More classic art masterpieces used as illustrations
TL;DR:
Globalization presents both opportunities and challenges to world mission efforts. It accelerates communication, travel, and cultural exchange, creating open doors for evangelism and cross-cultural teamwork. Yet it also fosters secularism, syncretism, and resistance to outside influence. For the Church, the key task is wise contextualization.
Globalization became a prominent subject of discussion in the 1980s and remains one today.
Familiar beverages, clothing, and electronics brands sold worldwide, along with restaurant chains that appear around the globe, illustrate one aspect of globalization. Some have used "McDonaldization" to describe this spread of similar products and practices, but globalization extends far beyond consumer culture.
Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 30 attempts to capture the wide-ranging and deeply interconnected nature of globalization by describing it as the result of “a constant, but uneven, flow of ideas, goods, images, people and diseases across national borders.”
The phenomenon is much older than the word "globalization." Indeed, this intersecting, clashing, and merging of people and their cultures appears in the Bible as early as the book of Genesis.
Globalization is both good and bad for world evangelism. The Church itself has long been a globalizing force. Christianity emerged from first-century Judaism in the Middle East. However, in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission, the Christian faith has now taken root throughout the world. As Christianity has spread, it has often fostered social change and connections among people across cultures.
Some aspects of globalization help world evangelism. For instance, because international travel has become easier, millions of believers have crossed international borders on short-term mission trips. Moreover, today’s missionary teams are often multinational. Serving on multinational ministry teams requires missionaries to think and work cross-culturally.
At times, globalization gives rise to seemingly contradictory trends. For example, globalization leads some people to view religion as a private, individual matter. For others, globalization has contributed to growing secularism or the embrace of less formally organized forms of spirituality. Tragically, the flow of religious beliefs and practices across cultural boundaries has too often provoked aggressive intolerance.
In a world affected by globalization, thoughtful contextualization of the gospel helps missionaries communicate across cultures while taking local concerns seriously.
The widening gap between rich and poor, large-scale migration—both forced and voluntary—and human trafficking call for the involvement of God’s people. Globalization can intensify these challenges. Some people fear losing familiar customs and values, being torn from their heritage, losing their identity, or becoming marginalized in their homeland.
As cultures rush along the globalization path, we must help believers avoid the extremes of xenophobic isolationism on the one hand and naive cultural syncretism on the other. The Church can be a lighthouse guiding people toward the fulfillment of God’s design. Believers can be a healing force for societies in pain. They can give voice to the oppressed and marginalized.
May we be wise and perceptive as we respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by globalization.
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
This article on a key issue affecting world missions is one of 20 articles in the “Mission briefing” series published in Engage magazine.
Globalization has a complex impact on world evangelism because it can both help and obstruct the spread of the gospel.
G — Growing access to distant lands has opened many doors,
L — Languages cross borders; translated words become our tools.
O — Opportunities arise for partnership across the seas,
B — But with them come distractions and diluted theologies.
A — Avenues for mission flourish through media and flight,
L — Love of material wealth can dim the gospel’s light.
I — Information flows with speed, spreading truth and lies alike,
Z — Zeal can fade when comfort grows and mission slips from sight.
A — Authentic community thrives when cultures interweave,
T — Though tensions rise when worldviews clash and people struggle to believe.
I — Interconnected networks aid discipleship and care,
O — Overexposure, though, may dull the call to serve and share.
N — Neighbors from many nations worship now—yet face new trials too,
Still, God’s mission moves ahead through all that faithful people do.
