of our culture’s non-biblical ideologies. Biblical worldview is very important in order to develop a life, which can be emulated by others in diligence, integrity and honesty in the modern society (Tackett, 2014).
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
Philosophy of Ministry: God's desires come first, I must always live my ministry God's way. I must live as a Christian (1 Corinthians 9:27) I must have a proper relationship of surrender to the Leader. In my personal life or in the Church I must understand that Christ is Head and Chief Shepherd (Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 13:20). The “management” of Church is about relationships with God and Man, not just maintaining a social organization.
Why is so important to possess cultural knowledge in the field of human service? Firstly, is my understanding based on the class discussion and the text book information, that as human service professionals, we must constantly maintain direct interactions with other human beings. Secondly, knowledge about the client’s culture may prevent so many misunderstandings and help a lot to bring the expected outcome within the timeframe. Let’s make it clear with one example. Several days ago during a class discussion about a cultural topic, one of the students comment in the class discussion that she belongs from Haitian culture and in their culture making eye contact while talking is considered disrespectful. On the other hand, in American culture while speaking, if someone does not make eye contact, leads to believe that the person speaking is lying. Thus, it is a significant contradiction between two cultures and may creating misunderstanding if individual does not aware about these culture. That is why having some basic knowledge about a client’s culture plays a vital role In the Human
Without this theology, not only the believer, but the missionary has no foundation to build upon. Believers in general, but especially missionaries must prepare themselves through prayer in order to lead churches to preach and teach the Word of God. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy that those that labor in preaching and teaching” should be considered worthy of double honor. (1 Tim. 5:17) This is important because Christian’s understanding their role as a believer, or again even more importantly, the role of a missionary is extremely vital in advancing God’s kingdom. Winter and Hawthorne rightly say in our text that “If we in the West insist on keeping our blessing instead of sharing it, then we will, like other nations before us (Israel, Rome, etc) perhaps have to “lose” our blessing in order for the remaining nations to receive.” Although there are times in today’s world that may seem like the world has turned their backs on God, Christian’s should look with great anticipation for the days that are coming when God will reclaim the earth and believers will be redeemed. The reason that believers practice missions is the end result. Redemption from sin, and receiving an inheritance from God including “full rights as sons” is only part of what is in store for the child of
In his classic work Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr asserts that the relationship between earnest followers of Jesus Christ and human culture has been an "enduring problem."1 How should believers who are "disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness" (1 Tim. 4:7) relate to a world whose culture is dominated by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life" (1 John 2: 16)? Culture is God's gift and task for human beings created in His image and likeness. At creation humanity received a "cultural mandate" from the sovereign Creator to have dominion over the earth and to cultivate and keep it (Gen. 1:26, 28; 2:15). But sin's effects are total, and culture—whether high, popular, or folk—has been corrupted thoroughly by rebellion, idolatry, and immorality. How, then, should Christians, who have been redeemed, "not with perishable things like gold or silver . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:18-19) live in relation to culture? According to Jesus in His high priestly prayer, believers are to be in the world but not of it (John 17:11-16). But in what way? How do believers act in and interact with the "crooked and perverse generation" (Phil. 2:15) that surrounds them and of which they are a part?
Every page of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together, tested and equipped me. Dietrich’s core ministry philosophy caused me to be more introspective on what is truly important in Christian living. Ministry is more than a program, but a, “Christ-centered community…united in service to and for one another” (Bonhoeffer, 2015, p. 48).
Authority of Scripture reconciles the community with God and can transform our lives. To participate in the fuller blessing of understanding, it is important to view Scripture with historical and literary sensitivity, interpret theocentrically, ecclesially, and contextually. I realize each of these can be overwhelming to the average person who is seeking direction for a specific concern in their life. Therefore, Migliore reminds us, interpreting Scripture is practical engagement in the living of Christian faith, love, and hope in a still redeemed world. When we listen carefully to the voices of the past, from a worldwide culture, and guided by the Holy Spirit, we will open ourselves to those transformational opportunities.
Introduction Considering the cultural landscape of America, it is becoming increasingly important for leaders to understand and implement effective intercultural leadership techniques and cross-cultural approaches to communication. Relevantly, this paper will examine Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success, isolating essential publication concepts while deriving practical applications within the context of Christian ministry and underscoring the necessity cultural education. Book Summary Commencing the publication, David Livermore outlines the need for cultural education and defines cultural intelligence as, “the capacity to function effectively across national, ethnic, and organizational cultures.”
...tial ideas and theologies that are absolutely the cornerstone to having a healthy ministry. Ideas like community, grace, love, and forgiveness could all have their own paper written for them individually, but acceptance is absolutely essential to any ministry. To accept someone into your family, just like the father in the story of the prodigal son, is to share all of these values listed above. By accepting them we are showing them grace, love, forgiveness and belonging, that each and everyone one of them so desperately desires. If we as youth pastors can embrace acceptance and also use it genuinely and not as a technique for recruiting, then surely our ministry will grow both in numbers and in depth in the knowledge of the word of God. By doing exactly what God does for us, we can show His love, His grace and His mercy by simply accepting others into our family.
Johnson concludes this statement, “This is one reason why in cross-cultural circumstances, missionaries seek to woo entire families to Christ so that social dislocation is lessened and a harmonious church can
The disagreement of extraneous Christian cultural beliefs can be dangerous to a Christian because it will cause the Christian to question his personal beliefs. If the Christian is not rooted in his faith, the questioning can lead to doubts about the faith or possible renunciation. While studying sociology, some Christians need to be aware of beliefs which conflict with the Bible and be understanding of key principles found in the
First, we believe that the children in our ministry deserve to know and understand the love that God has for them. We believe that we can help them understand this through our
In ministry it is important to note that the different people involved in your ministry will be at different stages of their spiritual growth. Having an awareness of your own personal theology will be important for how you go about teaching the students who are involved in your youth ministry. One part of personal theology is spiritual formation. Duffy Robbins states that spiritual formation is, “the growing into the likeness of Jesus” (448). Another main part of personal theology is community. Understanding and having an idea of both spiritual formation and community helps with the formation of personal theology of ministry. This paper will share five areas of theology and how they relate to practical theology in youth ministry. The five areas of theology include view of God, view of people, view of sin, view of redemption, and view of scripture.
Leadership is an awesome responsibility, and regardless of where leadership occurs, followers want leadership that is trustworthy, inspiring, consequential, and most importantly, effective. Thus, effective leadership is often weighed in theory and common indicators such as the impact on a team or process, follower attitudes and perceptions, and even career longevity (Yukl, 2010). Furthermore, leadership effectiveness may also be determined by the leader’s title, position, skills, traits, and moral behaviors (Carolina College of Biblical Studies [CCBS], n.d.). Often overlooked in all these things are God’s purpose for leadership, and the call for the leader to remain obedient to God while leading (CCBS, n.d.). Since mankind is sinful by