When Good Intentions Hurt: Why Cultural Humility and Intelligence Is Essential for the Disciple-Making with Dr. Longa & Matt Millar

Millar

• How do we know if we’re contextualizing the Gospel—or just colonizing with it?
• What if our good intentions are still laced with cultural superiority?
• Could cultural humility be the next great frontier for disciple-making movements in the West?

In this episode of The Starfish and the Church, I sat down with Dr. Longa and Matt Millar, co-authors of The Church in Context: Harnessing Cultural Humility for Kingdom Advancement (coming soon). Drawing from decades of cross-cultural ministry and leadership across Africa, North America, and beyond, they unpack what it means to move beyond strategies and into postures that reflect the incarnation of Jesus.

We explore:

• The four layers of culture—worldview, beliefs, values, and behaviors—and why we often get stuck judging the fruit while ignoring the root.
• The framework of cultural intelligence (CQ) and how leaders can grow in motivation, knowledge, strategy, and action.
• Jesus’ own journey of humility—love, submission, acceptance, and assimilation—as the model for cross-cultural mission.
• How colonial and crusade-style mission still echo in modern disciple-making—and what repentance looks like today.
• Why the opposites of cultural humility (selfishness, pride, rejection, and imposition) are still alive in the Western church.
• Practical steps to cultivate humility: hospitality, exposure, interviews, and learning to see through others' eyes.

Join the convesation over at https://starfishyou.substack.com/