Several years ago, Dr. Ralph Winter, founder of the US Center for World Mission, came to our church for a weekend missions conference. He and his family had been missionaries for years and discovered that he had needed more and better training to communicate with positive influence in a different culture.
As a Counselor that insight made a lot of sense to me because our training had said the same thing about the importance of understanding people that are different from us so we could better help them grow and heal.
Dr. Winter also gave us a way to think about reaching out beyond ourselves to others. He laid out four different levels of cross cultural communication.
Missions Level I:
Communicating to the people in our own church and culture. Since this certainly includes different age groups and different sexes, accurate, appropriate, and influential communication also requires understanding even at this level.
Men and Women are different
Singles and marrieds are different
Parents and non-parents are different
Generations are different
Family backgrounds are different
Human experiences are different
Race and ethnicity are different
Socioeconomic experiences are different
Educational experiences are different
Theological convictions are different
Other differences?
So, accurate, appropriate, communication that is positively influential demands sensitivity even in a church congregation. The key to great communication is an ability to relate with the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love, Joy, Gentleness, Kindness, Patience, etc.
The most important thing leaders can do to foster shalom in a congregation is to teach the skills of peaceful relationships at home, work, church, and community. Listen, for Heaven's Sake!
Want to learn about these skills? Go to our web page and get our materials. They can help you grow in caring.
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