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 hot topic in the 1980s. It still is. If you search for "globalization" on the internet, search engines like Google will give you tens of millions of web pages to read.
Conversations about globalization bring to mind beverages, clothing, and electronics brands sold worldwide, as well as identical restaurants popping up around the globe. Some have used "McDonaldization" as a synonym for globalization. Of course, such images barely scratch the surface of the topic of globalization.
The Lausanne Committee Occasional Paper #30 tries 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 can be seen 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 was born in a specific cultural context: first-century Middle Eastern Judaism. However, in obedience to Christ's Great Commission, the Christian faith has now put down roots all over 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. That means missionaries have to think cross-culturally simply by serving on ministry teams with missionaries from other nations.
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-defined 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, missions leaders know that proper contextualization of the gospel is extremely important. In today’s globalized world, the widening gap between rich and poor, large-scale migration—both forced and voluntary—human trafficking, and debilitating addictions call for the involvement of God’s people. These and other challenges that may be intensified by globalization can make people fearful. They fear being stripped of familiar things and values. They fear being torn from their heritage and thereby losing their identity. They fear being 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 blog on a key issue in world missions outreach is one of 20 articles in the "Mission briefing" series published in Engage magazine.
Globalization has a complex impact on Christian 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 through translation and global 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 loses 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 — Nations join in worship now—yet face new trials too,
Still, God’s mission moves ahead as faithful people pursue.
