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Ministering Cross-Culturally: A Model for Effective Personal Relationships by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter
Paperback
Published January 1, 1832
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 12, 2026
Lingenfelter's incarnational model is the book's central strength: Jesus did not minister from a position of cultural distance but entered fully into human culture as a learner: acquiring language, customs, and relationships as a child before beginning public ministry. This gives cross-cultural ministers a concrete, embodied pattern rather than an abstract ethical principle.
Beyond the model itself, the book consistently ties each value-tension back to the Gospel rather than leaving it as neutral cultural theory. It is also eye-opening in exposing values many Christians assume are universal virtues, such as punctuality, hitting KPIs, efficiency, are actually culturally conditioned rather than biblically mandated.
Chapter 6 (person vs. task orientation) stands out as the book's finest, arguing that faithful ministry requires prioritizing people even when task-driven outcomes matter more to the minister's own culture. This tension feels most immediately applicable to everyday pastoral relationships.
However, Lingenfelter draws heavily on his own Yapese fieldwork to illustrate each tension, using examples largely foreign to most readers' experience. This forces readers to first understand an unfamiliar island culture before grasping the underlying concept, weakening the model's accessibility and immediate transferability to other contexts.
I rated this book 3 stars out of 5, good models to be learned by seminarians but the presentation appears especially where he drew his example from, too much from one particular source.
Beyond the model itself, the book consistently ties each value-tension back to the Gospel rather than leaving it as neutral cultural theory. It is also eye-opening in exposing values many Christians assume are universal virtues, such as punctuality, hitting KPIs, efficiency, are actually culturally conditioned rather than biblically mandated.
Chapter 6 (person vs. task orientation) stands out as the book's finest, arguing that faithful ministry requires prioritizing people even when task-driven outcomes matter more to the minister's own culture. This tension feels most immediately applicable to everyday pastoral relationships.
However, Lingenfelter draws heavily on his own Yapese fieldwork to illustrate each tension, using examples largely foreign to most readers' experience. This forces readers to first understand an unfamiliar island culture before grasping the underlying concept, weakening the model's accessibility and immediate transferability to other contexts.
I rated this book 3 stars out of 5, good models to be learned by seminarians but the presentation appears especially where he drew his example from, too much from one particular source.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review