Cross-Cultural Workers: Humility and Sacrifices for God's Greater Good - Essay Sample

Cross-cultural work involves many sacrifices for the greater good of God. Cross-cultural workers are ordinary people who leave their homes and cultures, go to different places with different cultures, and are transplanted into the new places to spread the gospel of God. Cross-cultural workers adopt norms that they find in new places. The ability to abandon one's way of life and embrace a different culture demands possession of specific characteristics.

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Cross-cultural workers are humble. Cross-cultural workers acknowledge that they no longer serve themselves but work for God. Thus, they are ready to perform acts such as spreading the word of God for which they do not expect or receive pay. Such is work that any other person would not do. Additionally, they do not accept praise for such selfless acts but positively accept criticisms from people who believe that the acts are meaningless and worthless.

Cross-cultural workers have strong faith. These are people who strongly believe in God as they have personally experienced the transforming work of the gospel of Christ. They have full knowledge about Jesus and cannot keep the good news of God to themselves. They are therefore willing to go any lengths, including abandoning their own homes to preach the gospel and perform acts of praise and worship to God.

Cross-cultural workers are productive. They are well-recognized for their hard work in establishing and maintaining a spiritual life and living according to the scriptures of the Bible. They know that the Bible requires them to spread the gospel; hence they ensure that they share the good news of God to as many people as possible. They indeed recognize God's mission for them.

Cross-cultural workers are weak. They generally believe that Jesus gives them strength. God's kingdom does not disqualify people because of their weaknesses. People are instead disqualified from the kingdom of God when they resist the gospel of Christ. God, therefore, looks for the weak, such as cross-cultural workers, and uses them to preach His word.

The Role of The Cross-Cultural Worker in Empowering Local Believers and Supporting Local Churches or Church Planting Movements

Western missionaries preach the gospel of God in foreign lands such as Asia and Africa. They spiritually serve these continents where they are transplanted into. The spiritual service includes working together with the local believers to exchange ideas about God's word and providing the necessary support to help the local churches put up new churches. Due to the language barrier that exists between the western missionaries and the native Africans and Asians, the missionaries use the local churches and church planting movements to transform a few people into believers who then help spread the word of God.

The association between the missionaries and the native Africans and Asians leads to success in the churches where the cross-cultural work operates from. The cross-cultural worker formulates relevant strategies such as mobilizing believers to spread the gospel by giving incentives such as the provision of food and finances, providing spiritual guidance, showing compassion and emotional support whenever needed. These strategies help in the expansion, extension, and extensive exposure of the local believers to the right word of God so that they can enjoy the gift of eternal salvation.

The local believers who are empowered are very instrumental in spreading the word of God. They, with the help of the missionaries, support local churches by preaching the gospel and ensuring that everyone can receive the gift of salvation. Additionally, the missionaries help the local churches materially by giving donations of food and clothes to the less fortunate. The missionaries also provide financial support that is required for regular church activities such as the provision of Holy Communion and church planting movements. The cross-sectional workers are hence helpful not only spiritually but also both materially and financially. Their help span not only to the local believers but also to the local churches and church planting movements.

References

Exchange, T. (2017). Effective partnering: The Church and the cross-cultural worker on-task together. The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer. https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/june/effective-partnering-church-and-cross-cultural-worker-on-ta.html

Hawke, A. (2018). Cross-cultural church planting. Empowering and connecting Christians for mission and ministry - OSCAR. https://www.oscar.org.uk/blog/crosscultural-church-planting

Missionary, A. (2020). What characteristics should missionaries have? - Ask a missionary. AskAMissionary.com. https://www.askamissionary.com/question/79