The impact of 9/11, and how various governments dealt with the issue of violent Islamic extremists
Various efforts concerning Christian-Muslim dialog and the InterFaith movement
The Insider Movement in missions and areas of concern
The article is nuanced and is written by a Christian intellectual who is a former Muslim. I recommend it highly. Below the article is “An Assessment of the Insiders’ Principle Paradigms”, by Jay Smith—also a valuable perspective.
“Big Shame or Big Honor? Exploring the Dynamics of Honor and Shame in Cross-Cultural Partnership” by Werner Mischke may be seen here: https://vimeo.com/43444852
Presented at the 2012 COSIM conference, this teaching:
Shows how the story of the Prodigal Son uses honor and shame concepts to introduce the message of salvation through Christ,
Examines the key dynamics of honor and shame from a social-science perspective— with examples from Scripture,
Explores honor and shame as the pivotal cultural value of the Bible, and of most of the Majority World / unreached peoples, and
Examines applications to cross-cultural ministries and partnerships through understanding the dynamics of honor and shame.
For a free 30-page article by Werner Mischke, “Honor & Shame and Cross-Cultural Relationships”, visit: beautyofpartnership.org/about/free. To contact Werner Mischke about Bible-based training in honor and shame dynamics, write to werner@mission1.org.
Recently a friend in Southeast Asia asked me to review a portion of their new ministry website—the page dealing with their “mission.”
Here’s what I recommended:
Focus on the word BLESSING as the means for your mission. Describe the various facets of how you are blessing the peoples [of your region].
Here’s why I recommend the language of BLESSING over the language of MISSION.
First and foremost, the word “BLESSING” is biblical, whereas the word “MISSION” is not found in Scripture. In fact, the key action in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1–3 is BLESSING, and this theme is repeated over and over again in the Old and New Testaments. Let’s look at these ancient verses in Genesis—foundational to understanding God’s global purpose:
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)
To many secular-minded Westerners, the word BLESSING is abstract and archaic—like it’s from another time. But to non-Western peoples, “blessing” is a most beautiful thing that everyone desires for themselves, their families, their communities. In most Eastern cultures the pivotal cultural value is honor and shame; and the word BLESS essentially means an action that reinforces or adds to one’s honor, one’s identity, one’s position in society, one’s heritage or legacy. So BLESSING is a treasured, vitally important, aspect of life.
The word MISSION, however, is often connected to the negative aspects of colonialism or even militarism. It is linked with empires of mission, and powerful countries imposing imperial goals on weaker peoples and nations. Unfortunately, the words “mission” and “missionary” are loaded with negative connotations for people who are not followers of Jesus Christ.
The April 2011 issue of EMQ had four articles devoted to this thorny issue about the word, MISSION. The cover had this title: “The Death of Missions: A Symposium.” Colin E. Andrews wrote:
You might be asking, “What in the world are you talking about?” Does this mean that God’s covenant to bless the nations has been canceled? That the call to make disciples of all nations is no longer the mandate of the Body of Christ? Absolutely not! If we confess the authority of scripture, we must also confess that God’s ultimate plan for this world involves blessing the nations, redeeming all of creation, and gathering men and women from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation around his throne in the New Creation.
But, these terms that we insist on using (missions, missionary, etc.) just do not describe the biblical vision. They are awkward and embarrassing when we use them anywhere outside our church buildings and conference halls. They stir up anger and resentment when we use them with the very people we hope to serve.
So why not consider the word MISSION as something to avoid when possible, and replace it with the words and ideas of BLESSING?
Today, the users and viewers of our agency websites are not just partners and donors. We should also include in our list of constituents: government officials, community leaders—the representatives of the families, communities, peoples, and nations we are seeking to bless. Are we able to use the same language with them—as as the language we would use with donors—to present the goals and activities of our organization?
It is tough to stop using the terminology of the Christian “missions” subculture and replace it with a language that can be meaningful and respectful for everyone with whom we speak. Should that preclude us from trying?
What if your agency has “mission” in its name? (I serve with the organization, “Mission ONE”.) Does this mean we change our name? I see no chance of us changing our name. The cost to the organization is probably not be worth it. I imagine the same would be true for most other organizations with “mission” in their name.
But I would suggest it does mean this: When describing the good work of our Christian non-profit organizations, we should carefully and intentionally use the “language of blessing” rather than the “language of mission”. It honors the Bible, God’s Word. It is honorable to those who are serving and blessing others. It is likely to be more honorable to those being blessed.
For example: Here’s how to incorporate the language of blessing into a description of a Christian “mission” ministry. Note the inter-related emphasis on blessing, family, and honor.
[Agency name] blesses individuals, families and communities through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our ministries of blessing happen in many ways:
Providing high-quality Christian education to children while honoring indigenous culture and blessing many families—through [name of Christian school].
Training leaders to be faithful to God’s Word—to be honorable and skillful in blessing their families and communities—through [name of Bible college or training institute].
Giving aid and relief to leaders and their families who are suffering for the honor of Jesus Christ—Supporting the Persecuted Church.
Equipping nationals to share the blessing of Jesus Christ with their families, friends, and communities—National Pastors Training, Evangelism, and Church Planting.
Using Christian radio to inform, serve and bless the surrounding community—through [name of Christian Radio Ministry].
COSIM—Coalition On the Support of Indigenous Ministries—is pleased to announce the convening of the 17th annual conference to be held May 7–9, 2012. The location is Mission Community Church, in Gilbert, Arizona near Phoenix.
The conference theme is “Cross-Cultural Partnership In the Context of Deep Change.” The conference is a continuation of the theme launched at the “RESET conference”—the 2011 North American Mission Leaders Conference—sponsored by The Mission Exchange and CrossGlobal Link.
Jane Overstreet, President and CEO of Development Associates International, will speak in the opening session of the 2012 COSIM conference
Jane Overstreet will be the keynote speaker on the evening of May 7th. Jane is the President & CEO of Development Associates International (DAI) a non-profit organization providing training and consulting in leadership and organizational management to more than 10,000 Christian leaders in 30 countries annually.
Other presenters include Scott Allen of Disciple Nations Alliance, Terry Dalrymple of Global CHE Network, J. Knox of International Turkey Network, and more, including members of the COSIM Resource Team.
COSIM is a learning community of evangelical Christians and organizations with a common interest in the support and capacity building of majority-world ministries.
Our mission is to expand the understanding and practice of cross-cultural partnerships with indigenous ministries for the advance of the gospel. We accomplish our mission through networking and sharing of best practices, with emphasis on partnerships between North American and majority-world missions.
At the 2011 North American Mission Leaders Conference in Scottsdale on September 29–October 1 (also known as the RESET conference), T.J. Addington gave a presentation: “Critical Shifts From the Black and White to the Color World.” T.J. Addington is Senior Vice President of Reach Global, Evangelical Free Church of America. The primary participants in this conference were members of the North American evangelical Christian missions community. I am grateful for Mr. Addington’s permission to present his points here.
Shift #1:From being primarily doers—to being primarily equippers
Watchwords: Developing, empowering and releasing.
Shift #2:From being in charge—to equal partnerships
Watchwords: Equal partnerships are the coinage of the color world.
Shift #3: From owning and controlling—to “we own nothing, control nothing and count nothing as ours”
Watchwords: Serving with an open hand.
Shift #4:From Western missionaries—to global missionaries
Watchwords: All people reaching all people.
Shift #5: From dependencies—to self–sufficiency
Watchwords: Promoting dignity.
Shift #6: From addition—to multiplication
Watchwords: Equipping others.
Shift #7: From competition—to cooperation
Watchwords: We are better together than alone.
Shift #8: From an emphasis on my brand—to His brand
Watchwords: Jesus died for His bride, not my brand of the church.
Shift #9:From agency based missions—to church/agency synergy
Watchwords: The vision for missions belongs to the local church.
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My comments: The shifts represented by the points above are largely consistent with our philosophy of ministry and practice at Mission ONE. At the risk of sounding self-promotional, below are some brief comments relative to where we stand as a mission organization.
Shift #1:From being primarily doers—to being primarily equippers. Mission ONE is all about equipping and empowering national missionaries—also known as indigenous Christian workers—to reach their own people, as well as nearby unreached peoples—with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Shift #2: From being in charge—to equal partnerships. As Mission ONE President Bob Schindler says, “Healthy partnerships are not father to son—but rather, brother to brother.
Shift #3: From owning and controlling—to “we own nothing, control nothing and count nothing as ours.” Mission ONE does not control the ministries with which we partner. Our attitude is high trust, rather than high control. Our high-trust partnerships are based on years of serving one another, overcoming trials and obstacles together.
From Bryant Myers: Exploring World Mission: Context & Challenges (Monrovia, CA: World Vision International, 2003) p. 53. Based on information from Operation World by Johnstone & Mandryk (Paternoster, 2001)
Shift #4:From Western missionaries—to global missionaries. The center of gravity of Christianity has shifted from the West to the Global South; this is consistent with the rise of the national missionary movement. The national missionary movement does not “need” the support of the West to thrive; however, we believe that so much can be done for the advance of the the Gospel through healthy cross-cultural partnerships. It is our honor to serve one another in unity. Jesus prayed, “…that they may be one even as we are one … so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:21–22). Moreover, the global trend of the migration of peoples, refugees and college students to the West (some of them Christian) have made most of its cities home to dozens, if not hundreds, of nationalities; this has resulted in both vibrant new ethnic churches in the West as well as wonderful opportunities for blessing people from other cultures. The opportunities for cross-cultural relationships are across the street and around the world. It truly is a new world of Christian mission that is largely “from everywhere to everyone.”
Shift #5:From dependencies—to self–sufficiency. At Mission ONE, we believe that healthy interdependence is the biblical ideal. Some of our partnerships are healthier than others from the standpoint of healthy interdependence versus unhealthy dependency. We believe that the large majority of our partnerships are on the healthy side of the continuum.
Shift #6:From addition—to multiplication. Mission ONE has invested very significant resources in “multiplication.” That’s what Mission ONE Training Ministries is all about. Operation WorldView and The Beauty of Partnership were created to equip churches, individuals, and mission teams for cross-cultural ministry and healthy cross-cultural partnerships—thus multiplying our impact. This is my passion as Director of Training Ministries for Mission ONE.
Shift #7:From competition—to cooperation. The very nature of healthy cross-cultural partnership is cooperation, so naturally, cooperation is part of the DNA of Mission ONE. Moreover, in the development of both Operation WorldView and The Beauty of Partnership, our attitude has been to cooperate with whomever we can—with several different ministries—sometimes paying significant royalties to do so.
Shift #8: From an emphasis on my brand—to His brand. Ever since Bob Schindler founded Mission ONE, we have never sought to “put our name” on the ministries with which we partner. We insist on organization to organization partnerships by which local accountabilities and indigenous identities remain intact.
Shift 9: From agency based missions—to church/agency synergy. Mission ONE has a high view of the centrality of the local church in the Great Commission. Our current Strategic Mission Partnership with Biltmore Baptist Church and Mission ONE’s partner—National Evangelical Outreach Kenya—is one such example. It is our intention to be “the bridge” for many more such strategic mission partnerships between local churches and indigenous ministries.
Mission ONE President Bob Schindler with one of graduates of the Kijabe Town sewing class. “She gave a stirring testimony of how she got saved and learned the vocational skill of tailoring through the class.”
Mission ONE president Bob Schindler just returned Monday from Kenya. One of the major reasons for going was to visit with Mission ONE’s long-time ministry partner, National Evangelical Outreach (NEO Kenya), led by Pastor Wilfred Githongo Kabiru and his wife Rahab. (Also, a major strategic mission partnership with NEO Kenya is in the works, and Bob was there to navigate the process.)
One of NEO’s newest and most successful projects has been a tailoring school for women, located in Kijabe Town. While Bob was there, the tailoring school celebrated it’s second graduating class. (See other pictures below.)
This tailoring school ministry has been rescuing women from the sex trade. These women are receiving hopefor eternity through faith in Jesus Christ—as well as hope for today—through learning the trade of tailoring. The tailoring trade enables the women to earn a living honorably in order to avoid the sin, shame, and life-threatening hazards of living “on the street.”
Funding for this tailoring school came from a Baptist church in North Carolina. We praise the Lord that this three-way strategic mission partnership—between NEO Kenya, a generous local church, and Mission ONE—is resulting in a beautiful collaboration through Jesus Christ to bring hope to the hopeless. Praise the Lord!
The second graduating class of the Kijabe Town sewing class, National Evangelical Outreach, Kenya
Timothy Tennent’s book—Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How The Global Church is Influencing the Way We Think About and Discuss Theology—is a tremendously valuable resource for cross-cultural workers
I love the perspective he gives in the preface (page xviii).
We still see the West as the ecclesiastical center of the world, even though the vast majority of Christians in the world today are located elsewhere. What African or Asian Christians are doing and writing seems so marginal to us, and it penetrates our own theological discussions only in a vague, ephemeral way.
We as Westerners continue to vastly overestimate the role of our trained theologians, missionaries, denominations, and mission agencies in the actual task of global evangelism and church planting. We continue to talk about church history in a way that puts Europe in the center, and church history outside the West is reserved for those preparing for the mission field or church historians pursuing specialist studies. We continue to think that our own theological reflections are normative and universally applicable to all people from all cultures. In short, the Western church has not yet fully absorbed how the dramatic shifts in global Christianity are influencing what constitutes normative Christianity. … We must learn to think bigger, listen more, and look at the church from a wider vista.
Dr. Tennent is asking Christian leaders, missionaries, and lay persons from the West to … develop better listening skills … adjust their attitude from assuming a leadership role to a servant-oriented “team player” role … and to broaden their understanding of what God is doing in the world. It’s all very fitting for Christians in the West who are pursuing healthy cross-cultural partnerships.
Could it be that cross-cultural partnerships give us the opportunity to deepen our theology … that is, to deepen our knowledge of God, our ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and our maturity as followers of Christ? Could the pursuit of healthy cross-cultural partnerships be that important?
A good friend sent me an email asking if we had some tools for evaluating a cross-cultural partnership. Her friend—another Christian leader—had asked…
“Have you seen any organization attempt to quantify or describe the quality of a cross-cultural relationship? The [name of organization] Board of Directors is big on metrics.”
I sent my friend two documents I had created for Mission ONE in 2003. The first document is a tool to evaluate the cross-cultural partnership from the side of Mission ONE. The second tool is one that our partners in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East can use to evaluate Mission ONE. I mentioned to her in my email that we have not used these evaluation tools in a long time, but that perhaps these documents could be helpful to the person making the inquiry.
Then I began musing on the concept of “metrics” in evaluating a cross-cultural partnership. Below are my thoughts.
If we measure the effectiveness of the partnership from our side, we ought to make sure that our partners can “measure” us and our effectiveness from their side as well. But would our indigenous partners ever initiate such a thing? No way. I have never heard of that happening. Why? I think they likely would consider this a dishonor to the relationship.
Isn’t it true that the people doing the measuring are usually the ones with the financial power? Ironically, the ones being “measured” are often actually the ones who have a lot more at stake (their very lives, families, ministries, reputation in the community, etc.).
What if an indigenous ministry partner from the majority world asked their wealthy American financial supporters to measure, not just amount of money or time invested, but also …
the actual amount of prayer devoted to a ministry partner, and then report on that?
the amount of personal sacrifice quantified as percent of personal income devoted to the partnership or world missions?
or the amount of time they listen, compared to the amount of time they talk — in the partnership dialog between leaders?
The very use of the word “metrics” sounds cold. What if your spouse said, “I need some metrics on the effectiveness of our marriage”? Of course, a partnership is not a marriage, but a healthy cross-cultural partnership is deeply relational, built on trust over a period of time with common vision and values. And Christian cross-cultural partners do have a relational closeness in Jesus Christ, which, from heaven’s perspective anyway, is intimate and eternal. Why else would Jesus pray, “that they would be one…” (John 17:21)? Isn’t this our hope?
The use of the word “metrics” in Christian ministry also implies that everything important can be quantified. But fruitfulness is both quantitative and qualitative. On the one hand, “fruit” can be understood as the number of people professing Christ, or the number of churches planted; that’s quantitative.
But then there’s Galatians 5, describing the fruit of the Spirit. How do you quantify the fruit of agape love, or patience, or meekness, gentleness, or self-control? These are qualitative things that are very important to God and very difficult, if not impossible, to measure.
The practice of cross-cultural partnership, therefore, which over-emphasizes “metrics” will invariably lead to outcomes that focus on those externals. A truism of business management is that “you can only manage what you can measure.” When applied to Christian ministry, wouldn’t this lead to a focus on quantitative external expressions of the faith, while qualitative expressions of the faith would be marginalized? It is no wonder legalism can be so inimical to the gospel.
Another thing about the word “metrics” is the cultural baggage that comes with it. As stated above, the word “metrics” implies the idea that everything important can be quantified and categorized. Isn’t that a Western construct, a part of modernity? The biblical principle of stewardship notwithstanding, it really fits the American Christian consumer mentality of “more souls per dollar invested,” or “best bang for the buck.” It is part of the empire of globalization that prizes efficiency above all else. Isn’t there is a kind of Western cultural imperialism implicit in the term, “metrics”?
Having said all this, I recognize that accountability and outcomes are important. God is interested in outcomes. He wants the nations to be discipled, not only that people have the opportunity to be saved. Stewardship is important. Evaluation is important.
And if you are evaluating a cross-cultural partnership with “metrics”—be careful. Make sure the evaluation is mutual.
The world economy seems fragile. Some so-called “rich” Western nations are teetering with default. Leaders are trying to avoid another global recession. Presidents are treading a delicate balance between satisfying the demands of the voting public—with the interdependency of globalized economies.
Will the global Church show the way forward? Will globally-minded followers of Jesus Christ embrace their interdependence—while acknowledging the unique God-ordained dignity and honor of every national and ethnic identity?
The Lausanne Movement speaks to these questions. This is from the Foreward of “The Cape Town Commmitment: A Confession of Faith and Action”:
The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Cape Town, 16-25 October 2010) brought together 4,200 evangelical leaders from 198 countries, and extended to hundreds of thousands more, participating in meetings around the world, and online. Its goal? To bring a fresh challenge to the global Church to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching – in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas.
The Cape Town Commitment is the fruit of this endeavour. It stands in an historic line, building on both The Lausanne Covenant and The Manila Manifesto. It is in two parts. Part l sets out biblical convictions, passed down to us in the scriptures, and Part ll sounds the call to action.
The very last part of the document—the final section of the Call to Action—deals with partnership in the Body of Christ.
Here is an excerpt under the title, “Partnership in global mission”:
Partnership in mission is not only about efficiency. It is the strategic and practical outworking of our shared submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. Too often we have engaged in mission in ways that prioritize and preserve our own identities (ethnic, denominational, theological, etc), and have failed to submit our passions and preferences to our one Lord and Master. The supremacy and centrality of Christ in our mission must be more than a confession of faith; it must also govern our strategy, practice and unity.
We rejoice in the growth and strength of emerging mission movements in the majority world and the ending of the old pattern of ‘from the West to the Rest’. But we do not accept the idea that the baton of mission responsibility has passed from one part of the world Church to another. There is no sense in rejecting the past triumphalism of the West, only to relocate the same ungodly spirit in Asia, Africa, or Latin America. No one ethnic group, nation, or continent can claim the exclusive privilege of being the ones to complete the Great Commission. Only God is sovereign.
a. We stand together as church and mission leaders in all parts of the world, called to recognize and accept one another, with equality of opportunities to contribute together to world mission. Let us, in submission to Christ, lay aside suspicion, competition and pride and be willing to learn from those whom God is using, even when they are not from our continent, nor of our particular theology, nor of our organization, nor of our circle of friends.
b. Partnership is about more than money, and unwise injection of money frequently corrupts and divides the Church. Let us finally prove that the Church does not operate on the principle that those who have the most money have all the decision-making power. Let us no longer impose our own preferred names, slogans, programmes, systems and methods on other parts of the Church. Let us instead work for true mutuality of North and South, East and West, for interdependence in giving and receiving, for the respect and dignity that characterizes genuine friends and true partners in mission.
How encouraging! It is very much the spirit in which our missional learning journey, The Beauty of Partnership, was developed. In a globalized world with fragile economies, the last thing we need are the Christians who “hunker down” with the attitude that happiness is a small circle.
If ever there was a need for training in intercultural understanding and healthy cross-cultural partnerships, that time is now.
Timothy Tennent’s book—Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church is Influencing the Way We Think About and Discuss Theology—a valuable resource for Christians in cross-cultural ministry
Christians in America and the West have a hard time seeing the pivotal cultural value of honor and shame in Scripture. According to Timothy C. Tennent, there is a blind spot in our systematic theology textbooks:
Since Western systematic theology has been almost exclusively written by theologians from cultures framed primarily by the values of guilt and innocence, there has been a corresponding failure to fully appreciate the importance of the pivotal values of honor and shame in understanding Scripture and the doctrine of sin. Even with the publication of important works such as Biblical Social Values and Their Meaning and The New Testament World, systematic theologians have remained largely unchanged by this research.
Bruce Nichols, the founder of the Evangelical Review of Theology, has acknowledged this problem, noting that Christian theologians have “rarely if ever stressed salvation as honoring God, exposure of sin as shame, and the need for acceptance as the restoration of honor.” In fact, a survey of all of the leading textbooks used in teaching systematic theology across the major theological traditions reveals that although the indexes are filled with references to guilt, the word “shame” appears in the index of only one of these textbooks. This omission continues to persist despite the fact that the term guilt and its various derivatives occur 145 times in the Old Testament and 10 times in the New Testament, whereas the term shame and its derivatives occur nearly 300 times in the Old Testament and 45 times in the New Testament.
This is clearly an area where systematic theology must be challenged to reflect more adequately the testimony of Scripture. I am confident that a more biblical understanding of human identity outside of Christ that is framed by guilt, fear, and shame will, in turn, stimulate a more profound and comprehensive appreciation for the work of Christ on the cross. This approach will also greatly help peoples in the Majority World to understand the significance and power of Christ’s work, which has heretofore been told primarily from only one perspective.[1]
“This omission continues to persist …” Yes, that means there’s a blind spot.
The result? Seminaries in the West teach the Bible with an “honor and shame blind spot.” Pastors-to-be and leaders attending those seminaries acquire the blind spot. In turn, the blind spot has filtered into the common language and understanding of Christians everywhere in the West. Some of them, in turn, export the “honor and shame blind spot” around the world. Systematic theology textbooks from the West are used in seminaries all over the world … and the “honor and shame blind spot” is perpetuated.
Interestingly, the pivotal cultural value of honor and shame—as found in that Eastern book called the Bible—is also prominent in non-Western nations today. In the Majority World—consisting of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East—honor and shame is still a pivotal cultural value.
This has major ramifications for cross-cultural ministry efforts … for how we share the gospel of Jesus Christ … the kind of language we use … the degree to which our words touch each others’ hearts … for the depth of friendship between people in the West and people in the Majority World.
My free 30-page article, “Honor and Shame in Cross-Cultural Relationships,” helps address this need. It is an introduction to the subject of honor and shame. The article helps you understand five basic culture scales through the cultural lens of honor and shame, gives examples from the Bible, and offers practical suggestions to Western believers so they can better understand their friends in the Majority World—for healthier cross-cultural relationships and partnerships. It is available by clicking here.
