YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009 - (Page 27) Cultural Intelligence takes a different approach than traditional resources. Drawing from what can be known and venturing on an inward journey, we simultaneously reach across the chasm of cultural difference. A cultural intelligence quotient (CQ) measures the ability to reach across the chasm of cultural different in loving, respectful ways. CQ is a measurement and metaframework that draws from many disciplines. Cultural intelligence includes synthesizing information about other cultures and what they value with knowledge of ourselves. This is as much about discovering our own identity and understanding the culture of which we are a part as it is about understanding others and their cultures. As we widen our view to include what’s going on within us, we will be able to interact more lovingly with our neighbors and the indigenous workers with whom we partner across the ocean. Our primary destination on this journey is learning how to express love effectively for people unlike ourselves. Encountering ‘The Other’ Adapting our message, curriculum and programs is one thing; adapting one’s self is the greater challenge, but is the issue we’re most interested in pursuing on this journey together. What does it look like to contextualize ourselves in the cultures in which we find ourselves at any given time? What do we do when we encounter The Other, and how do we react to him or her? The Other is a concept developed by the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and popularized as a way of referring to those different from ourselves. The markers of difference can be racial, geographic, ethnic, economic, ideological, etc. The term can sound pejorative, but it need not be as long as we remember everyone is created in God’s image. Throughout this journey toward more effectively expressing love to The Other, we’ll explore the significance of seeing ourselves and The Other as expressions of God. We encounter The Other in various ways every day; likewise, The Other encounters us. Clearly we can’t become experts about every culture we encounter as there are more than 5,000 distinct cultural groups in the world. Add to those the many subcultural contexts existing among various age groups and organizations, and the number of distinct cultures in which we minister becomes impossible to quantify. How might we grow our cultural intelligence in order to reflect the love of Jesus in what we say and do as we “Cultural intelligence takes us on an inward journey while simultaneously reaching across the chasm of cultural difference.” YouthWorkerJournal.com | March/April 2009 27 http://www.YouthWorkerJournal.com
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