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KliMeet 11-03-025 |
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The Meeting of the
Waters 7 Global
Currents That Will Propel the Future Church Fritz
Kling David
C Cook 2010, 232 pp. ISBN 978-1-4347-6484-3 |
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Fritz Kling is a foundation
executive who has spent the past decade traveling through villages and cities
across the world interviewing grassroots workers and high-level leaders. The title metaphor comes from the heart of
the Amazon where two large rivers flow together side by side before mingling
to become the Amazon. He identifies
seven big trends impacting today's global church. Fritz tells fascinating stories from his
travels that illustrate the themes of mercy, mutuality, migration,
monoculture, machines, mediation, and memory.
Introduction Fritz looks through the
eyes of two generations of mission workers labeled Mission Marm and Apple Guy.
He has two concerns. Will Apple
Guy bring enough depth and commitment to assignments in very difficult
cross-cultural assignments? And will global
church leaders incorporate his concerns for justice, relief, poverty, conservation,
and mercy? [And just whom does Fritz
mean when he speaks of global church leaders?
Dlm] The past era was strong in
the Bible, missions and service, emphasizing personal piety. The future church will need to find its
voice in broad issues like poverty, human rights, ecology, justice, conflict,
equality, reconciliation, and global events.
(24) We must bundle the past
passion for evangelizing with many other approaches to societal change. 1. The 7
Global Currents An East African pastor
complained that his congregation preferred the Sunday morning TV preaching of
T. D. Jakes over his own. It's not
enough for this pastor to study the Bible and emerge with a word for his
flock. The global media seamlessly
infiltrates his Kenyan culture. Globalization
is affecting everyone, even in the most remote venues. The 7 currents will help
people reconcile their faith with their world and will help the church, in
its mission to represent Jesus Christ to the world, to understand what people
are like and how they are changing 2. Mercy - The Gospel as Yoke "Now…the opportunities
for relief assistance are greater than ever, as natural and man-made crises
are creating unprecedented misery and loss on the global stage--and as
technology allows people at a distance to learn about the crises and travel
swiftly to help." (41) "…a
new generation of students and young adults…view service to others as a
defining expression of their faith." (41) "Younger Christians are often
ambivalent about the institutional church, but completely committed to
Mercy." (42) "What is new…is
the universal emphasis on Mercy by an entire generation…." (44) This generation is also
attracted to initiatives that are new and small. Social entrepreneurship is the mantra. The Mercy Generation has an
"evangelism too" approach.
They "serve Jesus by doing justice and helping the poor … and
proclaiming the gospel too. They serve others not just to convert them,
but because they themselves have been converted." (46) They see beyond false
distinctions. "If you don't care
anything about the spiritual health of the people you are helping, then that is not truly, deeply loving them. But if you are attending to their spiritual
needs without attending to the man beaten along the side of the road, that's
not love either." (46) The Mercy Generation is not
a linear generation. It is comfortable
with ambiguity and contradiction.
Their perspectives are likely to be unpredictable and invigorating. Many are quite grounded and radically devoted
in their faith. "However, the Mercy
Generation does not view the gospel's good news as just a tool for
evangelizing non-Christians; neither a carrot nor a stick, the gospel is
their yoke to a world of needy people loved by God." (49) They hold strong Christian viewpoints on
more issues than their parents, like the environment, fair trade,
sustainability, community, and global justice. (50)
The Mercy Generation is not
just Christians but young people around the world. 3. Mutuality - Upside-Down
Maps "With our brothers and
sisters from developing nations, their outward appearances of poverty and
subservience can hide deep reserves of spiritual, intellectual, and cultural
wealth. Viewing people without money
or power as equals is not only the right choice--it is becoming the only
choice." (65) The relationships
between foreign workers and indigenous followers are changing. Indigenous Christians are confidently taking
charge. "Mutuality may be the
single most important Current for understanding how to support, work with,
and pray for Christian movements around the world." (66)
However, those with money and power are often blind to the resources
of others. "Believers from poorer
nations understand humility before God and dependency on God in a deeper way
than I could, largely because they have lived in countries where physical
deprivation and humiliating dependency are commonplace." (66) An African says power is an
enemy of Mutuality. "Like Jesus,
we need to open ourselves to people without education, wealth, or contacts, and we must not seek power in order to ensure
that ministry is done on our terms.
Mutuality requires concessions and intentionality on the parts of all
players…." (72) "If you really want to
understand the future of Christianity, go and see what is happening in Asia,
Africa, Latin America…. God very often is working most powerfully
far from the center." (73) "Mutuality calls for
recognizing the giftedness of others, deferring to them when appropriate, and
providing leadership if helpful." (73)
"The mission field
today has become entirely multidirectional." (78) 4. Migration
- A Taste of Heaven Refugees and immigrants
from the global south are bringing fresh fervor and devoutness, as well as
opportunities for ministry, to Western countries. (89)
Information arbitrage is
looking at the world from many perspectives.
Nick in Ireland said that every aspect of his ministry is influenced
by Migration. Ministry is all about migration. It is the key issue of our day. (91)
We must learn the cultural assumptions and expectations people bring
with them, then use those as bridges to establish
rapport. Immigrants are often open to
church and faith. The church too often
reacts to change rather than anticipates it.
We need entrepreneurial, opportunistic outreach. Migration is occurring
everywhere on the globe. Urbanization
is one of its most profound expressions.
"A hopeful, redemptive, and faithful view of cities sees vibrant
places of opportunity, diversity, innovation, and new expressions of
Christianity." (99) "World-class
cities are the new unreached people groups." (100) "The old distinction between home
missions and foreign missions is made completely obsolete by today's global
cities." (102) 5. Monoculture
- Everywhere and Nowhere "A global Monoculture
is emerging as multinational corporations create common world tastes around
logos, products, advertising slogans, stars, songs, brand names, jingles, and
trademarks." (108) Advertising
campaigns tap into existing consumerism and stimulate more of it. Monoculture is highly
flexible and adaptable and is shaped by media, marketing, military, business,
professors, religious groups, gossip columnists, revolutionaries, and
terrorists. It is still in its early stages. A country's culture gets
stretched and it may react, but it can't go back to its previous state. Marketing is accused of cultural
strip-mining. "Traditional, rich,
native culture [is] being replaced with a Monoculture of individualism,
materialism, and immediacy." (112) Christians are to be in the world but not of it.
The challenge is to relate to people in their environments. Monoculture has a strong
American flavor but "it is fundamentally a cultural fusion with tastes
of Europe, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and more." (113) The English language is one
of the most dominant characteristics of Monoculture and provides multiple
opportunities for the church.
"The global church today must be both a prophetic protester and
an opportunistic creator. Presenting a
distinctive and winsome witness amid Monoculture is terribly hard
today…." (118) "Those who are doing a
brilliant job at world 'evangelization' are the marketers of McWorld." (120) American MTV had a major influence
in creating a borderless global youth culture hard-wired into American
pop-consumer culture. "Young
generations are losing their identity.
Television, markets, sexuality, and 'New Age' religions are making it
really difficult to figure out truth." (123) 6. Machines -
Both Jekyll and Hyde "Disaster relief in
the future will be more sustainable, rapid, efficient, accountable, and
humane, all because of the tide of the fifth Global Current--Machines." (131) The biggest developments are in the field
of early warning. Groups are also
doing scenario planning. Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) technology can place data in its geographic context
with geographic coordinates. Relief
practices are much more advanced. Data collection can be done
by cell phone for tracking deposits in micro-finance, assessing the success
of water and sanitation intervention, tracking diseases and epidemics,
etc. Research in the evangelization
task has been transformed by the collecting and organizing massive amounts of
data. There is also risk. With the internet and computer memory, what
is written is conserved; conversations are no longer temporary. Terrorists can manipulate captives,
families, and mission agencies by sending messages in real time. People can be tracked by the locator
signals from their cell phones.
Laptops may be lost or stolen - with all their information. Smartphones are
rich sources of information. 7. Mediation
- Civility in an Extreme World "Increasingly, in all
areas of society around the world, differences between groups are emphasized,
suspicions and indignities are exaggerated, extreme actions are rewarded, and
moderation far too often is disdained."
The global church must step into mediation. Mediation is needed in many
areas: political, philosophical, social, ethnic, international, mission,
class, economic, and religious. "Practicing
reconciliation with people of different religions, ethnicities, customs, or
beliefs is a practice every follower of Christ can pursue, and not just
'professionals'…. In the face of
global pluralism, the church must proclaim Jesus Christ with theological
integrity, critical contextualization, and above all, with an open and
transparent spirit." (164) "One of the problems
in modern life…is that the people who are good at being civil often lack
strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack
civility." (164, quoting Martin Marty)
"We need to find a way of combining a civil outlook with a 'passionate
intensity' about our convictions. The real
challenge is to come up with a convicted
civility." (164, quoting Richard Mouw) "Followers of Christ must step into
the void between factions--sometimes as prophets, expecting condemnation, but
more often as peacemakers, encouragers, and friends." (165) 8 Memory - The
Lingering Past Many countries are plagued
by their back stories, the relevant historical events that often hold
powerful sway in the current state of affairs (such as in Uganda, for
example). Most Americans generally
hold a short-term orientation. When
it's over, it's over. But when others
say, "That's history," they may be pulling their swords. Today is often a servant to yesterday. "Postcolonialsm
is the world's most common form of Memory." (177) The ingrained cultural norms, including
servility, complacency, distrust, resentment, and dependency, persist. Some countries suffer from murderous
tyrant-leaders and adults recall childhoods filled with fear, suspicion, and
loss. Memory may have both positive
and negative effects. It lingers, and
it must eventually be faced. One result of dependency
and passivity is that people have been taught to take and not to earn or
give. In some countries missionaries
never emphasized financial stewardship because they assumed the people would
always be poor. They assumed the
people would always follow and never lead, so they didn't inculcate a heart
for missions. Even though Memory may have
contributed to low aspirations and low confidence, in today's globalized
world, people may still have high expectations with dreams of Western-style
wealth. A generation
of youth are disillusioned and resentful. Often, what we see it not
what we get because of what lurks below the surface. Distrust and skepticism run deep. Conclusion - A
Changing of the Guard
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