“From one to ten, how would you rate your own status within the larger, global organisation?” A female colleague from a non-white background placed herself around three. Male, non-white colleagues, closer to five. Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of the white, male colleagues felt they had a status below seven.
Ben Powell, Director of SMBC’s Bridge Program and lecturer in missions, recently shared with staff and students at the college’s Principal’s Hour;
“That was a real experience. And I know one thing for sure, it had nothing to do with missionary fruitfulness or capability in that room.”
Ben has spent the last decade sitting with questions like this one, having recently completed his doctoral thesis on power imbalance across cultures within global mission organisations, and he knows the territory first hand.
His plenary session at the upcoming SMBC Missions Conference promises to take the question of power imbalance across cultures head on.
Power and Status in Multicultural Ministry
Ben’s interest in the topic grew from more than two decades of ministry and leadership experience in mission contexts overseas and in the churches of Sydney. While Christians believe all people have equal dignity and standing in Jesus, cultural differences can often expose a disconnect between belief and practice, what we say we believe and how we actually live that out.
“I’ve seen real hurts, real inequalities, real injustices, and I felt ill-equipped to understand and lead helpfully in a manner that promotes reconciliation and unity.”
The conversation is not abstract for the churches of Sydney, with the 2021 national census showing 43% of the greater city’s population, over 2.2 million people, born overseas. This year’s upcoming census is likely to show that number continuing to climb.
“That’s our immediate mission field. Diverse, rich, wonderful in cultural expression.”
Local churches are navigating new cultural realities where the question of how power operates across those differences is not a theoretical one. It shapes who feels welcome or not, who is discipled, who is encouraged to enter ministry training, who leads, and how strategic decisions are made.
A Biblical Approach
Ben’s argument at the conference is that the Bible does not sidestep the question of power.
“The Bible doesn’t ignore power, but in fact, says something far more radical and transformative. True power is not found in control, but in sacrificial love. The most powerful moment in history was not upon a throne, but on a cross.”
“In Jesus, people from every culture, language, and background are not merely made equal, but are brought into a new kind of community, a family even. A family where power is used to serve, not dominate.”
“The gospel tells a better story. It exposes the real issues of sin and injustice, and it provides a solution and a true hope, and a path to reconciliation and unity.”
“The gospel tells a better story. It exposes the real issues of sin and injustice, and it provides a solution and a true hope, and a path to reconciliation and unity.”
The Language We’ve Inherited
Ben is well aware of why these conversations can be difficult. The vocabulary most people reach for – power, privilege, systemic oppression – comes loaded with political associations that can reinforce divisions and shut discussion down before it starts. The problem, as Ben sees it, is that the secular framework for analysing power cannot deliver what the gospel promises. It can identify wounds but has no means for healing them.
We need a biblical approach.
“Having seen how governments and institutions and organisations have attempted to work through these challenges, my concern is that though the secular critique of these relational networks and social systems through the lens of power has exposed real areas of injustice, it cannot provide biblically grounded reconciliation, justice, and the hope of unity that we see in the gospel.”
At the conference, Ben will present a biblical vision for power and partnership in multicultural ministry, critiquing secular theories, and demonstrating the promise of a transformed and unified, Body of Christ.
Join us at the SMBC Global Mission Conference
Ben’s plenary will be one of several sessions exploring the challenges of cross-cultural mission at the SMBC Missions Conference, 28–30 July, alongside keynote speaker J.D. Payne.
