Christianity & Cultural Intelligence 

Be a Christian With Cultural Intelligence

Introduction

As a black man, I find it so unfortunate that many in the church do not see cultural intelligence as a significant issue. Many operate under the notion that, while the gospel goes to diverse peoples, they need not learn anything about those diverse peoples. We need the cultural context of the Bible to understand it, but less readily admit that we need the cultural context of the races, ethnicities, etc, to preach and evangelize those people groups. Or worse, they can disrespect or sin against those communities in minor or significant ways. Matthew Kim wrote his 2017 book Preaching with Cultural Intelligence to tackle the problem of culturally illiterate Christians. The book tries to focus specifically on preaching. For this book review, I will focus on the first and sixth chapters since chapter one is the basis of the book, and chapter six is more relevant to me as a black man.

Understanding Cultural Intelligence

What is Culture?

The first chapter of the book is about understanding Cultural Intelligence. However, terms need to be defined. Kim discusses how difficult it can be to define the term culture. Using scripture and other considerations, he concludes, “...culture is a group’s way of living, way of thinking, and way of behaving in the world, for which we need understanding and empathy to guide listeners toward Christian maturity” (Section: Culture and Homiletics). The definition is intentionally broad, holistic, and focused on a Christian response to it because that is the audience Kim is addressing. The church should encourage 3 understanding and empathy for those of a different culture, as the church does in the New Testament. As will be demonstrated, the New Testament (NT) church demonstrated CQ.

What is Cultural Intelligence?

Now that we have defined culture, we can move to understand what cultural Intelligence (CQ) is. Kim uses the framework of others to establish his understanding. This framework has four parts. CQ drive is the interest, drive, and energy to engage cross-culturally. As an example, Kim states, “Are you willing to pronounce and remember unfamiliar or “foreign” names?” (Section: CQ Drive). This question hit me personally. I love anime and Asian media more broadly. I enjoy the culture and what it produces. However, I constantly find myself not remembering the names of the characters. I have to try very hard unless the character is in a super popular media like Dragon Ball Z. I only remember part of the name of the main character of Solo Leveling because I have binged the first season a couple of times. Everyone has something to work on, small or big, to improve our CQ. 

The next dimension is cognitive and refers to the knowledge of a culture. This is where you ask questions such as, are they collectivistic or individualistic? What motivates their behavior? What might obstruct the Gospel? What do they value? And more. For example, ancient Israel was an honor and shame collectivistic society. Meanwhile, America is individualistic and hedonistic. Just like not knowing this cultural difference affects our biblical interpretation, not knowing other cultures affects our engagement with and evangelism of them. 

CQ strategy refers to the plan we have when engaging a culture. As an easily understandable example, plan not to use certain words when speaking to black people unless given permission. I Think strategy should not just avoid conflict but respect and love the “other”. Preparing and monitoring our intentions and motives are relevant to strategizing a cultural engagement. 

The final dimension is CQ action. This dimension looks at the action one takes, both verbal and 4 non-verbal. For example, maybe there is a culture where bowing before someone is the speech equivalent of hello, whereas waving your hand to them is the speech equivalent of flipping the bird. In this hypothetical, the person will want to learn about this, learn, strategize, and then execute the strategy to bow rather than wave. 

Cultural Intelligence is Biblical

A portion of the first chapter alerts the reader to the need for cultural intelligence. Kim then gives a biblical example of how cultural intelligence (CQ) was helpful when evangelism. Referring to Peter evangelizing the Ethiopian Eunuch, Kim states, 

It is not insignificant that Luke records the ethnicity of this Ethiopian Eunuch. Here the ethnic moniker of Ethiopian does not refer to modern-day Ethiopia per se, but rather to the Nubian region between southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Through this cultural exchange, we observe that Philip’s presentation of the gospel for this Ethiopian government official required cultural intelligence. (Section: Culture and Homiletics)

 There are other biblical examples. Paul cites Greek philosophers when speaking to Greek philosophers in Acts 17:16-34. In 1 Corinthians, it is written, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews… I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:20 and 22, NRSVUE). The holy Apostle gives us an example of what it means to be a culturally literate Christian, even being like the cultures he enters into to save some.

Preaching and Ethnicities

Race

In this section, Kim makes helpful distinctions between race, culture, and ethnicity. Race is a social construct created based on physical traits. I am “black” because my skin tone is darker, in contrast to “white” people. The problem with this categorization is how non-monolithic people in these categories are. A “black” person who is ethnically and culturally European and a “white” person who is ethnically and culturally African is very different. However, they are lumped into these categories and treated based on those racial categories. Perhaps the category of race is a stumbling block to gaining CQ. 

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to a people group, while culture refers to, “...the way of living, way of thinking, and way of behaving within the parameter of cultural norms in the society in which one resides” (Section: Ethnicity vs culture). Let’s say that a child is born in Russia. When they were very young, their family moved to Mexico, where they grew up. Racially, they are Asian. Ethnically, they are Chinese. Culturally, they are Mexican. This child is a Chinese Mexican. We must remember not to confuse Race, ethnicity, and culture. This also means that we cannot make assumptions. A Chinese person might speak Spanish as their first language. A black person may speak a European style of English and so on. 

Gracism

While I cannot discuss everything the chapter offers, I would love to discuss what Kim suggests is the way Christians should be. Kim cites David Anderson who came up with the term Gracism, a play on the term racism. Ethnocentrism deems one ethnic group superior to all others and expects others to conform to one ethnic group. Racism wants to be negative toward a race based on one's skin color or 6 other identity marker. Gracism, on the other hand, wants to have a, “... positive extension of favor on other humans based on color, class, or culture” (Anderson, as cited in Kim, 2017, section: Application). Anderson and Kim use 1 Cor 12:22-26 to draw out the principles of gracism. Paul, speaking of the church metaphorically as a body, states that every member of said body receives honor, empathy, and equality. If one part of the church suffers, we all do. If one is honored, all are honored. The reasoning for Paul is that this will help cease division in the church. Oh, how we need this reminder! If the black church suffers from the sins of racism, then ALL the church suffers. If one honors the churches in Asia, ALL are honored. That being said, how do we honor these Christians and these churches? By being Culturally Intelligent (CQ).

General Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I believe it should be read by the faithful, especially if they are struggling in this area. However, I do have some minor critiques. I think the book can be a bit redundant. It is salient to show howthis Gracism is applied across race, gender, etc. However, much of what can be said about one can be said about the other, at least regarding a Christian response in the context of preaching. Many of the same principles apply. As such, repetition can occur in the book. 

The title “preaching” with CQ is a bit of a misnomer. In reality, this is (or perhaps would better be) being a Christian with CQ. From my perspective, preaching gets some attention but many other aspects of the Christian experience also get attention. The author admits the broadness with which we should apply the book in the quote I have in my conclusion, even admitting it is more important. Why make a  book attempting to tackle the preaching side of things when that is not even the most important goal you want to accomplish?

Conclusion

Matthew Kim states, “My hope is that some of what I have presented in this chapter can be incorporated into our preaching ministry, yet more importantly, we will embody and integrate gracism and ethnic celebration into our Christian discipleship” (Chapter 6, section: Conclusion). By writing this, I hope I do the book justice and share in this endeavor. The principles used in the book are not only biblical but probably applicable. I hope this book review will encourage you to buy the book and increase your CQ as well as that of others 

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