Humble Cultural Competency
As I write this blog, I have to acknowledge that I have been born and raised as a citizen of the United States. This means that my cultural tendencies will include a competitive edge. Understanding where we are from culturally and our cultural tendencies is critical to the engagement of other cultures. Yes, it is important to be aware and understand the cultures we are engaging with, but we must have a deep self awareness as we engage.
Engaging cultures beyond our own involves significant communication in all its forms. From verbal to non verbal, how we engage in communicating can make or break the interaction. Understanding our cultural tendencies means we are aware of our traits and our communication style. If we are unaware of these things then simply noting how another culture communicates won’t change how we represent ourselves.
Erin Meyer notes in Culture Map that communication conflicts can happen based on our understanding and perceptions around communication. She uses the example of a silent pause before replying to a question. As a person from the United States, a pause might mean there is a problem with the question and we would quickly react to fill in the silence whereas other cultures would embrace the silence in a more positive way. If we know about ourselves these types of tendencies we are able to adapt ourselves in various contexts. This is where competency comes in.
It is also important to acknowledge the tendencies that would impact our competency. An example of this would be, those of us from the United States tend to have a competitive edge. So, when we study about competency we can have the tendency to believe our acquired knowledge is all we need, which leads to a sense of pride and superiority. This can then become a conflict when engaging with other cultures from a sense of “I am already aware of the cultural differences and know what to do”. This will create additional cultural conflicts. This is where our humility comes in.
Ismael Ruiz-Millan wrote an article titled “Churches Must Talk About Cultural Humility Instead of Cultural Competency”. (https://sojo.net/articles/churches-must-talk-about-cultural-humility-instead-cultural-competency ) In it he addresses the need for constant personal reflection and humility when engaging with other cultures. This is important with international cultures and cultures within the United States. The United States is diverse due to immigration and due to the vast differences of locations coast to coast. We have seen even within our own country the need for cultural awareness and humility. The need for humility is what keeps us as individuals in a healthy place for engagement.
As a mission leader we train our teams to enter the mission field with a posture of “humble learner”. It is essential when engaging cross-culturally that we go with the goal of learning from those we are meeting, rather than imposing our cultural norms on them. Stepping into interactions with compassion and a willingness to learn, aids in the development of trust and in turn strengthens communication and empathy.
Knowing about and understanding cultural differences is key to competency, embracing the differences and learning from them is essential to healthy and humble engagement. We must do both.
About the Author
Sara Taylor Lattimore
Sara is adopted, a wife of 17 years, a mother to 2 amazing children who give her opportunities to be a cheerleader, dress up like a princess, play soccer in the mud, and go on amazing adventures. With a Bachelors in political science and sociology, Sara worked for Child Protective Services as a legal caseworker before following a call into full-time ministry in 2008. During her time in full-time ministry Sara has served in medium to large size local congregations, as well as camp ministry. Sara has a passion for serving others, writing, and speaking. In 2016 Sara worked on a joint publication as a Curriculum Writer. Sara wrote the Intergenerational/Family & Day Camp Resources in “Beyond Belief” for InsideOut Christian Resources for Outdoor Ministry- Published by Chalice Press- Release Date 2018. Sara is looking forward to writing her own book next. Sara completed her MDiv from Iliff School of Theology in 2019 and is currently working on her Doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives from Portland Seminary. Sara currently serves as Lead Pastor of a local church in Southwestern Montana. She has previously served in ministry positions leading congregations in engaging globally in healthy mission and outreach partnerships, living life missionally, building innovative programs, and building relationships as the Director of Missions and Outreach, College Ministry Coordinator, Family and Children’s Ministry Director, Director of Christian Education, and Camp Program Director. She is an innovator and visionary who looks to find empowering and dignity restoring ways of building communities of belonging, while listening and partnering with others to find ways to also address the needs of the communities she is planted in. Beyond her work, Sara dreams of growing her family through adoption, kayaking with Orcas, going on pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago in Spain, traveling in an RV across North America, and traveling internationally.8 responses to “Humble Cultural Competency”
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Indeed we must do both! Sara, I agree with you, there is no better way to learn than accepting to be humble and embracing learning that comes from the diversity around us (engaging cross-culturally). Not easy, like any other changes when we face unfamiliar environments but still the west way to learn.
Jean,
Thank you for your input. after a semester of learning your comments are key, we most certainly learn from the struggle and the change.
Sara, I so enjoyed reading your blog post and appreciated your focus on humility and learning. I wonder how churches can contribute to their communities in better creating environments in which people have space to reflect upon themselves, take time to step back and contemplate, and prayerfully listen to the ways God will lead us in learning about other cultures and embracing the differences.
I’m excited to be learning from and alongside you. See you soon! Praying your flight is going well at this moment.
Jenny,
I am wondering the same thing about churches and their role in helping and the way they hinder. It is a very complex issues and I hope to develop as a church leader and to have the courage to push the box in some positive ways.
Sara,
Communication is one of the key components to learning about different cultures. In the world of “assuming” we take what we have learned from others and we run with it. This is not cultural competency and never will be. If we are able to communicate with those who we are not familiar with can also begin to understand their actions and why things may look different to us.
Shonell,
Thank you for your input on this and for reminding us about the importance of communication. It is so key in all that we do and yet is is often the thing that trips so many of us up.
Humble and Kind sound like the perfect recipe! If we keep these components with a students heart we will have the key to change the world together! Loved your post!
Alana,
Thank you for your words. I am excited to see how we continue to grow and learn through our study of leadership, both how to do it and how to be one.