by Duane Elmer

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review by Michael Chapman

LAST SPRING I had a conversation with a new friend about my passion for serving people of other cultures. About a month later he sent me the book Cross-Cultural Servanthood by Duane Elmer as a resource to help me continue to evaluate my gifts, passions, and calling. Cross-Cultural Servanthood is very poignant and practical in helping the Christian community better serve other cultures with humility and grace. In it, Elmer outlines a practical and logical process to approach cross-cultural situations. He uses the life of Christ and many personal stories from his own missionary experience to show how important and effective servanthood can be in reaching other cultures.

Elmer begins the book by addressing the various burdens and challenges that come along with being a servant. He is very clear that by definition, servanthood cannot be something that one simply claims to have: “It's not our words that count but the perceptions of the local people who watch our lives and sense our attitudes” (p. 17). Not only can we not simply call ourselves servants, we also cannot be servants and carry an air of superiority. Elmer asked some international friends of his how missionaries could minister better in their cultures, and one response that struck me was, “Missionaries could more effectively minister the gospel of Christ if they did not think they were so superior to us” (p. 15). This same sentiment was reflected by many of the people who responded.

Before jumping right into the steps to becoming a true servant, Elmer first explains the framework under which he is operating. Using Christ's life and words, Elmer presents a crucial dichotomy that must be understood in order to genuinely serve well. Elmer calls us to model the servant role of Christ without attempting to model the “Lord” role that only Christ can claim. Chapter three shows that this type of servanthood—servanthood without lordship (superiority)—can only happen if we take on a posture of humility. Humility is the only way we are really able to listen and respond to the needs of those whom we have been sent to serve. I feel this is the crucial concept we must grasp: that it is only by fully understanding and practicing humility that we can be true servants.

The largest portion of the book, chapters four through ten, lays out the steps one must take to be an effective servant. Servanthood is a process, not something that can be obtained overnight, and Elmer outlines a very logical process to attaining a lifestyle of servanthood. Working backward, Elmer outlines this process very clearly. To be able to serve (ch.10), one must understand (ch. 9); to understand, one must first learn (ch. 7-8); before learning, one must be able to trust (ch. 6); to trust, one must both accept others and feel acceptance (ch. 5); and finally, to accept others and be accepted by others, one must first be open (ch. 4). It's this important first step of openness that Elmer begins with as he works his way toward the end goal of servanthood. All of these steps/chapters hold valuable and practical resources for attaining a lifestyle of servanthood. This particular section is the meat of the book and gives very real and practical advice.

Elmer finishes the book by presenting three main things that challenge servanthood: leadership, power, and mystery. He gives caution through these chapters about the dangers one can run into when trying to both lead and serve. I thought the chapter on power was especially helpful because in many cross-cultural situations, missionaries are often looked to for leadership, and it is important to handle that position of power well. To combat the abuse of power, Elmer emphasizes the importance of holding power loosely, always keeping in mind that you are in a culture to serve, just as Christ came to serve.

There is one point on which Elmer and I disagree. Elmer expresses his frustration with the term servant-leader and says it is unnecessary and redundant. He claims that it should be assumed that leaders are servants and that “placing servant in front of leader sounds very spiritual but seems not to have done much good” (p. 156). I disagree with him because he's grounding his argument mostly on semantics. I think that the servant-leader concept has caused a major shift within the Christian community. People don't view servant-leader as a cliché term, but rather as a healthy reminder to take Christ's example of servanthood into all areas of life, especially into leadership roles.

This book could reach a broader market and fill a greater need in the Christian community if it were simply called Servanthood, because servanthood and humility is something everyone must learn more about in order to truly understand the heart of the gospel. The title Cross-Cultural Servanthood is limiting because it only hits one niche audience. I think every follower of Christ should read this book to learn how to better serve others. Many of the examples happen to be of cross-cultural situations, but the core idea of servanthood that Elmer develops so well is central to living a life in Christ. Even if you are not interested in serving others in cross-cultural situations, Cross-Cultural Servanthood will help you better understand Jesus' words in Matthew 20:26 (NLT): “But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.”

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