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Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership
As the US becomes more diverse, cross-cultural ministry is increasingly important for nearly all pastors and church leaders. Of particular concern is the issue of leadership--a difficult task made even more challenging in multicultural settings. Sherwood Lingenfelter helps the reader understand his or her own leadership culture (and its blind spots), examine it critically in light of Scripture, and become an effective learner of other cultural perspectives on leadership. He also confronts the issues of power inherent in any leadership situation. Lingenfelter carefully defines cross-cultural leadership and unpacks that definition throughout the book, with an emphasis on building communities of vision, trust, and empowerment through leadership based on biblical principles. In the end, he argues that leaders must inhabit the gospel story to be effective cross-culturally.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2008
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April 18, 2021
Here's my write up for an assignment with Liberty University Online; figured I'd share it here - my life is an open book!
Introduction and critical review
The book “Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership,” by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter is primarily about how Christians can engage people from various cultural backgrounds in a more effective way to further the impact of the Gospel in fulfillment of the Great Commission. This book provides several lessons which any follower of Christ can apply to their life and ministry. The five lessons I took away from the book came from the 5 parts in which the book was divided to aid understanding: first, helping to understand what it means to lead cross-cultural; second, inspiring Kingdom vision in people from other cultures; third, building trust with those from a different cultural background; fourth, different ways to empower people from another culture; and fifth, some challenges and hopes of leading cross-culturally. In the past, I did not take seriously the need to plan engagements intentionally with someone from a different culture, whether it is ethnolinguistic, national or just regional, but after reading this book, I see a need to expand my thoughts and actions in this regard.
I honestly do not have many negative things to say about this book. Some of the case studies seemed to draw out universal principles at times, though they were helpful to reinforce points. In other reading material I have seen on intercultural communication, I have found critical race theory and intersectionality to be a focus, but fortunately these were not a part of this work. If the case studies were prescriptive instead of descriptive, and if I perceived a “cultural Marxism” influence in the book, I probably would have much to critique, but instead, I only found beneficial information which I hope to put into practice as I plan to enter full time ministry after retiring from the Marine Corps early next year.
Reflection and discussion on 5 lessons
As mentioned in the introduction, the five lessons I gained from this book are best aligned with the introductory chapter and then the 4 parts that made up the next 12 chapters. The context for which I plan to apply these will be military ministry once I retire, and I will touch on some of my ministry experiences while in the Marine Corps. Before and after college, I went on a couple mission trips to England, France, and Mexico; then during my Merchant Marine Academy days I traveled to countries like Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia; and finally, since joining the Marine Corps, I’ve deployed to even more places such as Okinawa, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, and El Salvador. In all those trips and experiences, I never really saw a need to lead cross-culturally, most likely because I didn’t really understand what it was. So the first lesson I learned in this book was to simply understand that leading cross culturally is “inspiring people who come from two or more cultural traditions to participate with me in building a community of trust and then to follow and be empowered to achieve a compelling vision of faith.” Because I will likely be ministering in the United States as I enter the ministry and not various countries as I have traveled in the past, the way I see my application of this principle is by taking what Dr. Harper said in her video lecture about what cultures include, not just people from different ethnicities and speaking different languages, but also those from various region of the same nation - which is most definitely how the military is comprised. The building of community has been difficult over the past year as many have been locked-down due to the Coronavirus restrictions, but on-line communities are growing, and I changed my degree focus to “ministry in the digital age” in light of this evolving cultural dynamic.
The second key takeaway from this book for me was that need to inspire people of different backgrounds to the same goal, namely the work of the Kingdom of God, while keeping in mind the values and rewards of maintaining this mindset. This cross-cultural leadership focus on God’s Kingdom is very different from what the world focuses upon, but the Holy Spirit will guide us into the particular field of ministry work if we seek the counsel and wisdom of others as the author describes in the stories of Bobby Gupta and John Watters. I too wish to be a catalyst for change in the community and to challenge the status quo, which is very strong in the military, and I also desire to call people together to hear from God like they did. Additionally, Ligenfelter lays out several points about Kingdom work which are very much at odds with the secular life, and a couple of them really jump out at me, such as God being “generous but not fair,” and the fact that sometimes our compensation can be “whatever is right” as well as “a hundred times as much” because His values contradict most cultural values we see. I think that in my future ministry to military personnel I will feel some of this conflict in comparison with God’s Kingdom and the ways of this world, but by remaining focused on His call on my life, I can overcome that just as I overcome any cultural barriers that might impact the ministry.
Third, I learned how to build covenant communities that trust each other even though they have different backgrounds in order to have an effective ministry. Ligenfelter tells of learning the culture first, and I think I know military culture after almost 20 years, but the different services, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard do have different cultures than what I’m used to in the Marine Corps, though I have spent much time on Navy ships as well and interacted with Navy Medical Officers and Chaplains in every unit I’ve been assigned. Ligenfelter also describes a few different priorities, and as I consider the priorities of the military, they primarily involve fighting and wining wars, but in order to do that, service members must be not only physically and mentally fit, but also spiritually and emotionally. The Navy and Marine Corps has instituted something called “Total Fitness” which encapsulates four strands: mind, body, social and spiritual; potentially the other services will do something similar, so I think that will help any future ministry efforts, and building community of trust definitely fits into social and spiritual fitness. I like how Lingenfelter puts it by comparing priorities when he says, “Instead of giving first priority to attaining vision, meeting goals, and productivity, they must rather give highest priority to the formation of a community of trust. So I hope to “keep first things first,” as the saying goes, and though I already have the military background, I still need to ensure I do whatever it takes to build and maintain those kinds of communities wherever God puts me in military ministry.
The fourth lesson centered on how to empower others from different cultures, which I felt like I knew a bit about as a leader of Marines, but the way the author broke it down in 4 aspects was quite helpful in order to plan my ministry engagements with others who do not have the same life experiences that I do. Many in the military, especially in the officer ranks, desire to seek power and exercise it if they are in positions of authority, so in the ministry opportunities God gives me, I will have to keep it in mind, and fortunately the power giving leadership Lingenfelter describes should work well in that environment. Likewise, most military commanders believe they are responsible for everything their subordinates do, and I think that it might be a little bit of a challenge for me to transition to the idea that I am responsible to others instead of for them. This quote from the book summarizes the dichotomy between these quite well: “When we act as if we are responsible for, we take power into our hands, and we use it to try to accomplish our outcomes, the results that we desire, in effect becoming power seekers. By being responsible to, however, we focus on the covenant community and empowering all the members of the body of Christ to produce the results that God intends for his church.” I know as I engage different people from various regions, I will need to be responsible to them and empower them while working to leading them into a closer relationship with God and each other.
Lastly, the fifth idea which concludes this review is the balance of the challenges and the hopes for those who take part in cross-cultural leadership. Lingenfelter states that “Leaders and followers alike create significant pain for one another,” but by “turning to the Scriptures for correction in our leadership and relationships” we will see God’s “promise that in the midst of our pain and difficulties, we will indeed accomplish His mission.” Through the telling of many stories the author bears this out, and for me going into military ministry I know there will be challenges; in fact, I was recently turned down for an internship with one military ministry because I was not a good fit, primarily based on my political ideology and communication strategy and tactics. However, it appears the Lord is opening the door for another ministry to partner with for my internship, and it seems to be more according to God’s plan in order to use my specific gifts, talents and passions. As I grow in my ability to humbly submit to God and other Christian leaders while making every effort to learn better ways of communicating with and engaging people with different backgrounds, I have a lot of hope for what God will do in and through me and my family for His Kingdom.
CONCLUSION
As mentioned in the introduction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons I gleaned from reading it and summarizing them in this paper. Though I may have phrased things a little differently to keep it simple (maybe fewer stories or case studies), I thought the author did a fantastic job of setting up the framework for educating the reader on the importance of cross cultural engagement and leadership as well as the how-too for employing these tactics in order to be effective. Looking at Jesus as the ultimate example, when He met the woman at the well, He effectively engaged her though being Jew and she a Samaritan; likewise, when He healed the Roman Centurion’s servant, He overcame any cultural barriers as well. Additionally, I think Paul led across cultures by becoming all things to all people, and therefore so should we if we are to imitate him as he imitated Christ!
At the end of our lives we will stand before God to give an account for what we’ve said and done. How sad it would be if we missed out on opportunities He provided us simply because of our lack of knowledge or bad practices while engaging people from different cultural backgrounds. I certainly want to make the most of every opportunity and redeem the time in these evil days. Therefore, as I aim to follow the examples of Paul and Jesus, I hope to effectively lead cross-culturally just as the author of this book describes wherever the Lord takes me and my family.
Introduction and critical review
The book “Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership,” by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter is primarily about how Christians can engage people from various cultural backgrounds in a more effective way to further the impact of the Gospel in fulfillment of the Great Commission. This book provides several lessons which any follower of Christ can apply to their life and ministry. The five lessons I took away from the book came from the 5 parts in which the book was divided to aid understanding: first, helping to understand what it means to lead cross-cultural; second, inspiring Kingdom vision in people from other cultures; third, building trust with those from a different cultural background; fourth, different ways to empower people from another culture; and fifth, some challenges and hopes of leading cross-culturally. In the past, I did not take seriously the need to plan engagements intentionally with someone from a different culture, whether it is ethnolinguistic, national or just regional, but after reading this book, I see a need to expand my thoughts and actions in this regard.
I honestly do not have many negative things to say about this book. Some of the case studies seemed to draw out universal principles at times, though they were helpful to reinforce points. In other reading material I have seen on intercultural communication, I have found critical race theory and intersectionality to be a focus, but fortunately these were not a part of this work. If the case studies were prescriptive instead of descriptive, and if I perceived a “cultural Marxism” influence in the book, I probably would have much to critique, but instead, I only found beneficial information which I hope to put into practice as I plan to enter full time ministry after retiring from the Marine Corps early next year.
Reflection and discussion on 5 lessons
As mentioned in the introduction, the five lessons I gained from this book are best aligned with the introductory chapter and then the 4 parts that made up the next 12 chapters. The context for which I plan to apply these will be military ministry once I retire, and I will touch on some of my ministry experiences while in the Marine Corps. Before and after college, I went on a couple mission trips to England, France, and Mexico; then during my Merchant Marine Academy days I traveled to countries like Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia; and finally, since joining the Marine Corps, I’ve deployed to even more places such as Okinawa, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, and El Salvador. In all those trips and experiences, I never really saw a need to lead cross-culturally, most likely because I didn’t really understand what it was. So the first lesson I learned in this book was to simply understand that leading cross culturally is “inspiring people who come from two or more cultural traditions to participate with me in building a community of trust and then to follow and be empowered to achieve a compelling vision of faith.” Because I will likely be ministering in the United States as I enter the ministry and not various countries as I have traveled in the past, the way I see my application of this principle is by taking what Dr. Harper said in her video lecture about what cultures include, not just people from different ethnicities and speaking different languages, but also those from various region of the same nation - which is most definitely how the military is comprised. The building of community has been difficult over the past year as many have been locked-down due to the Coronavirus restrictions, but on-line communities are growing, and I changed my degree focus to “ministry in the digital age” in light of this evolving cultural dynamic.
The second key takeaway from this book for me was that need to inspire people of different backgrounds to the same goal, namely the work of the Kingdom of God, while keeping in mind the values and rewards of maintaining this mindset. This cross-cultural leadership focus on God’s Kingdom is very different from what the world focuses upon, but the Holy Spirit will guide us into the particular field of ministry work if we seek the counsel and wisdom of others as the author describes in the stories of Bobby Gupta and John Watters. I too wish to be a catalyst for change in the community and to challenge the status quo, which is very strong in the military, and I also desire to call people together to hear from God like they did. Additionally, Ligenfelter lays out several points about Kingdom work which are very much at odds with the secular life, and a couple of them really jump out at me, such as God being “generous but not fair,” and the fact that sometimes our compensation can be “whatever is right” as well as “a hundred times as much” because His values contradict most cultural values we see. I think that in my future ministry to military personnel I will feel some of this conflict in comparison with God’s Kingdom and the ways of this world, but by remaining focused on His call on my life, I can overcome that just as I overcome any cultural barriers that might impact the ministry.
Third, I learned how to build covenant communities that trust each other even though they have different backgrounds in order to have an effective ministry. Ligenfelter tells of learning the culture first, and I think I know military culture after almost 20 years, but the different services, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard do have different cultures than what I’m used to in the Marine Corps, though I have spent much time on Navy ships as well and interacted with Navy Medical Officers and Chaplains in every unit I’ve been assigned. Ligenfelter also describes a few different priorities, and as I consider the priorities of the military, they primarily involve fighting and wining wars, but in order to do that, service members must be not only physically and mentally fit, but also spiritually and emotionally. The Navy and Marine Corps has instituted something called “Total Fitness” which encapsulates four strands: mind, body, social and spiritual; potentially the other services will do something similar, so I think that will help any future ministry efforts, and building community of trust definitely fits into social and spiritual fitness. I like how Lingenfelter puts it by comparing priorities when he says, “Instead of giving first priority to attaining vision, meeting goals, and productivity, they must rather give highest priority to the formation of a community of trust. So I hope to “keep first things first,” as the saying goes, and though I already have the military background, I still need to ensure I do whatever it takes to build and maintain those kinds of communities wherever God puts me in military ministry.
The fourth lesson centered on how to empower others from different cultures, which I felt like I knew a bit about as a leader of Marines, but the way the author broke it down in 4 aspects was quite helpful in order to plan my ministry engagements with others who do not have the same life experiences that I do. Many in the military, especially in the officer ranks, desire to seek power and exercise it if they are in positions of authority, so in the ministry opportunities God gives me, I will have to keep it in mind, and fortunately the power giving leadership Lingenfelter describes should work well in that environment. Likewise, most military commanders believe they are responsible for everything their subordinates do, and I think that it might be a little bit of a challenge for me to transition to the idea that I am responsible to others instead of for them. This quote from the book summarizes the dichotomy between these quite well: “When we act as if we are responsible for, we take power into our hands, and we use it to try to accomplish our outcomes, the results that we desire, in effect becoming power seekers. By being responsible to, however, we focus on the covenant community and empowering all the members of the body of Christ to produce the results that God intends for his church.” I know as I engage different people from various regions, I will need to be responsible to them and empower them while working to leading them into a closer relationship with God and each other.
Lastly, the fifth idea which concludes this review is the balance of the challenges and the hopes for those who take part in cross-cultural leadership. Lingenfelter states that “Leaders and followers alike create significant pain for one another,” but by “turning to the Scriptures for correction in our leadership and relationships” we will see God’s “promise that in the midst of our pain and difficulties, we will indeed accomplish His mission.” Through the telling of many stories the author bears this out, and for me going into military ministry I know there will be challenges; in fact, I was recently turned down for an internship with one military ministry because I was not a good fit, primarily based on my political ideology and communication strategy and tactics. However, it appears the Lord is opening the door for another ministry to partner with for my internship, and it seems to be more according to God’s plan in order to use my specific gifts, talents and passions. As I grow in my ability to humbly submit to God and other Christian leaders while making every effort to learn better ways of communicating with and engaging people with different backgrounds, I have a lot of hope for what God will do in and through me and my family for His Kingdom.
CONCLUSION
As mentioned in the introduction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons I gleaned from reading it and summarizing them in this paper. Though I may have phrased things a little differently to keep it simple (maybe fewer stories or case studies), I thought the author did a fantastic job of setting up the framework for educating the reader on the importance of cross cultural engagement and leadership as well as the how-too for employing these tactics in order to be effective. Looking at Jesus as the ultimate example, when He met the woman at the well, He effectively engaged her though being Jew and she a Samaritan; likewise, when He healed the Roman Centurion’s servant, He overcame any cultural barriers as well. Additionally, I think Paul led across cultures by becoming all things to all people, and therefore so should we if we are to imitate him as he imitated Christ!
At the end of our lives we will stand before God to give an account for what we’ve said and done. How sad it would be if we missed out on opportunities He provided us simply because of our lack of knowledge or bad practices while engaging people from different cultural backgrounds. I certainly want to make the most of every opportunity and redeem the time in these evil days. Therefore, as I aim to follow the examples of Paul and Jesus, I hope to effectively lead cross-culturally just as the author of this book describes wherever the Lord takes me and my family.
November 4, 2015
Lingenfelter merges biblical relational dynamics to real, cross-cultural, church life – serving one another in humility. Sometimes our own cultural bias and sin nature as Christian leaders blinds and prevents us from experiencing biblical community that truly inspires people, builds trust, and empowers leaders. The way forward in kingdom work is through embracing kingdom values.
January 2, 2016
One of the areas of great growth and learning for me since I’ve been with Encompass World Partners has been in cross-cultural relationships. One of the experts in that area, and former board member with Encompass is Sherwood Lingenfelter. I encountered his book Ministering Cross-Culturally and learned a lot!
I have poked around in Lingenfelter’s more recent book Leading Cross-Culturally primarily because of our implementation of coalitions which are an architecture for everyone everywhere to engage in mission! It will be best if multiple cultures are involved, and it will also be a stretching experience for everyone involved.
Last night I was transfixed by chapter 8 on “Power-Giving Leadership.” Lingenfelter walked through the sticky Paul, Philemon, Onesimus situation. What a beautiful example of Paul giving away his position and power and empowering Philemon to lead and be like Jesus. This study provides an excellent contribution to Biblical leadership!
Lingenfelter’s definition for the book: Leading cross-culturally, then, is inspiring people who come from two or more cultural traditions to participate with you (the leader or leadership team) in building a community of trust and then to follow you and be empowered by you to achieve a compelling vision of faith.
Below are a string of some of what I found to be the best quotes in my reading so far:
The most important part of empowering new leaders is to support them in the early stages when they need help and to release them as soon as they can walk in the ministry by themselves. Consider the analogy of a toddler learning to walk: as soon as the child takes steps alone, we encourage the child to keep going. Some people are very cautious about releasing young leaders; this is a serious mistake. To release is not to abandon but to let the young leader learn to walk. It is vitally important that we allow young leaders to take halting steps, allow them to stumble, even fall, and then, as mentors, encourage them to get up and try again. We can always support them and help lift them up after they have fallen. But they will never be successful leaders unless we release them to play the game, to do the work for which we have equipped them.
The focus of power-giving leadership is to follow Christ and, in so doing, to lead others to follow Christ. In the patterns of “normal” cultural life, our power and skills may produce leaders but probably won’t produce followers of Christ.
“Giving Philemon the freedom to choose is also a vision to grow (‘I know you’ll do even more than I ask’). Part of empowering leadership is to remind people of who they are and the way their (potential) actions are consistent with their identity in the Lord”
The power-seeking leader uses position and authority to exert mastery over others. In this situation, Paul used a letter to engage in a power exchange with Philemon. He had Onesimus in his custody, and he could have easily written a different letter that would have asserted Philemon’s obligations to him and induced Philemon to release Onesimus to Paul without ever letting Onesimus out of his sight. Paul understood that if he took that tactic, it would be a false path to acquire something that he desired. He would pervert the relationship that God had given him with Philemon, using his position as the senior brother in Christ to advance his own selfish interest. In doing this, Paul would have, in fact, undermined Philemon’s faith and the work of the grace of God in their relationship together.
Jesus must become the center of who we are…
To restore our human psyche and relationships to the will and purpose of God, Jesus must become the center of who we are and replace our quest for power. Only as we are motivated by the Holy Spirit and through the living Word of God can we relate to one another within the structures of human society to accomplish the purpose of God.
I will first argue that we must put Jesus “in the place of power as a proper source of healing and will”
The task and the routines of daily work always erode our mission and vision for the ministry. They also erode our spiritual values. The question is not whether our values are eroding; team values are always eroding. The question is, what are we doing as leaders to renew our sense of mission, to restore our vision, and to renew the values that are critical for multicultural teamwork? Our hope for effective leadership and ministries lies in aligning ourselves with the mission and work of God in a lost and broken world.
Leaders in particular must surrender their obsession to control and achieve, through worship at the cross.
While the process will be difficult, with periods of intense testing and struggle, building covenant community is a process of refocusing from doing what we want to being the people of God.
In the end the work of the kingdom depends on our obedience to the King. God cannot rule in people who are disobedient and in conflict with one another. God rules as we obey God and love one another.
Every leader who expects and hopes to be effective in leading cross-culturally must give repeated attention to the mission, the vision, and the values that are essential to kingdom work. Every team meeting should include some intentional renewal of mission, vision, and/or values. As soon as that component of the team is lost, the mission and the vision will be lost to the routines and the pressures of doing our daily work. Every case study that we have considered here has suffered because of a loss of mission, vision, and/or values among the people who were part of the multicultural team process.
Saying, “I was wrong,” is more powerful than saying “I’m sorry.”
One of my colleagues, Janice Strength, notes that saying “I was wrong” is far more powerful than saying “I am sorry.” She notes that we often push children to say “I am sorry” when they and we know they are not. To acknowledge “I was wrong” is to take responsibility for the action we have done.
I remind students in my classes that we are first emotional creatures and only secondarily rational. As we respond to crises or stressful situations in leadership, we rarely operate based on reason and rational processes. When things get tough, we first respond emotionally—frustration, anger, fear, disappointment, and betrayal. These emotions often get the best of us, leading us to seek power to protect ourselves, which in turn undermines the will and purpose of God.
I remember praying, “Please remove this person from leadership and give me someone else who can do the job more effectively.” God’s answer to this prayer was, “Absolutely no; don’t you understand my work?” I learned over a period of time that God loves weak people and that God intends leaders to work with the people whom God gives to them.
I have poked around in Lingenfelter’s more recent book Leading Cross-Culturally primarily because of our implementation of coalitions which are an architecture for everyone everywhere to engage in mission! It will be best if multiple cultures are involved, and it will also be a stretching experience for everyone involved.
Last night I was transfixed by chapter 8 on “Power-Giving Leadership.” Lingenfelter walked through the sticky Paul, Philemon, Onesimus situation. What a beautiful example of Paul giving away his position and power and empowering Philemon to lead and be like Jesus. This study provides an excellent contribution to Biblical leadership!
Lingenfelter’s definition for the book: Leading cross-culturally, then, is inspiring people who come from two or more cultural traditions to participate with you (the leader or leadership team) in building a community of trust and then to follow you and be empowered by you to achieve a compelling vision of faith.
Below are a string of some of what I found to be the best quotes in my reading so far:
The most important part of empowering new leaders is to support them in the early stages when they need help and to release them as soon as they can walk in the ministry by themselves. Consider the analogy of a toddler learning to walk: as soon as the child takes steps alone, we encourage the child to keep going. Some people are very cautious about releasing young leaders; this is a serious mistake. To release is not to abandon but to let the young leader learn to walk. It is vitally important that we allow young leaders to take halting steps, allow them to stumble, even fall, and then, as mentors, encourage them to get up and try again. We can always support them and help lift them up after they have fallen. But they will never be successful leaders unless we release them to play the game, to do the work for which we have equipped them.
The focus of power-giving leadership is to follow Christ and, in so doing, to lead others to follow Christ. In the patterns of “normal” cultural life, our power and skills may produce leaders but probably won’t produce followers of Christ.
“Giving Philemon the freedom to choose is also a vision to grow (‘I know you’ll do even more than I ask’). Part of empowering leadership is to remind people of who they are and the way their (potential) actions are consistent with their identity in the Lord”
The power-seeking leader uses position and authority to exert mastery over others. In this situation, Paul used a letter to engage in a power exchange with Philemon. He had Onesimus in his custody, and he could have easily written a different letter that would have asserted Philemon’s obligations to him and induced Philemon to release Onesimus to Paul without ever letting Onesimus out of his sight. Paul understood that if he took that tactic, it would be a false path to acquire something that he desired. He would pervert the relationship that God had given him with Philemon, using his position as the senior brother in Christ to advance his own selfish interest. In doing this, Paul would have, in fact, undermined Philemon’s faith and the work of the grace of God in their relationship together.
Jesus must become the center of who we are…
To restore our human psyche and relationships to the will and purpose of God, Jesus must become the center of who we are and replace our quest for power. Only as we are motivated by the Holy Spirit and through the living Word of God can we relate to one another within the structures of human society to accomplish the purpose of God.
I will first argue that we must put Jesus “in the place of power as a proper source of healing and will”
The task and the routines of daily work always erode our mission and vision for the ministry. They also erode our spiritual values. The question is not whether our values are eroding; team values are always eroding. The question is, what are we doing as leaders to renew our sense of mission, to restore our vision, and to renew the values that are critical for multicultural teamwork? Our hope for effective leadership and ministries lies in aligning ourselves with the mission and work of God in a lost and broken world.
Leaders in particular must surrender their obsession to control and achieve, through worship at the cross.
While the process will be difficult, with periods of intense testing and struggle, building covenant community is a process of refocusing from doing what we want to being the people of God.
In the end the work of the kingdom depends on our obedience to the King. God cannot rule in people who are disobedient and in conflict with one another. God rules as we obey God and love one another.
Every leader who expects and hopes to be effective in leading cross-culturally must give repeated attention to the mission, the vision, and the values that are essential to kingdom work. Every team meeting should include some intentional renewal of mission, vision, and/or values. As soon as that component of the team is lost, the mission and the vision will be lost to the routines and the pressures of doing our daily work. Every case study that we have considered here has suffered because of a loss of mission, vision, and/or values among the people who were part of the multicultural team process.
Saying, “I was wrong,” is more powerful than saying “I’m sorry.”
One of my colleagues, Janice Strength, notes that saying “I was wrong” is far more powerful than saying “I am sorry.” She notes that we often push children to say “I am sorry” when they and we know they are not. To acknowledge “I was wrong” is to take responsibility for the action we have done.
I remind students in my classes that we are first emotional creatures and only secondarily rational. As we respond to crises or stressful situations in leadership, we rarely operate based on reason and rational processes. When things get tough, we first respond emotionally—frustration, anger, fear, disappointment, and betrayal. These emotions often get the best of us, leading us to seek power to protect ourselves, which in turn undermines the will and purpose of God.
I remember praying, “Please remove this person from leadership and give me someone else who can do the job more effectively.” God’s answer to this prayer was, “Absolutely no; don’t you understand my work?” I learned over a period of time that God loves weak people and that God intends leaders to work with the people whom God gives to them.
April 9, 2020
I appreciated this book more than I thought I would when I started reading it. Technically it probably lands somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.
Lingenfelter lays out a case for looking at leadership in ministry situations as a place for discipleship and developing other leaders, rather than as a place to insure goals and visions are accomplished. Setting aside some of the points where his theological background comes through (among other points, I felt like Reformed theology received specific criticism which at the very least was applicable to a broad portion of Protestant traditions), Lingenfelter does develop a decent vision which at the very least is thought-provoking.
On the downside, the opening of the book is rather repetitive, and several of the early chapters developed trains of thought which were similar enough I felt like I was just getting a repeat of the previous chapter. Also, business/leadership books are not my normal reading, so I felt slightly uncertain of how the argument was developing and how references were used. Both of them felt unwieldy to me, but this might be more a factor of my unfamiliarity with the genre, rather than an actual issue with the book.
Lingenfelter lays out a case for looking at leadership in ministry situations as a place for discipleship and developing other leaders, rather than as a place to insure goals and visions are accomplished. Setting aside some of the points where his theological background comes through (among other points, I felt like Reformed theology received specific criticism which at the very least was applicable to a broad portion of Protestant traditions), Lingenfelter does develop a decent vision which at the very least is thought-provoking.
On the downside, the opening of the book is rather repetitive, and several of the early chapters developed trains of thought which were similar enough I felt like I was just getting a repeat of the previous chapter. Also, business/leadership books are not my normal reading, so I felt slightly uncertain of how the argument was developing and how references were used. Both of them felt unwieldy to me, but this might be more a factor of my unfamiliarity with the genre, rather than an actual issue with the book.
January 15, 2019
In this book, the author addresses the issue of diversity in America and how cross-culturally ministries are becoming increasingly important for today’s pastors and church leaders. Lingenfelter focused on the foundational concept of building covenant community within a leadership team. The author merged biblical relational dynamics to real cross-cultural church life. Lingenfelter suggested that individuals own cultural bias and sin nature blinds and prevents church and ministry leaders from experiencing biblical community that build trust. The author asserted that strategy and planning in multi-cultural relationships is almost worthless or pointless unless a solid foundation of covenant community and identity is established. The author addressed the issue of trust and its importance in cross-cultural relationships. The author described what is essential to building trust in cross-cultural relationships and how that must be navigated across power relationships. The author emphasized that trust cannot be build cross-culturally on very deep levels unless awareness of how power must be managed in the covenant community.
January 22, 2022
Excellent Book
A great book about cross-cultural leadership. There are a lot of helpful suggestions and ideas, and I particularly found the matrices of teams helpful. His emphasis of giving up of control while being a leader, as well as the emphasis of giving up control. Those are important perspectives for the leader as he or she seeks to lead in the Spirit. I also appreciated the distinction of “responsible to” and “responsible for”.
That said, I found the case studies to be one dimensional, and sometimes did not reflect the complexities I have faced as a cross cultural leader. I would have appreciated more emphasis on the balance between covenantal relationships and achieving results, and the need of a leader to sometimes make hard personnel decisions. Those situations are, however, less common than the tendency for the leader to be controlling, and so I understand, and sympathize with the authors emphasis.
A great book about cross-cultural leadership. There are a lot of helpful suggestions and ideas, and I particularly found the matrices of teams helpful. His emphasis of giving up of control while being a leader, as well as the emphasis of giving up control. Those are important perspectives for the leader as he or she seeks to lead in the Spirit. I also appreciated the distinction of “responsible to” and “responsible for”.
That said, I found the case studies to be one dimensional, and sometimes did not reflect the complexities I have faced as a cross cultural leader. I would have appreciated more emphasis on the balance between covenantal relationships and achieving results, and the need of a leader to sometimes make hard personnel decisions. Those situations are, however, less common than the tendency for the leader to be controlling, and so I understand, and sympathize with the authors emphasis.
April 10, 2020
Powerlessness is the profound path to Kingdom productivity
Jesus chose the path of powerlessness, the path of the cross, rather than the common human path of power, striving, and dominance. Lingenfelter does an awesome job of showing what true Kingdom leadership looks like in the reflection of our King, Jesus Christ. I am going to have to reread and reread and reread this book to absorb all of the jewels therein. As a senior pastor, I have much to repent of in how I’ve been leading the local church under my watch. I need to relinquish my quest for power and walk in a deeper humility, as I shift from self-ambition to Kingdom priorities. No more church self-work here...only Kingdom teamwork here.
Jesus chose the path of powerlessness, the path of the cross, rather than the common human path of power, striving, and dominance. Lingenfelter does an awesome job of showing what true Kingdom leadership looks like in the reflection of our King, Jesus Christ. I am going to have to reread and reread and reread this book to absorb all of the jewels therein. As a senior pastor, I have much to repent of in how I’ve been leading the local church under my watch. I need to relinquish my quest for power and walk in a deeper humility, as I shift from self-ambition to Kingdom priorities. No more church self-work here...only Kingdom teamwork here.
August 4, 2019
Overall, this book had great principles for cross-cultural leadership. My main takeaway was that good leaders create and protect covenant community rather than simply focusing on accomplishing the task at hand, whatever the cost. The latter mindset is easier to fall into than most of us would like to admit. The case studies really helped illuminate his points.
With that said, I struggled to get through some of the more abstract parts. I thought the book could have been more concise.
With that said, I struggled to get through some of the more abstract parts. I thought the book could have been more concise.
July 22, 2020
This was required reading for a class I'm taking this summer.
Ligenfelter uses case-studies and examines what they've done right or wrong as cross-cultural ministers. I had so many takeaways from this book, and a lot of them applied to ministry or life in general, not just cross-cultural ministry. It was a really great read for just a general perspective on relationships, especially for people coming from different backgrounds and perspectives.
Ligenfelter uses case-studies and examines what they've done right or wrong as cross-cultural ministers. I had so many takeaways from this book, and a lot of them applied to ministry or life in general, not just cross-cultural ministry. It was a really great read for just a general perspective on relationships, especially for people coming from different backgrounds and perspectives.
November 22, 2020
“Culture is both our palace and prison.” (P. 59)
Invite God to the meeting.
Be guided by the illogic of love.
What is the core of your ‘Why’?
God is interested and invested in everything you do.
How are maintaining your mission/ vision and values?
Read for an intercultural communications class and recommend to anyone looking to build understanding and applicable skills when engaging peers from different cultural backgrounds.
Invite God to the meeting.
Be guided by the illogic of love.
What is the core of your ‘Why’?
God is interested and invested in everything you do.
How are maintaining your mission/ vision and values?
Read for an intercultural communications class and recommend to anyone looking to build understanding and applicable skills when engaging peers from different cultural backgrounds.
September 4, 2024
Great info. The case-studies and examples are all multinational missions but the theories apply just as well to a single local church. Even though all the members may be from the same ethnicity or same basic culture they still bring differences from their families of origin that can cause conflict. Even though we come from the same culture, we will still have disagreements, and community in Christ is what enables us to work together toward the mission of God.
July 10, 2019
Cross-cultural Leadership demands covenant relationship
Tremendous read! Informative and true to the scriptural narrative of the cross, both Christ’s and ours. When we love in covenantal ways we will see with Christ’s eyes and respect each other. Lingenfelter conveys a vision for cross cultural leadership that is biblical and vital.
Tremendous read! Informative and true to the scriptural narrative of the cross, both Christ’s and ours. When we love in covenantal ways we will see with Christ’s eyes and respect each other. Lingenfelter conveys a vision for cross cultural leadership that is biblical and vital.
September 17, 2025
Wish I had this 50 years ago working in and leading cross-cultural teams.
August 14, 2020
Sherwood J. Lingenfelter is a missiological anthropologist and former provost at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books regarding leadership and is referenced in missiology and church leadership research. Most recently, he presented research on the challenges of missions and LGBTQ issues.
In this book, the author emphasizes that the values of a ministry are depreciating rapidly. Ministries must have a vision and a mission dedicated to that vision. Each chapter is rife with examples of dysfunction, miscommunication, negative cultural assumptions, and repetitive routines that digress from the vision and mission and degrade the spiritual values that support and undergird them.
Cross cultural leadership is finding a way to communicate, interculturally, the vision and mission. The values supporting them must be believed, modeled, repeated, and renewed. “Every leader who expects and hopes to be effective in leading cross-culturally must give repeated attention to the mission, the vision, and the values that are essential to Kingdom Work. Every team meeting should include some intentional renewal of mission, vision, and for values.”
The author examines case studies in each chapter, reflecting on the difficulties of leadership and the obstacles to executing the vision and mission of the respective ministries. He reflects on “Kingdom Work” and entering a covenant of love with those we partner with in this work. Building intercultural trust in a covenant community has specific challenges a leader must overcome. The author also addresses these specific challenges. He emphasizes that good leadership empowers others and offers scriptural teachings regarding our “exercise of will and desire to control others and outcomes” He concludes by outlining some principles for effective stewardship of power.”…leaders must learn how to align people with their diverse gifts to achieve the vision that God has given them and then empower them to be about his kingdom work.”
I think the author has done a very good job emphasizing the important distinctions of “Kingdom Work” and the values that must be upheld by leaders. His reminders about trust and covenant are very timely as various Christian communities in the United States grapple with their own visions and crises of identity (race, gender, sexual expression, et al.)
I was confused by Chapter 4 and the “social game��� grid. I need to educate myself more on these concepts, yet it also seems to reduce complex cultural dimensions in a way. So, while his presentation is complex to me, I can hardly believe this grid is all-encompassing.
Personally, I am challenged by this book to examine my endeavors in covenants particularly my vows to my wife and my covenant membership to my church body. While our church is not my primary place of ministry, I am challenged to be more loving and supportive of our leaders. I can also see more clearly my covenant responsibilities to assume authority and leadership in my marriage that effectively empowers my wife and strengthens our partnership and union. What is our vision? What is our mission? These will be great conversations to have together.
With regard to the author’s emphasis that Kingdom Work is accomplished by entering into covenant with your mission community, I appreciate the “Philippian principles” he outlines in Chapter 10. “God’s highest priority is that we be and live as the people of God”
While these five principles do not touch on all the themes of the book, they are very relevant to the way I am applying the author’s teaching to my ministry as a clinically trained health care chaplain. I think this is a very good handbook for anyone who serves in ministry and finds themselves with increasing leadership responsibility both in the United States and abroad.
In this book, the author emphasizes that the values of a ministry are depreciating rapidly. Ministries must have a vision and a mission dedicated to that vision. Each chapter is rife with examples of dysfunction, miscommunication, negative cultural assumptions, and repetitive routines that digress from the vision and mission and degrade the spiritual values that support and undergird them.
Cross cultural leadership is finding a way to communicate, interculturally, the vision and mission. The values supporting them must be believed, modeled, repeated, and renewed. “Every leader who expects and hopes to be effective in leading cross-culturally must give repeated attention to the mission, the vision, and the values that are essential to Kingdom Work. Every team meeting should include some intentional renewal of mission, vision, and for values.”
The author examines case studies in each chapter, reflecting on the difficulties of leadership and the obstacles to executing the vision and mission of the respective ministries. He reflects on “Kingdom Work” and entering a covenant of love with those we partner with in this work. Building intercultural trust in a covenant community has specific challenges a leader must overcome. The author also addresses these specific challenges. He emphasizes that good leadership empowers others and offers scriptural teachings regarding our “exercise of will and desire to control others and outcomes” He concludes by outlining some principles for effective stewardship of power.”…leaders must learn how to align people with their diverse gifts to achieve the vision that God has given them and then empower them to be about his kingdom work.”
I think the author has done a very good job emphasizing the important distinctions of “Kingdom Work” and the values that must be upheld by leaders. His reminders about trust and covenant are very timely as various Christian communities in the United States grapple with their own visions and crises of identity (race, gender, sexual expression, et al.)
I was confused by Chapter 4 and the “social game��� grid. I need to educate myself more on these concepts, yet it also seems to reduce complex cultural dimensions in a way. So, while his presentation is complex to me, I can hardly believe this grid is all-encompassing.
Personally, I am challenged by this book to examine my endeavors in covenants particularly my vows to my wife and my covenant membership to my church body. While our church is not my primary place of ministry, I am challenged to be more loving and supportive of our leaders. I can also see more clearly my covenant responsibilities to assume authority and leadership in my marriage that effectively empowers my wife and strengthens our partnership and union. What is our vision? What is our mission? These will be great conversations to have together.
With regard to the author’s emphasis that Kingdom Work is accomplished by entering into covenant with your mission community, I appreciate the “Philippian principles” he outlines in Chapter 10. “God’s highest priority is that we be and live as the people of God”
While these five principles do not touch on all the themes of the book, they are very relevant to the way I am applying the author’s teaching to my ministry as a clinically trained health care chaplain. I think this is a very good handbook for anyone who serves in ministry and finds themselves with increasing leadership responsibility both in the United States and abroad.
September 10, 2020
Very helpful overview of the many traps facing people trying to partner cross-culturally for Kingdom work - I would read alongside "Ministering Cross-Culturally" by the same author. Should be required reading for anyone moving overseas who intends to work together with locals - and most especially should be required reading for team leaders.
March 1, 2011
As someone working with a multi-cultural team I found this book insightful, helpful and challenging. I have made many notes and am seeking to apply much of what I gained from Lingenfelter. The book focuses primarily on the foundational concept of building covenant community within the team and I would have appreciated some more practical suggestions for what to do to develop communication, trust and such within the team. But in the end I think this is a very useful book and I will almost certainly refer back to it. I would also say that much of what he shares in this book is relevant not only to multi-cultural teams but to any team situation, especially those involving believers. I have marked some of his other books on my to-read list and expect to find them as useful.
March 1, 2015
"This book was one of the books that I needed to read for my Global Leadership class in my MA program. It is an incredible reader as siting one who is a leader in a Cross-Cultural context to be aware and sensitive in their approach of decision-making as well as strategic planning. The premise is not to superimpose an American style of leadership on leaders from other cultures. I had many "aha" moments reading this book and reflecting on past experiences ."
November 3, 2023
I wish I had ready this book many years ago. Lingenfelter gives profound advice for being an effective leader - not just cross-culturally, but anywhere. I wish I had read this book many years ago. Another "multi-reader".
August 15, 2009
One of the better books on leadership within cross-cultural settings.
October 12, 2014
Excellent book. Particularly impressed by how Lingenfelter references his previous works and notes his growth/evolution in thinking on some topics.
January 30, 2015
Very practical book outlining the need for cross-cultural awareness in leading multi-cultural teams. Fascinating case studies illustrate each chapter.
Read
June 11, 2016Valuable insights on building a covenant community on trust.
May 14, 2011
Eh. The book could be skimmed down to about 30 pages.
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