Humility in Christian Cultural Interaction: Interdisciplinary Engagement Through Music and Language Learning

Concluding Remarks

Some of the theological and ethical concerns surrounding engineering technology are genuine and must be thoroughly addressed at all stages of development and implementation. However, despite the controversies around initiatives in this field, AI still remains a beneficial resource for human flourishing. Advances made in AI and biomechatronics have the capacity to be honoring unto God, as they can demonstrate the unique creative abilities that God has bestowed on us. In addition, it is reassuring to remember that God alone has the power to create life ex nihilo, and no current or future advancement in technology will ever usurp that. Furthermore, as creatures of God, we are to bear His image; and as imitators of His character, we are to instill — when applicable — those virtues and moral boundaries into our technological advancements.

1 Clay Dillow, “Will People Alive Today Have the Opportunity to Upload Their Consciousness to a New Robotic Body?,” Popular Science, March 2, 2012, https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-03/ achieving-immortality-russian-mogul-wants-begin-putting-humanbrains-robots-and-soon.

2 Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994), 216.

3 Ibid., 217.

4 O. Carter Snead, What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2020), 13.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ESSAYS

Humility in Christian Cultural Interaction: Interdisciplinary Engagement Through Music and Language Learning

Robert Morehouse, Professor of Arabic, Liberty University Katherine Morehouse, Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair, Department of Multi-Ethnic Music Studies, Liberty University

Humility in Christian Cultural Engagement

Jesus told us to disciple the nations, and He modeled what our approach should be. Discipling someone requires entering into a relationship with them, actively engaging to help them experience the Kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we are to disciple the nations we must engage their cultures. Just as Jesus dwelled among us incarnationally, we dwell incarnationally with those we are ministering to and alongside.

Primary attributes for a disciple are humility and submission. A disciple sat literally “at the feet” of the teacher in a subordinate position. Jesus invited Mary to be discipled by listening at His feet (Luke 10:39). Paul was educated “at the feet” of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). The healed demoniac was found sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 8:35). In fact, in the story of Mary and Martha, Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the only necessary thing: sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him (Luke 10:42).

But then, in the ultimate role reversal, on the night Jesus was betrayed, he took a towel and bent low “at the feet” of His disciples to wash their feet. He was demonstrating that the greatest among us would be servants. More than that, He showed that love and service will be the hallmark of His disciples (Luke 23:8-12, Philippians 2:1-11). Intentionally deciding to learn a new language or musical style for the purpose of discipleship is a kind of servanthood. Out of a heart of love and service, we place our own comfort aside and step into the glorious discomfort of being new at something we are not yet good at. If we intend to engage people from a culture other than our own, we must go to them, learning their languages, customs, and beliefs. This is an active process. It is an educational process, a humbling process. Disciples of Jesus disciple others by going lower, not higher. Seeing People’s Hearts

If we are going to invite people to follow Jesus like He called His disciples to follow Him, we must go to them. If we are going to make disciples we must know them. Jesus went; He knew His disciples’ hearts; He saw them as they were; and He called them to, “Follow me.” We too must go to the nations, learn to see them, and call them to follow Jesus. Going to people is a form of going lower. We must empty ourselves, setting aside our biases and preferences and choosing to see other people and their world with humility. This starts with observing, listening, and seeking to be taught the culture through language, music, and other avenues, so that we might understand them on their terms (the emic perspective).

The human instinct to engage others through our own filters has historically been a problem for the Church. Rather than taking a humble approach, missionaries have sometimes seen themselves, and their own “Christian” cultures as superior, and have thus focused on imparting values, norms, taboos, etc. as part of presenting the Gospel. Instead, we need to learn first, and to dwell first, so we can decontextualize and get rid of our own cultural baggage before we can contextualize the Gospel in another language or musical style. Missional approaches that operate under the assumption that believers in other societies are in some way spiritually dysfunctional or dependent on “first world” churches for their health and wellbeing cripple the body of Christ by binding healthy limbs and stifling growth that comes with exercise. The better thing would be to take time to know and understand people, to see their hearts. Then, from a place of relationship, invite, enable, and encourage them to make disciples themselves.

Experience Life with People

Cross-cultural discipleship requires actively being a part of normal life with the goal of producing followers of Jesus. It requires going, meeting, inviting, listening, learning, and participating. There is a lot to be said for the academic engagement of other cultures. Indeed, it is valuable to learn the languages, literatures, histories, religions, norms, taboos, arts, etc. of the people that you are hoping to engage. However, there is no substitute for experience. When we participate respectfully and receptively in others’ lives, this shows deference and love. Whether in sharing meals, doing business, participating in recreation, worshipping together, or other activities, sharing our lives with others as we join in theirs, it is in these interactions that our learning, however meager or extensive, is realized. Our senses come alive with the experience of the greetings, meals, habits, rites of passage, etc. that we have studied.

Language learning is a powerful way to enhance the degree to which we experience life with people. Being able to speak to someone in their own language changes the nature of engagement. We talk about things being “lost in translation” for a reason. Knowing the language allows us more intimate access to a broader understanding of the culture. We can recognize and convey nuance and subtlety that might otherwise be missed.

Learning someone else’s language is also a way to go lower. It requires a humble “sitting at the feet” of someone who knows the language. Committing the kind of time and energy required to learn another language demonstrates your level of interest to those to whom you are trying to communicate. It shows that you are willing to lay aside your own time, language, and culture in order to understand theirs.

Inviting People into the Kingdom

The fruit of approaching others from a place of this kind of humility comes in a number of forms. Those we engage will know the sincerity of our interest and our genuine love for them as they are. They will feel appreciated and understood, trusting that there is someone from another culture who is trying to understand what it means to be from their culture — someone who is capable of seeing beyond caricature and stereotype. Where better to minister to others than from a place of trust? Discipling the nations involves talking about the Kingdom of God and living by the values, habits, and customs of that Kingdom. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom, He set forth a whole new set of principles that will be foreign to ALL cultures to some extent: don’t strike back if someone hits you; don’t save your money, but divest yourself of it for the Kingdom’s sake; and don’t worry about your life, but trust God to provide. The values of the Kingdom center our focus on God and others, rather than on ourselves. Even as the Holy Spirit draws someone to the truth of Jesus, in many settings there will also be incredible social pressure against following Him.

In some cultures the invitation to follow Christ in building His Kingdom asks the new believer to truly sacrifice everything they hold dear, as they may well lose not only their possessions but their family, friends, and at times even their lives. How vital then is the trust we must build with those whom we are calling to come follow Jesus Messiah with us? How worthwhile is the sacrificed time and energy of study and preparation, and the humility of insisting on a posture of servitude through language and cultural learning?

Perhaps the only thing more important than the trust we might garner with those we encounter is our ability to extend the invitation at all. While it is paramount that we know the message and are able to give a reason for our hope, we must know the people, their language, and their ways if we are going to be able to tell what God has done for us in a way they can understand. While singing a translated hymn from our own tradition is not necessarily bad, how much more impactful would it be to tell the bigpicture story of the Bible through a song composed in a local style, in their heart music? If you have learned to see people as they see themselves, if you have committed to experience life with them, and if you lovingly engage with people and you are talking about and living out the Kingdom with them, you are making disciples of Jesus.

Conclusion

A “going lower” model of cultural engagement demonstrates our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is itself a mode of evangelism and discipleship. Sometimes more importantly, it reifies the value of our fellow believers and encourages their own agency in the body of Christ. In our emphasis on contextualization and learning the culture, we