Missions and Meaning in the Global South

This past weekend I was blessed to attend the Christian Scholar's Conference at Rochester College near Detroit. The conference was enjoyable for many reasons but none more so than the plenary speaker, Philip Jenkins. Dr. Jenkins is a Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State (and you thought they only played football and volleyball!) and he has recently written several books on global Christianity.

This weekend he presented two plenary sessions on the emerging shape of Christianity in the Global South (a term loosly used to refer to Africa/Asia/South America). The first session was a fascinating discussion of how reading the Bible is a fundamentally (no pun intended) different experience in the Global South than in the Global North. This lecture was based on one of his recent books (if you are at PU, this work is available as an "eBrary book" and can be read online in its entirity through WaveNet). This lecture was a 1-hr reminder of many of the pressing lessons we discussed during my MS in Missions at ACU (which oddly enough is now being led by one of my MS colleagues). I firmly believe--just as I did then--that every Christian should become familiar with these ideas. Nothing will shatter ones familiar (and often tired) views of scripture, authority, meaning, and truth than a realistic examination of how the "living oracles" come to have meaning in different ways in different cultures. I highly recommend Jenkins' work.

The second plenary session was on a book currently in progress tentatively titled "How Christianity Dies" (isn't that provocative?). In this session he discussed the rise (and fall) of Christianity in Asia and the "middle-east" from the first century to the 14th. It was a fascinating look at a time in history that has many similarities to our own. While many American and European Christians fear that we are moving towards a "post-Christian" world, this session gave me hope that God is simply moving in new and powerful ways around the world. The hegemony of the north and west may be coming to an end, but the Spirit is alive and well. For further thought on a very similar topic, I recommend Leonard Allen's recent book which I re-read on the plane from Detroit).

Political Parties and People of Faith

One of the issues that has troubled me the most over the past decade is the depth of the attachment between many well-meaning Christians and Christian-themed organization (e.g., Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, NAE...) and the Republican Party. Now, I am not bothered by Christians who vote Republican, work for conservative causes, and generally act out politically based on their religious principles.

I do the same.

What bothers me is the depth of the attachment not to causes, principles, and beliefs, but to personalities and the Republican Party. IMHO, the GOP has played the Christian vote as powerful voting bloc with no intentions of delivering the level of governmental, regulatory, and legislative renewal that many of these people desire. For example, isn't it interesting that over the past six years with a Republican control over all three branches of Federal government we have not seen any of the changes that these Christian groups lobby for?

So, I am encouraged by recent events that indicate that many other Christian people are beginning to realize this as well. They are recognizing that politics is politics...and that it is not the primary work of the Kingdom of God. Here's a good article by E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post on a few recent events.

Link to E. J. Dionne Jr. - Christians Who Won't Toe the Line - washingtonpost.com

I also recommend Christian, Evangelical & Democrat? by George Hunter, and Tempting Faith by David Kuo.