If you want to communicate anything successfully it’s not a bad idea to think of what you’re doing as cross-cultural communication. A book with the suggestive title, The Universe Next Door by James Sire is built on the premise that we live in a culture that is becoming increasingly diverse so that you don’t have to go to the other side of the world to meet someone with whom you can talk past.
Of course his book is focused on philosophic world-views and understanding what they are and how they operate in a person’s noetic structure and how that presents a challenge to effective communication.
But that’s not the only problem one faces in communication. We also live in a in an academic culture that values multiculturalism, which embraces the notion that the dominant culture should not be allowed to run the table. In fact, in its desire to value the culturally undervalued--minorities and women--it attempts to turn the situation up-side-down. Not to make to fine a point of it, multiculturalism views those people groups mentioned and considers them the victims of the larger, imperialistic culture. In order to save them from this cultural devaluation it feels it is necessary to grant them “victim status” in order to elevate and redress the past injustices.
This complicates things a great deal in this cross-cultural communication if you happen to be from or be the beneficiary of the dominant culture and perhaps makes things easier for communication if you have clear-cut victim status.
We believe the take-away from this state of affairs is that more than ever before we need take into account this nuance so we may season our speech with salt so we know how to respond to (spiritual) outsiders. Who is interested in putting people off so they cannot come to know the glories of the Son of God and the redemptive plans for His creation?
Let us encourage you to take advantage of the research that is included in this section of resources by taking time to understand what they believe and value. When you combine the research which can inform us objectively about their attitudes towards religion (and where possible the gospel) and towards us, along with our intentional reading of their body language for feedback (which can give us some sense of their current emotions) and a listening ear to understand their journey, we are in a great position to understand both what they think and feel. And we can take all this to better shape the way we put things, and thereby increase the chance we’re heard and understood about the great things of the gospel.
Be sure to access the materials and links we have assembled to increase your insight into your colleagues attitudes by using the vertical navigation above. Return to the previous page and scroll down.