By Darrell L. Bock and Mikel Del Rosario
[Darrell L. Bock is senior research professor in New Testament studies and executive director for cultural engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Mikel Del Rosario is project manager for cultural engagement and adjunct professor of media arts and worship at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also an adjunct professor of Christian apologetics and world religion at William Jessup University, Rocklin, California.]
While most Christians do not consider themselves to be engaged in cross-cultural ministry, virtually every one of our interactions includes cultural dimensions and sensitivities that are often overlooked. On a Table podcast episode called “Intelligent Cultural Engagement,” we joined the dean of DTS-Washington, DC, and professor of missiology and intercultural ministries, Rodney Orr, to discuss the concept of cultural intelligence, focusing on how we can better engage with people from a variety of cultures. We share key ideas from our discussion with Orr, focusing on a biblical approach informed by key lessons from the Apostles Peter and Paul.
Considerations For Intelligent Cultural Engagement
How should we begin to approach engagement in a pluralistic society? Orr notes God’s desire for believers to operate with cultural sensitivity and suggests a careful approach to reduce mistakes and cultural missteps. Bock explains the first two steps in approaching a conversation with cultural intelligence[1] as we discuss the pluralistic nature of the contexts in which we find ourselves.
Orr: God wants us to become multicultural people. . . . When [Paul and Barnabas] went to Laodicea in Acts 14, they didn’t understand the Laodicean language. [That] made a huge difference in the speed with which they could communicate. When you’re in a cross-cultural setting, you learn to slow down, listen, [and] kind of feel the situation and sense what’s going on before you jump in. . . . You learn to assess situations and look for an insider who can help you to determine, “Okay, what’s really going on here?”
Bock: Two points I make in cross-cultural conversations: The first thing you want to do is ask a lot of questions. You want to get a reading on where a person is coming from, what’s driving them, et cetera. The second thing is you want to put your doctrinal meter on mute.
You don’t want to just respond with the first thing that comes to your mind in rebuttal. You are trying first to understand the person before you engage with the ideas coming from the person. Because there might be underlying elements of what is driving a person to be drawn towards that they are thinking that will be important to know as you think about addressing the things that concern the person you’re having the conversation with.
Orr: You can learn two ways: You can learn by making mistakes, or you can learn by listening quietly and slowing down. And I like the bumps that come from listening quietly [and] slowing down a lot better than I like the mistakes.
Bock: I like to say that “hard places are God’s spaces.” When you think about change and the challenge of interacting with someone who thinks differently than you do, and “how do you get along with someone who’s in that situation?” How do you represent your own life and convictions well in the midst of that? That is the challenge of our current cultural situation.
When [American] culture was more monolithic, that was easier to do than it is now, and that’s certainly one of the major changes that has come in our lifetime[s]. The world is bigger and smaller simultaneously. There are more people in it, but we’re also more tightly connected to one another. There’s a lot more communication than there used to be. We’re a lot more aware of the alternative ways of living in various religions. We’re all much more exposed to that than we were when I was growing up.
And part of the difference of the generations and their attitude toward things is that what Rodney and I had to adjust to as this came into our world in some ways, younger people have lived with from day one, and they’ve been around it constantly.
Del Rosario: We’ve mentioned the loss of that Judeo-Christian net that we’ve seen in so many places, not only in America but in other places around the world. We’ve also mentioned the variety of different cultures we engage with. Because we’re not just dealing with one culture. We have a variety of cultures and demographics to consider as we engage.
A Biblical Approach To Cultural Engagement
Cross-cultural engagement is not restricted to overseas encounters. A pluralistic society requires intelligent cultural engagement. This means intentionally working to understand our neighbors and the issues they face—truly getting to know them. This includes getting to know their religious beliefs or perspectives on God.
For example, one thing we have sought to model in a series of episodes on The Table is an approach to world religions that does not immediately focus on critique.[2] Rather than begin by contrasting the biblical worldview with a given non-Christian religious tradition, we sought to first understand three things: (1) What attracts converts to this religion? (2) What keeps adherents loyal? (3) How does the gospel address the concerns and longings of these communities? This allows us to better present the gospel and the hope that truly makes it good news.
Intelligent cultural engagement requires believers to realize our calling and appreciate the places in which people who see Christianity differently find themselves. We need a spiritual perspective and the resources only God can provide. Consider how the Scriptures speak to the tone of our engagement in the writings of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
Peter’s Commands On Engagement
First Peter contains key insights on Christlike engagement. One of our favorite engagement passages is 1 Peter 3:15—a popular memory verse, especially in apologetics and evangelism classes: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (ESV).
We must be prepared to explain our Christian convictions—the hope we have in Christ. Here, Peter summarizes everything the Christian faith comprises with a positive word: Hope. This hope involves understanding and appreciating why God created us and how we can connect with him. We can see this hope in the way that God made it possible for sinful humanity to reconnect with him. We discuss how this text, in the context of the passage, sheds light on how Christians should engage. Bock begins by observing verses 13 and 14: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled” (ESV).
Del Rosario: I really appreciate how you’ve helped me to see the broader context of [1 Peter 3:15] and how it relates to more effective cultural engagement. Could you unpack that for us?
Bock: Verse 13 says basically you shouldn’t catch any flak . . . for doing things right. It’s like what we teach our kids: “Do right and things will go well.” Then the next verse reminds us [that] we’re . . . in a fallen world.
If something does go wrong, even though you’re doing right, you’re blessed. You’re not to fear those from whom [injustice and abuse are] coming. . . . Sometimes the church responds out of fear, and out of a sense that they don’t control what’s going on—which of course they don’t.
Then you get your passage: “Be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in you.” The good news is hope. It’s a positive message. Sometimes . . . all we have to say is pretty negative [about culture]. . . . In the effort to talk about the challenge of what the Gospel is to people’s lives at one level, we [can sometimes fail to] extend the invitation and the hope that comes out of it. That’s why it’s called good news.
We have to . . . be sure that . . . in the midst of whatever challenge might be going on, that we also extend this invitation that is the heart of the Gospel, the idea that you can be restored to a healthy relationship with God. So that takes us through verse 15. . . . The tone of it with gentleness and meekness is wrapped around not only that passage but several other text[s] about how we’re supposed to engage.
Then it goes on to mention the abuse again . . . and the example for the abuse is the life of Christ. That he, as a just person, suffered for the unjust. There’s a twist: “the just for the unjust so that he might bring you to God,” not them to God.
The point…is that we should never forget where we came from. That when we reach out to someone who doesn’t embrace Christian truth . . . the Christian gospel, they’re starting out in the same place we started out from, and we should never forget that. We didn’t come naturally to where we are.
It’s by God’s grace that we came to where we are. When we follow the example of Christ, who reached out to those who did disagree with him, who didn’t think they needed God, who were separated from God, we’re actually making the same move towards others that Christ made towards us, and that should change the way you interact with the person you’re disagreeing with because you’re doing it on the basis of the grace of God, the approach of God to that person, the example that God set about how to approach that person.
And then the best thing we have going for us is to live out the character of our faith and the character of our God as we do it. And if we do that well, then hopefully, we’ll be pointing to the hope that the gospel presents.
Although our good behavior will be slandered, we must not be surprised by those who push back on our message. While the gospel challenges the way everyone lives, hope must still be the dominant note in our engagement. Beyond any apologetic content in our message, Peter commands believers to defend the faith with gentleness and respect. Truth matters, but our tone matters as well.
Paul’s Example Of Engagement
Paul’s example of cultural engagement is something we have discussed often over the last decade while working on The Table. Consider a snippet of our discussion on the lessons we can learn from the way the Apostle Paul engaged with his audience at Mars Hill in Acts 17:16–34.
Del Rosario: Darrell, when I first started my involvement with the Hendricks Center and in our mentorship, one of the first things we talked about was how the Apostle Paul engaged the culture. And there are a lot of lessons to learn from that. [Our conversations even] inspired me to write a series of blog posts about it.[3] Can you talk about just a few key lessons we can take away from Paul’s example of cultural engagement?
Bock: Paul is . . . trying to introduce Christianity. He has no cultural power, he has no political power to speak of. There isn’t any national organization that he belongs to at the political/social level in the larger culture that gives him any credibility whatsoever. He’s operating as a great religious independent with a new thing that’s just sprung up, even though it has roots in a long extant Judaism and hope tied to the Old Testament.
So all the cultural crutches that Christianity functions with today in our context with that history, with that social power, with that political power didn’t exist for him, and yet he was very effective.
The question is, how do you deal with that? And the premise of this is as we move away from a culture that has those props, those crutches, how can you effectively function in the culture if you’re in a situation in which your other supportive elements, like your politics and your social status and that kind of thing, aren’t tied to your Christian identity? How does that work?
Paul talks very directly with Christians about the nature of the culture so they can understand how problematic living in a fallen world is and what that means. That’s [the] end of Romans 1. There’s nothing he’s describing there that I don’t see in my world today. And he’s very direct about it. . . . Yet the odd thing is, and this is the lesson, when you watch him address that culture in Acts 17, it begins by saying, “And he went around looking at the idols and was provoked by what he saw,” which means his blood pressure changed. He didn’t like the idolatry that he was surrounded with. He didn’t like what he was seeing in the culture.
But he begins his address . . . by saying, “I see that you’re very religious.” He’s trying to build a bridge, and the bridge that he’s trying to build is “I see that you’re engaged with a lot of interest in spiritual things.” Now underneath his thinking, he’s going, “Now you couldn’t be approaching this in . . . a more problematic way, But I see you’re interested in spiritual things, so let’s talk about it for a while.”
Then, he steps in. He doesn’t step in [by] tiptoeing and saying, “Oh, I really like your idols. . . .” No. He walks in and says, “God can’t be contained by what we design to represent him.”
And he puts—and you and I, Mikel, we’ve talked about [the tactics of Greg Koukl][4] a lot—he puts a rock in their shoe. A rock . . . in your shoe bugs you and it stays with you until you either pull off your shoe and pull it out, or you resolve why it’s there.
So he’s doing these little things to give pause. . . . He shows respect for the culture on the one hand, and he opens up and builds a bridge to where they are coming from. He’s starting where they are coming from. He isn’t as direct, but he doesn’t give up on the challenge either.
And there’s this wonderful balance between trying to take them to the invitation, because he’s headed towards resurrection in his speech, trying to take them to the resurrection and the invitation on the one hand, but challenging them in spots, and the way he’s challenging them is what I call giving them pause. He’s asking them to think about the way they are thinking about spirituality and asking, “Is that the best way to think about spirituality,” and he’s opened himself up for a conversation by doing that.
I don’t think we do enough of that. Our tendency in interacting with a culture is to shake our finger at it to say, “You’re wrong. This is the way. This is wrong thinking,” rather than putting that rock in the shoe. Speaking with respect to the culture as you challenge them, even though deep down in your soul you know there are problems to deal with that are very, very serious.
And we need to get that balance right in sharing that tension between challenge and invitation so the invitation never goes away. And respect, gentleness, and meekness never go away, even in the midst of being direct. . . . Understanding that difference of tone is very, very important in cultural engagement.
Paul’s example demonstrates that regardless of what we may think about the cultural norms around us, we must work to build bridges with gentleness and respect. We must be gracious and humble even as we challenge people while inviting them to consider the truth of the gospel. In this, we must never lose sight of hope as our main emphasis.
While gentleness and respect must certainly characterize our engagement with those outside the church, how much more should we display this ethos when engaging with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Orr’s cross-cultural ministry experience demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural sensitivities as we work together for the cause of Christ. Orr and Bock discuss:
Orr: [We] have got to treat each other with that same kind of respect that Paul is talking about in Acts 17, and he explains more in 1 Corinthians 9, where he says, “Look, I have a right to get my living from the gospel. But because of your attitudes I am not going to use that right because you guys are so immature.” And so even in dealing with Christians he gives up his rights as an apostle in order to be able to speak into their lives and to have a conversation.
Paul valued conversations. He really valued being able to speak into people’s lives, and . . . if it meant giving up one of his rights in order to do [so], he’s going to let it go.
We have to look for ways that we can be disadvantaged in order to reach out to others. Look for things that are keeping us from being able to connect with other people and be willing to let those things go. That’s not an easy thing. That’s not an American cultural individualist kind of idea, but it’s something that requires the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us to enable us to say, “Hey, I give up my rights. If you’ll listen to me and let me talk and we can have a conversation, I’ll let my rights go.”
Bock: The whole second half of Jesus’s ministry with his disciples basically said, “Look, if I’m catching flak for doing this for God you’re going to catch flak for doing this for God too. You can be absolutely sure of that. I sometimes think we [complain] too much about the way the world pushes back on us because it [shouldn’t be] a surprise.
The second half of almost every Gospel takes disciples there and says, “You’re going to have to bear your cross.” Not bear your cross once every five years. You’re going to have to bear your cross daily. That’s [the] pushback that’s going to come from stepping into this space and trying to represent God well.
And then the question is “Do we do this with a vulnerability that is like the way Christ made himself vulnerable?” Vulnerable enough that he ended up on a cross. And we’re back to the 1 Peter 3 passage. The reason we’re able to suffer this injustice is because we know that we’re modeling and walking down the same path that our savior walked down. And we also appreciate the fact that when he walked down that path, he was rescuing people like us. He came for all of us, and no one is an exception.
Another thing I like to say when you’re in Luke 4 and it says Jesus came to release the blind, and the captives, and the oppressed. . . . we tend to think of the blind, the captive and oppressed as other people. No, no, no. We were the blind. We were the captive. We were the oppressed. He came for all of us. And it’s appreciating that element of what we have experienced from the grace of God and how he has lifted us up that makes us care about the people who still need to be lifted up, and who can be encouraged that God is willing to lift them up and had loved them enough to lift them up if they will pay attention to what God is doing.
And so that invitation, that good news, that hope needs to always be in our minds as we’re engaging with people and sharing with them. Because if you care about them as people you will care about the hope that God offers to people.
As Christians living in a pluralistic society, we must recognize the variety of cultures with which we inevitably come into contact as we represent Christ in the world. Engaging with cultural intelligence means remembering where we came from and seeing people not as the enemy in our spiritual battle. Rather, people are the goal. Regardless of what we may think about the cultural practices and perspectives around us, effective engagement requires working to build bridges for the sake of God’s kingdom. Like the Apostle Paul, we must never forget to extend a hand, even in the midst of presenting the challenge that the gospel brings. Like the Apostle Peter, we must never forget to present the gospel as good news, as hope, with gentleness and respect. Beyond what we say, it is the way we live that best opens doors for dialogue in the context of relationships. Cultural engagement done well means not only speaking truth, but loving people well.
Notes
- For a full discussion of cultural intelligence, see Darrell L. Bock, Cultural Intelligence: Living for God in a Diverse, Pluralistic World (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2020).
- “Respectfully Engaging World Religions,” DTS Voice, accessed February 18, 2022, https://voice.dts.edu/tableseries/world-religions/.
- Mikel Del Rosario, “7 Tips to Engage Skeptics Like the Apostle Paul Did in the Bible, Part 1, ” Apologetics Guy, May 22, 2013, http://apologeticsguy.com/2013/05/acts-17-bible-study-apostle-paul-athens-1/.
- Gregory Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, 10th Anniversary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019).
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