Going Fast or Going Further?
Going Fast or Going Further?
Years ago, while preaching one of my greatest sermons, I slammed my bible down on the pulpit in enthusiasm. As many Americans cheered and moved into worship, speaking in tongues, raising their hands, some Slavic patrons left and never came back to our church. Thankfully, one of the patrons who left, kindly let me know why. In many Slavic cultures, the bible was outlawed and if anyone had a bible, it was held in high regard and reverence. In the eyes of the Slavic culture that day, I was very prideful, immature, a leader with little reverence to God and His Word. I was crushed.
Unfortunately, not being aware or taking the time to become aware, a family I held in high regard and loved, left our church. In one of our ministries, we have experienced cultural conflict as many different cultures are represented. Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow shares with us a figure on pg. 25 in which he contrasts problems between two different systems. We can glean from figure that in multi-cultural and multi-ethnicity systems there is going to be conflict, especially if we do not take time to learn and embrace each other’s differences.[1]
Erin Meyer takes us on a more in-depth journey on avoiding cultural pitfalls through her book The Culture Map. Meyer invites us into a deeper awareness of others. In business, many organizations spend a great deal of time and money on researching a product in that culture. Often the success of the product depends on how it correlates to that culture. In Meyers book she introduces to us many strategies for success in cross culture business that we can apply to ministry.[2]
As Christian leaders, we must meet people where they are at. We must take time to understand, but also walk with them as they cross the great threshold of what understanding they have at that time into truth. In the PDF Threshold Concepts, in Chapter 17 the focus is on becoming a different doctor, learning, and coming into a new understanding.[3] As potential doctoral students we have that same opportunity to grow, learn, and come into a new understanding. I believe that new understanding will help bring success where there has been failure before. This is my prayer and goal, success where I have fallen short in my past with different cultures.
In the book of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, one of the main focuses is to come into an awareness of others. I believe Erin Myers captures this concept in her book about “read the air.” Often, we have our plan or agenda, perhaps even having great past success using a similar or same method. If we are not aware, or “read the air” we will not have the impact that we hoped, desired, even prayed for.[4]
There is an African proverb that states “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We see in the Gospels Jesus modeled this with His disciples. Even in his teachings He engaged in their language and style. It is important that we take on this mindset of being aware and having the impact we truly desire. Mandela wrote “to truly lead one’s people one must also truly know them.”[5]
In conclusion, leaders must example what they believe. The Apostle Paul shares with us in 2nd Corinthians 3:2-3 “You are an epistle (letter) written in our hearts, known, and read by all men. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.[6] My goal is love more and be an example of Jesus Christ. With this mindset, I must overcome “self” and master “reading the air.”[7]
[1] Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking Fast and Slow. (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2013
[2] Erin Meyer, The Culture Map: Breaking through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. (New York: Public Affairs, 2014).
[3] Threshold Concepts in Practice (Ray Land, Jan H.F. Meyer etc.).pdf
[4] Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Little Brown, 2008).
[5] Erin Meyer, The Culture Map: Breaking through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. (New York: Public Affairs, 2014).
[6] 2nd Corinthians 3:2-3 NKJV
[7] Erin Meyer, The Culture Map: Breaking through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. (New York: Public Affairs, 2014).
About the Author
Greg McMullen
Pastor Greg resides in Lake Stevens WA and pastors a small rural church in the Machias area . The Well Church has a large food ministry in which many different cultures come each week to gather food and counsel. The Church has a small school that is bearing good fruit. Pastor Greg has a large family of 10 children and enjoys fishing and hiking.One response to “Going Fast or Going Further?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Greg,
I agree with you in prayer that we might find success where before we met only failure. I’ve made many cultural mistakes over the years; some of them I would like to erase! So here’s to a new awareness in the coming year and beyond!