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Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility

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I am using Cross-cultural Servanthood as a training tool for sending a surgical team to Mexico. It is excellent for preparing our hearts and minds to serve. It doesn't just tell you to be a servant but it tells you how to be one. I have read many book on short term missions but this book rises to the top as a 'must read' before going on the field. Last year we used Elmer's book Cross-cultural Connections and it too had fresh new insights that challenged our team to think more deeply about the impact we may have in another culture.

This is a great book for those of us that believe we have the whole world figured out. The chapter on Humility is alone worth the price of the book. Great for anyone desiring to serve skillfully in culturally unfamiliar settings, whether in the United States or abroad.

Although the book is subdivided by several sections, there are really two concepts to this book: (1) See the image of God in others-- which encompasses the ideas of "welcoming others into our presence," "communicating respect for others, " "building confidence in relationships," and "seeking information that changes you;" and (2) Show Christ to others-- which involves "posture of the servant," "becoming like Christ to others," "biblical foundations for change" and "the servant and leadership/power."

The section entitled, "Acceptance," basically suggests that Christians ought to see the image of God in others. Acceptance is "The ability to communicate value, worth and esteem to another person" (58). To illustrate the meaning of "acceptance," the author shares 1 Corinthians 8:13--"An accepting Christian values the other person so highly that he or she would rather sacrifice a personal preference, even a right, than risk losing the relationship or being a stumbling block to that person" (61). If a Christian believes that people are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), then there is "common grace" that is bestowed on all people.

The author explains it in this way, "Acceptance of others is to proactively communicate respect and dignity to each human being based on the fact that each is an image-bearer of God" (75). In a similar way, acceptance of others as image bearers of God is found in Galatians 3:28--"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" (NIV). One does not need to be a Christian in order to bear the image of God as illustrated in this passage: "Yes, you must execute anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in God's image" (Genesis 9:6).

The author reminds the reader, "By virtue of being made in the image of God and God's common grace, every person can contribute to our learning" (109). He then shares a story about his wife, Muriel, who used the villagers' story about killing lice to help lower infant mortality in Mozambique (110). This type of humility helps Christians to become better servants (115). Colossians 1:16 says, "For by him (Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him" (NIV). If Christians truly believe this passage, then what the author says in page 119 makes sense: "For the priesthood of all believers to function properly, we must all nurture each other, listen to each other, see the beauty of Christ in each other and seek God's grace from each other."

Elmer shares a story of missionary who set the example of true hospitality towards people in the area by inviting them through the front door to dine with him (183). This practice was unacceptable to the other missionaries so as a result he was ostracized by them. However, this act of showing Christ to others changed the way foreign mission was done in that country (184). The reaction that this particular missionary received from the other missionaries was very much like the reaction Jesus received from the Pharisees in Luke 15:2--"The Pharisees and the Scribes complained saying `This Man receives sinners and eats with them'." This is a good example to follow--invite the people in the area to eat with us. Extend the invitation for them to join us over a meal. The Book of Hebrews supports this idea, "Do not forget to do good and to share" (Heb. 13:16).

The act of sharing a meal is what the author calls "openness," which is to "accept people as they are and build trust with them" (196). Elmer supports the idea of "openness" by stating, "This is the foundation for revealing Christ to others" (196). In fact showing Christ to others is a way of revealing the Gospel to unbelievers. It is having the light shine through us so that others are pointed to Christ (Matthew 5:14). In a way, it is doing what John the Baptist did--"God sent a man... to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony... he was simply a witness to tell about the light... the One who is the true light... to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:6-12).

Christians are to be different--"If you love only those who love you, what good is that? If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?" (Matthew 5:46-47). The idea of being different is also expressed in Mark 10: "But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others" (Mark 10:33-35).

"Cross-Cultural Servanthood" is not only for international missions; it is very useful for pastors of stateside churches in rural or ethnic regions of the country. It supports the biblical fact that we are to see all people as an image of God and to be different in our expression of being "salt" and "light" to the community. The book made me realize that despite the criticism that we may receive from other churches for doing unconventional things, we must continue in our efforts. We must follow the example of Jesus and "dine" with sinners.

Review by: M. Teresa Trascritti

Because of the way I was raised, my ESL training, and my experiences in Africa, it may be that I am actually better at "other world cultures" than the subtle but shattering differences in what the author refers to as "home culture." For me, this book is as much about relationships as it is about serving other cultures.

The author's willingness to expose his own shortcomings on this subject creates a comfortable atmosphere of receptivity rather than one of exhortation. This did not dilute the intensity of my need to change some foundational thought processes. He provides some practical tools to do just that!

In Cross-Cultural Servanthood, Duane Elmer tells the parable of a monkey who sees a fish swimming against the current of a stream (pp. 27-28). Assuming the fish is struggling to survive, the monkey plucks the fish out of the stream and places it on dry ground. At first, the fish flops around--excited to have been saved, the monkey thinks. When the fish stops moving, the monkey feels satisfied, believing the fish is resting contentedly. Of course, the fish is dead.

In cross-cultural exchanges, we intend to serve others, but our efforts may be perceived as exercises of arrogant power. The remedy is Christlike humility. "Humility is mandated," Elmer writes, "but"--and this exception is crucial--"its expression is culturally defined" (p. 33). We must both intend to be humble, in other words, and act in ways that people from other cultures perceive as humble.

How do we do this? Cross-Cultural Servanthood examines "the process of becoming a cross-cultural servant" (p. 19). Elmer outlines this process with six steps:

1. Openness: "the ability to welcome people into your presence and make them feel safe" (p. 39, emphasis in original).

2. Acceptance: "the ability to communicate value, worth and esteem to another person" (p. 58)

3. Trust: "the ability to build confidence in a relationship so that both parties believe the other will not intentionally hurt them but will act in their best interest" (p. 77).

4. Learning: "the ability to glean relevant information about, from and with other people" (p. 93).

5. Understanding: "the ability to see patterns of behavior and values that reveal the integrity of a people" (p. 125).

6. Serving: "the ability to relate to people in such a way that their dignity as human beings is affirmed and they are more empowered to live God-glorifying lives" (p. 146).

Elmer is G. W. Aldeen Professor of International Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. His book is clear and simply written, mixing theological and sociological analysis in balanced measure, and using illustrations from his life and career, as well as from the lives and careers of others.

I highly recommend this book to Christian missionaries, pastors, and laypeople who work in cross-cultural or multi-cultural settings. It will help them understand how to better communicate the gospel in word and deed. It will also help them examine their own motives to make sure they are serving rather than patronizing others.

Book review - Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility - by Duane Elmer Downer's Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006

This book explores components of cross-cultural servanthood from the context of a renewed biblical examination of what a servant in service means. The author, using biblical and personal experiences, clearly seeks to reinvigorate discussions for the motives and methods of cross-cultural service. His foundational thesis is the forthright assertion that "serving people is not just doing what seems good in our own culture but seeking out the knowledge of the people, learning from them, knowing their cultural values and then acting in ways that support the fabric of the culture to the degree possible. After taking these steps, we will have served them." (p. 114). Prodding at this theme from different angles, he offers a compelling stance, that effective cross-cultural ministry has to be more than good intentions and superb presentation. It has to be based on understanding the will of God exemplified in Christ, as well as engender a sensitive to the realities and cultures of the people.

Using different metaphors, (e.g. the story of the well meaning monkey's rescue of an assumed struggling fish - chap. 3), and numerous personal and others' examples, the author expounds the need to both examine our motives for cross-cultural service, that they be not from disguised superiority and or well-intentioned but manipulative "virtues" (pg.17). He challenges the Christian to serve others, especially in a different culture, from the example of Jesus Christ, who forsakes all, and lives as a servant, weak, invisible, but connected with those he chose to give up everything for, in order to serve them. Jesus lived incarnationally, not enjoying the best his divinity could offer or claiming kingly trappings common in the world, but in humility chose obedient servanthood. He lived intentionally learning from and with, loving, and suffering for others. Serving as a servant is therefore becoming like Christ to others. It is "the ability to relate with people in such a way that their dignity as human beings is affirmed and they are more empowered to live God-glorifying lives." (p. 146)

The author articulately argues that cultural superiority positioning, although a serious flaw is not the only hindrance towards effective cross-cultural service. He acknowledges that together with this, cultural ignorance and misrepresentations can also significantly impede the learning and service within other cultural contexts. To overcome these dangers, he proposes that in a servant minded cross-cultural ministry, one has to develop an attitude of openness, acceptance, trust, learning, understanding and serving. These are important ingredients for an obedient servant service. He argues that these are abilities which we can develop in both processes to understand and serve others. These attributes are however heavily influenced by our cultures. Hence, the first step is to learn to identify our biases and then move towards developing the suggested qualities to replace them. This takes an attitude of a servant, which is humility.



It also takes seeing things how God sees them and through the other's eyes. Indeed, "Seeing things as others see them is the way of the servant. Seeing things the way God sees them is the way of the disciple." (p. 143). But servanthood is not a perk to be earned, and one that the cross-cultural servant can check off as an accomplishment. It is not also acts that one can display. It is a state of being before it is a state of doing (p. 172). It is the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:1-11), that seeks that best for the people one is in ministry to and with. This perspective, if embraced fully, would demand more than a cursory acknowledgement of the people's realities and cultures which is their humanity and dignity. It would involve an intentional embrace, learning and being open to the possibilities of change.

In conclusion, the author uses the example of Joseph, an "involuntary missionary" (p. 193), forced to live cross-culturally through a spiteful act of his brothers, but who through his reliance on God, and a sense of "purpose and composure" (p. 193), learns to serve in the new environment with humility and understanding. Joseph clearly depicts the qualities the author believes make for a Chrislike humility in service, those of openness, acceptance, trust, learning, understanding and serving.

Although Joseph's example is adequate in capturing the author's description of a conscious cross-cultural servant, it is not without limitations. Unlike many of us going abroad, Joseph is a slave, with no rights. It is possible that Joseph is compelled into whatever he does. That he serves because he has no alternative. That is unlike most of us, who can quit, take up a home assignment, or stay overseas and do business, or offer consultancies. The key to Joseph's secret and effectiveness, and which I wish the author had explored in depth, is his unflinching reliance on God. His faith in God is the key ingredient to his eventual successes. Joseph asserted that his reason for not having Potiphar's wife would be because by doing so, he would be "sinning against God" (Gen. 39:9). He is also aware that God is the one who gives the interpretation to the dreams (Gen. 40:8; 41:16). And to his brothers, he is confident, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."(Gen. 50:20). We can therefore infer that out of his faithful trust, God blessed Joseph in whatever he did.

As a missionary from the 2/3rd, world to the West, I am discovering that the cross-cultural minister of the 21st century will need to do more than "feel the call", have good seminary education, learn the language and culture of the people, and all the other important things we have placed great value in, in the last 100-plus years of the contemporary missionary movement. He/she will have to passionately cling to God because their role in the world is becoming increasingly difficult. Maybe because of coming from a "non-superior" culture, I find that the difficulties are not just in language and culture learning, but in the relevance and meaning of what missions are or ought to be. Joseph sets an example towards accepting one's calling, being passionate about what we do, trusting, learning (about, from and with) and understanding the people we are called to serve. But ultimately, Joseph's example is one of faith, yes, faith in a servant God, one who points to a cross, not a throne, as a place for redemption. Missionaries of this and all ages past are called to faith, forsake all and follow me (Lk. 9:23), mostly into uncertainty and difficulties, even in a process where we believe God has clearly called us. Sometimes, this will be in seemingly inconsequential service. Yes, I would say, Chrsitlike humility in our service has to be based on an unyielding faith in the God of all service, more so today than ever, because it will not be from a position of power and control, but one of submission and irrelevance. It will often be borne in the weakness of a servant position. A faith-led cross-cultural ministry is the only true and enduring Christ service, today.

Kinoti Meme, PhD

In a class taught by the author: This book came out after 12 years of data accumulated on one primary question: What can missionaries do better to be better servants? Some quotes: From the Learning chapter: "He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn." "Don't be sorry for yourself, because you are going to so remote a place. You know nothing and they must teach you." "Things were simple before I went to Africa." (Amy Carmichael) Paul Hiebert: building trust is most important in the first year of the missionary. Joseph in Genesis is the concluding model of servanthood. At the time of writing, the author kept hearing from missionaries-in-training: "we want to serve...be servants." Servanthood is contrary to superiority. 2 conclusions of author: (1) If you try to serve other people with a view of servanthood that is rooted in your own culture, you might not come across as a servant. In other words, 'servanthood' is culturally defined. (2) We name ourselves naively. We think what works well in our culture, will work well in other cultures. Why aren't missionaries seen as servants? When we name ourselves as servants so much, we convince ourselves that we are servants, but we may not be seen as such in another culture. What if your real message is, "I am above you. I have something you need, but I don't need anything from you. Therefore I am superior." That does not make a relationship. Real leadership is to model out the servanthood of Christ. Servanthood that is relationship-building is both give and take, respecting the other's dignity.

I'll lay my cards on the table: I had no desire to read this book, and was forced to do so in order to become a leader on a mission trip for my church. Therefore, I undoubtedly had a bias against this book from before I cracked open its cover, as it was just one more piece of stress I had to juggle.

That being said, I had a really hard time reading this one. If I wasn't required to read it, I wouldn't have ever reached the halfway mark of this book. The biggest problem with this book is it's so dry. The author does a good job at times to give excellent examples of the point he's trying to make, but those examples are too far and few in-between.

I often found myself feeling like the author was "beating the dead horse," as it were. He stresses a point so many times and in so many ways, that by the end of a chapter, you feel like you just got figuratively mugged by a Christian principle. For instance, it took an entire page for the author to explain the definition of "understanding," and then followed it up with a long-winded explanation as to why it's important for a Christian minister to be understanding. I'm not saying this isn't an important point, but you don't need to stretch this concept over 9, 10, 11+ pages when it could be consolidated into 3 and provide just as much information. Instead of consolidating these points, the author offers several instances of how to apply whatever concept he's discussing, and that's exactly where the problem is: if you need several examples to explain the same, simple concept, then that means you're not explaining it well enough the first time.

I also take up issue with any author who gouges his readers with inflated prices for their literature. I can understand if you wrote some sci-fi thriller and you want to make some money, so you overprice your book. Whatever, you're a writer trying to make some money off your skills, I get it. But when you write a Christian book that is intended to help cross-cultural ministers, it would be nice to worry about getting your book into the hands of people you can potentially help instead of just trying to make a buck. And when you charge $16 for a paperback book that should easily be $7 at most, I question your motives for penning this book. I have no doubt the author wrote this because he had a passion for the subject matter; I also have no doubt that that wasn't the only reason he wrote it, unfortunately. This comes off as less-than-genuine to me.

This book also had too many grammatical mistakes and typos. A book with 1 mistake? Forgivable. 2 mistakes? Okay, that's fine. 5+ mistakes? You need to tighten that up. You obviously didn't spend very much time going over your book before you published it, which makes it difficult for me to take it seriously as a professional work. I say this, and I often see authors try to make excuses for their grammatical mistakes. I'm sorry, don't argue it: there's no excuse for not opting to spend 30 minutes spellchecking your work. Word Processors make this too easy. Hit F7 next time.

The author did do some good things, don't get me wrong. His heart seemed genuine throughout the book, and he offered a candid look into his successes and failures as a cross-cultural minister. Several times, he had me putting the book down to really think about a point he was making, and I appreciated the thought-provoking gems in the book. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about what he's writing about, and I was confident in his expertise. And, though it was lofty, he did, at the very least, get his points across. In fact, I felt that sections 1 and 3 in this book were very well-written and pretty interesting; it was the middle section, Section 2, that had me falling asleep.

All in all, I can't recommend this book to anyone. It had me zoning out way too often, and in a nutshell, I feel this is a 200-page book that should've been, could've been, and would've benefited from being only 100 pages or less.

This book is a great tool for anyone in any type of a relationship. I was able to picture my wife and my relationship while reading the words of this book. A must for anyone in any type of ministry.

I have not yet finished this book, but I find the insights very good. One may not always agree with the author in every statement, but knowledge and experience in the missionary field abroad as well as a healthy grasp of the gospel message is evident in what I have read, so far. Excellent for what I hope to use it for: applying insights in the medical field, working with coworkers and with patients of various backgrounds. Excellent reading.