Tuesday, 23 March 2010
DMR Format Change
DMR is changing its posting format from a monthly issue to a by the review post. Please check in for new posts regularly.
Culture Making - Andy Crouch
Editor's note: This review was to be included in the last issue of DMR, but due to a lack of my organization, it never actually got included. Sincere apologies to Jim Jordan as his submission is greatly appreciated.
Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling - Andy Crouch
InterVarsity Press (2008)
1st part available free online:
http://www.ivpress.com/title/exc/3394-sample-1.pdf
http://www.ivpress.com/title/exc/3394-sample-2.pdf
Andy Crouch’s 2008 book Culture Making has received positive reviews and multiple book-of-the-year awards touting it as a great step forward in the field of Christianity and culture, but little has been written on the book’s relevance to cross-cultural missions. Is this work significant to cross-cultural missions? Should it be recommended reading for those who serve in missions? This review will examine these questions and show what Culture Making does and doesn’t offer to the field of missions.
Culture Making is simultaneously a readable introduction to the topic of Christianity and culture as well as a dramatic recasting of everything that has been said on this topic for the last several decades. Crouch has an ambitious three part goal of changing our understanding of culture itself, the biblical view of culture, and the way of transforming culture. Crouch largely accomplishes these goals by balancing complex definitions of his concepts with engaging illustrations of these concepts, resulting in a deep yet readable narrative.
Those who are familiar with H. Richard Niebuhr’s seminal work Christ & Culture will find in Crouch a reaffirmation of the church’s calling to transform culture along with a new concept of gestures and postures, which provides a more dynamic and nuanced understanding the relationship between Christianity and culture than Niebuhr’s five types. The title of the book reflects just one application of Crouch’s comprehensive framework of understanding culture: that in order to transform culture, Christians must go beyond condemning, and critiquing culture and must create culture as well.
Since it is well understood that culture plays a critical roll in cross-cultural missions, it will be helpful for any missionary to read what has quickly grown a reputation as the best book on Christianity and culture written in many years. However, there are a few caveats: Crouch is not writing for a missions audience and so his examples are taken from the context of American culture and his applications focus on American Christianity. His work does reflect an understanding of multiculturalism but doesn’t dwell on this issue. On a practical level, he doesn’t go out of his way to apply his concepts to issues that commonly arise in cross-cultural missions work. Crouch provides a biblical understanding of culture that can be applied in many contexts, but the missions-minded reader will have to do his or her own work of practical application of Crouch’s concepts to their cultural context.
Despite its lack of focus on missions, this book is truly groundbreaking within its scope, and its concepts, when applied to cross-cultural missions, are capable of helping Christians around the world relate to culture in a healthier way.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM).
Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling - Andy Crouch
InterVarsity Press (2008)
1st part available free online:
http://www.ivpress.com/title/exc/3394-sample-1.pdf
http://www.ivpress.com/title/exc/3394-sample-2.pdf
Andy Crouch’s 2008 book Culture Making has received positive reviews and multiple book-of-the-year awards touting it as a great step forward in the field of Christianity and culture, but little has been written on the book’s relevance to cross-cultural missions. Is this work significant to cross-cultural missions? Should it be recommended reading for those who serve in missions? This review will examine these questions and show what Culture Making does and doesn’t offer to the field of missions.
Culture Making is simultaneously a readable introduction to the topic of Christianity and culture as well as a dramatic recasting of everything that has been said on this topic for the last several decades. Crouch has an ambitious three part goal of changing our understanding of culture itself, the biblical view of culture, and the way of transforming culture. Crouch largely accomplishes these goals by balancing complex definitions of his concepts with engaging illustrations of these concepts, resulting in a deep yet readable narrative.
Those who are familiar with H. Richard Niebuhr’s seminal work Christ & Culture will find in Crouch a reaffirmation of the church’s calling to transform culture along with a new concept of gestures and postures, which provides a more dynamic and nuanced understanding the relationship between Christianity and culture than Niebuhr’s five types. The title of the book reflects just one application of Crouch’s comprehensive framework of understanding culture: that in order to transform culture, Christians must go beyond condemning, and critiquing culture and must create culture as well.
Since it is well understood that culture plays a critical roll in cross-cultural missions, it will be helpful for any missionary to read what has quickly grown a reputation as the best book on Christianity and culture written in many years. However, there are a few caveats: Crouch is not writing for a missions audience and so his examples are taken from the context of American culture and his applications focus on American Christianity. His work does reflect an understanding of multiculturalism but doesn’t dwell on this issue. On a practical level, he doesn’t go out of his way to apply his concepts to issues that commonly arise in cross-cultural missions work. Crouch provides a biblical understanding of culture that can be applied in many contexts, but the missions-minded reader will have to do his or her own work of practical application of Crouch’s concepts to their cultural context.
Despite its lack of focus on missions, this book is truly groundbreaking within its scope, and its concepts, when applied to cross-cultural missions, are capable of helping Christians around the world relate to culture in a healthier way.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM).
Monday, 15 February 2010
From the Editor
Bogged down with school, ordination, family, work and preparing for a life-time career in missions, I have had little time for reflection on the person of Christ, let alone who Christ is for me. I've spent little time thinking theologically in my own context let alone being challenged by the theologies of other contexts.
In this issue, read a review by Jim Jordan on Andy Crouch's book, Culture Making. Jordan points out how Crouch's understanding of culture, though in the North American context, can be applied to cross-cultural missions. The Journal of Latin American Theology is especially fun this issue as it highlights the contributions of several Latin American evangelical theologians. Finally check out the review of the final section of the Global Mission Handbook, completing a long series of reviews on Hoke and Taylor's updated and revised book.
We soon enter the season of Lent (the Orthodox tradition already has), and it is a time to think of the person of Christ and to think of who Christ is in the theological understanding around the globe. How does Christ, his incarnation, his death and resurrection impact people of other cultures? How does it impact your own culture. This season of Lent I will slow way down on activities that I might think and reflect on the work of Christ as they pertain to numerous global contexts.
In this issue, read a review by Jim Jordan on Andy Crouch's book, Culture Making. Jordan points out how Crouch's understanding of culture, though in the North American context, can be applied to cross-cultural missions. The Journal of Latin American Theology is especially fun this issue as it highlights the contributions of several Latin American evangelical theologians. Finally check out the review of the final section of the Global Mission Handbook, completing a long series of reviews on Hoke and Taylor's updated and revised book.
We soon enter the season of Lent (the Orthodox tradition already has), and it is a time to think of the person of Christ and to think of who Christ is in the theological understanding around the globe. How does Christ, his incarnation, his death and resurrection impact people of other cultures? How does it impact your own culture. This season of Lent I will slow way down on activities that I might think and reflect on the work of Christ as they pertain to numerous global contexts.
Journal of Latin American Theology: Volume 4, Number 2
Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamérica
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
In missions it is easy to cling to one’s theological perspective coming from the home country. Too often outside theology has been supplanted in new cultures or communities leaving the people disconnected from a contextualized knowledge of who they are in the light of God. Colonialistic missions, for the most part, has been relatively eradicated, however as missions continues, colonialism of theology will continue without the encouragement of indigenous theological reflection. Where there is indigenous theological reflection, missionaries must come to at least understand and attempt to identify with the contextualized theology.
Of course contextualized theology can lead to the slippery-slope of syncretism and poor theology, however theology is always contextualized and the supplanting of outside theology is most likely syncretic and poor as it comes in. Western missionaries are often accused of their materialistic syncretism in the theology they bring and need the Spirit’s guidance to better contextualize the Gospel message they preach, teach and engage in the new context.
The Journal of Latin American Theology might be one of the most important evangelical tools for missionaries to Latin America today. Here Latin American theology is explored and communicated for Latin Americans and in English for a wider audience. The general aim is the “Christian Reflections from the Latino South.” It is a twice-a-year publication published by the Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamérica (FTL).
The most recent issue highlights five of the primary founders of the FTL: Emilio Antonio Núñez, José Míguez Bonino, René Padilla, Samuel Escobar and Orlando Costas. Included are expositions of their theological positions as well as their contributions to Latin American contextualized theology and the world. Primarily written by Daniel Salinas, admittedly biased, Salinas does an adequate job portraying each of these theologians.
After reading this journal I am incensed by the fact that I’d never actually read any of their works before. Education is what you make of it, so I’m disappointed in myself, however when studying Latin American theology in seminary I was never given a single work by these five theologians to read. Instead I read the theological positions of Boff and Gutierrez, important for theological education, yet with no mention of the evangelical theologians all the more important for my evangelical education.
Perhaps these theologians are not included as theologians simply because they were missionaries and ministers in their local communities “doing” theology in their spare time. Or perhaps each one of these evangelical theologians presented a theology that was in conflict with the dominant western evangelical theology of the day.
The journal is an excellent resource for missionaries headed to Latin America. More though, it is excellent for all missionaries. Each of the five theologians represent contexts from the global south, while contextually different in other global south countries, the example of contextualized theology is radically important.
Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamérica
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
In missions it is easy to cling to one’s theological perspective coming from the home country. Too often outside theology has been supplanted in new cultures or communities leaving the people disconnected from a contextualized knowledge of who they are in the light of God. Colonialistic missions, for the most part, has been relatively eradicated, however as missions continues, colonialism of theology will continue without the encouragement of indigenous theological reflection. Where there is indigenous theological reflection, missionaries must come to at least understand and attempt to identify with the contextualized theology.
Of course contextualized theology can lead to the slippery-slope of syncretism and poor theology, however theology is always contextualized and the supplanting of outside theology is most likely syncretic and poor as it comes in. Western missionaries are often accused of their materialistic syncretism in the theology they bring and need the Spirit’s guidance to better contextualize the Gospel message they preach, teach and engage in the new context.
The Journal of Latin American Theology might be one of the most important evangelical tools for missionaries to Latin America today. Here Latin American theology is explored and communicated for Latin Americans and in English for a wider audience. The general aim is the “Christian Reflections from the Latino South.” It is a twice-a-year publication published by the Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamérica (FTL).
The most recent issue highlights five of the primary founders of the FTL: Emilio Antonio Núñez, José Míguez Bonino, René Padilla, Samuel Escobar and Orlando Costas. Included are expositions of their theological positions as well as their contributions to Latin American contextualized theology and the world. Primarily written by Daniel Salinas, admittedly biased, Salinas does an adequate job portraying each of these theologians.
After reading this journal I am incensed by the fact that I’d never actually read any of their works before. Education is what you make of it, so I’m disappointed in myself, however when studying Latin American theology in seminary I was never given a single work by these five theologians to read. Instead I read the theological positions of Boff and Gutierrez, important for theological education, yet with no mention of the evangelical theologians all the more important for my evangelical education.
Perhaps these theologians are not included as theologians simply because they were missionaries and ministers in their local communities “doing” theology in their spare time. Or perhaps each one of these evangelical theologians presented a theology that was in conflict with the dominant western evangelical theology of the day.
The journal is an excellent resource for missionaries headed to Latin America. More though, it is excellent for all missionaries. Each of the five theologians represent contexts from the global south, while contextually different in other global south countries, the example of contextualized theology is radically important.
Call for DMR Reviewers
Like free books? Want to do a little writing? Deep Missional Review is looking for a few more reviewers. Comment on this blog for more information.
Global Mission Handbook - Part 4
Global Mission Handbook
Steve Hoke & Bill Taylor
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
This marks the last brief review of the book, Global Mission Handbook, a book I was going through personally, reading each article and processing each of the worksheets. It is a fantastic cursory book for those entering missions, compiling a myriad of missions training and compiling the book.
The final portion of this book had to do with the first months/year of being on the field. Immersion is the typical buzz-word of missionary training, and Hoke and Taylor advocate an immersed, patient approach to enculturation. The suggestions they give seem to come standard, but are still good. While most missions sending organizations have very similar methodology to entering the field, this section would be valuable especially for missionaries not yet on the field and for supporters of missionaries who might want to see “results” more quickly.
Hoke and Taylor provide a section for finishing strong, which again is a valuable compilation of standard practice. They touch on the need for missionary care, issues regarding continuing education as well as issues regarding third-culture or missionary kids.
As I’ve stated in previous posts, this book is a valuable resource in missions. I would not be surprised to see it become standard reading for major sending organizations, and could be a great tool for missionaries to give to their missions committee. Hoke and Taylor leave out very little. While their view of missions and missional might be limited to a cross-contextual understanding, they know missions training and set the reader up with tools for success.
Steve Hoke & Bill Taylor
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
This marks the last brief review of the book, Global Mission Handbook, a book I was going through personally, reading each article and processing each of the worksheets. It is a fantastic cursory book for those entering missions, compiling a myriad of missions training and compiling the book.
The final portion of this book had to do with the first months/year of being on the field. Immersion is the typical buzz-word of missionary training, and Hoke and Taylor advocate an immersed, patient approach to enculturation. The suggestions they give seem to come standard, but are still good. While most missions sending organizations have very similar methodology to entering the field, this section would be valuable especially for missionaries not yet on the field and for supporters of missionaries who might want to see “results” more quickly.
Hoke and Taylor provide a section for finishing strong, which again is a valuable compilation of standard practice. They touch on the need for missionary care, issues regarding continuing education as well as issues regarding third-culture or missionary kids.
As I’ve stated in previous posts, this book is a valuable resource in missions. I would not be surprised to see it become standard reading for major sending organizations, and could be a great tool for missionaries to give to their missions committee. Hoke and Taylor leave out very little. While their view of missions and missional might be limited to a cross-contextual understanding, they know missions training and set the reader up with tools for success.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Upcoming Reviews
Coming in February, look for reviews on:
The recent Journal of Latin American Theology
The recent International Bulletin of Missionary Research
Culture Making by Andy Crouch
The final review of the Global Missions Handbook
The recent Journal of Latin American Theology
The recent International Bulletin of Missionary Research
Culture Making by Andy Crouch
The final review of the Global Missions Handbook
Thursday, 14 January 2010
January 2010 Editor's Note
Editor’s Note:
I had the privilege to attend the Urbana ’09 conference this past year. I was struck, first, by the number of students involved…and it was a low turnout year. Secondly, I was struck by the amount of diverse organizations represented. As an exhibitor for Latin America Mission, I was awed by the unique and also more general ministries represented. Some of my heart broke as I realized that collaboration can be very difficult with such diversity and sheer number of organizations. As time went on, however, I saw the very collaboration I longed for, despite diversity, become something to serve future missionaries and the world of missions.
Every organization at Urbana recognized the desire for qualified missionaries to go with their programs. Each organization believed in their mission statement and saw the value of their work, but the spirit of competition was not there. In fact, I sent people to other booths and some people came to ours based on the recommendations of other organizations.
One of the most significant discoveries for me at this conference was that an entire field of ministry was not well represented. A number of students bounced from booth to booth looking to be a part of a sustainable agriculture ministry, working alongside groups of people in the majority world. To my knowledge most of them did not find an organization that used sustainable agriculture as ministry. I had to direct them to an organization not even represented at Urbana this year. Mission leaders and university leaders must see this developed interest in students who want to serve God this way and begin to partner with indigenous people that might be able to teach these future missionaries how to do sustainable agriculture in their contexts.
In this issue of DMR you can read a couple of reviews of some of the plenary speakers at Urbana. Of course some were better than others, some touched the reviewer differently than the messages of others might have. James Pluddemann of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School just came out with the book, Leading Across Cultures, and discusses the collaborative, global efforts in missions and how work in an increasingly multicultural missions team. A number of talks by Michael Oh on Itunes University are memorable yet teach on being forgettable. Finally, a review of Spiritual Intelligence, by Alan Nelson was just released on January 10. Nelson discusses the need for a spiritual intelligence in Christian formation.
2010 will likely see growth in multicultural ministry teams as will many years for some time. Collaboration is an amazing thing, but it also comes with some unique complexities. Adaptability and flexibility are some of the most valuable traits for a missionary and they will certainly be employed in the upcoming world of missions and cross-cultural ministry. With some spiritual grounding, current missionaries can navigate these complexities and usher in the forthcoming generation of missionaries, like those found at Urbana or any of the other regional missions conferences that the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) holds.
I had the privilege to attend the Urbana ’09 conference this past year. I was struck, first, by the number of students involved…and it was a low turnout year. Secondly, I was struck by the amount of diverse organizations represented. As an exhibitor for Latin America Mission, I was awed by the unique and also more general ministries represented. Some of my heart broke as I realized that collaboration can be very difficult with such diversity and sheer number of organizations. As time went on, however, I saw the very collaboration I longed for, despite diversity, become something to serve future missionaries and the world of missions.
Every organization at Urbana recognized the desire for qualified missionaries to go with their programs. Each organization believed in their mission statement and saw the value of their work, but the spirit of competition was not there. In fact, I sent people to other booths and some people came to ours based on the recommendations of other organizations.
One of the most significant discoveries for me at this conference was that an entire field of ministry was not well represented. A number of students bounced from booth to booth looking to be a part of a sustainable agriculture ministry, working alongside groups of people in the majority world. To my knowledge most of them did not find an organization that used sustainable agriculture as ministry. I had to direct them to an organization not even represented at Urbana this year. Mission leaders and university leaders must see this developed interest in students who want to serve God this way and begin to partner with indigenous people that might be able to teach these future missionaries how to do sustainable agriculture in their contexts.
In this issue of DMR you can read a couple of reviews of some of the plenary speakers at Urbana. Of course some were better than others, some touched the reviewer differently than the messages of others might have. James Pluddemann of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School just came out with the book, Leading Across Cultures, and discusses the collaborative, global efforts in missions and how work in an increasingly multicultural missions team. A number of talks by Michael Oh on Itunes University are memorable yet teach on being forgettable. Finally, a review of Spiritual Intelligence, by Alan Nelson was just released on January 10. Nelson discusses the need for a spiritual intelligence in Christian formation.
2010 will likely see growth in multicultural ministry teams as will many years for some time. Collaboration is an amazing thing, but it also comes with some unique complexities. Adaptability and flexibility are some of the most valuable traits for a missionary and they will certainly be employed in the upcoming world of missions and cross-cultural ministry. With some spiritual grounding, current missionaries can navigate these complexities and usher in the forthcoming generation of missionaries, like those found at Urbana or any of the other regional missions conferences that the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) holds.
"Money and Power" by Oscar Muriu
http://vimeo.com/8450561 - Urbana '09
Reviewed by Jim Jordan
Oscar Muriu’s talk “Money and Power” from the Urbana ’09 missions conference presents the incarnation of Jesus Christ as our model for mission. If you have time to listen to only one talk from this influential conference, Muriu’s should be that one. He captures the central message of the entire conference and speaks prophetically to a new generation of missionaries.
After generations of missions being done in a colonial and paternalistic manner, Muriu challenges young people to take up a different paradigm and follow the pattern of Jesus’ incarnation in our missionary work. Muriu both explores the Biblical precedent of the incarnational approach and calls young people to give their lives to this radical mission.
The heart of Muriu’s message is an exposition of Philippians 2:5-11. He explores four different doors that Jesus walked through in his incarnation: from pride to humility, from power to powerlessness, from privilege to poverty, and from harmony to brokenness. He contrasts God’s way of saving the world with the practices and methods of western missionaries, who often try to help the poor and needy without actually becoming poor themselves. God’s incarnational method, however, leaves behind power and privilege to enter into solidarity with dying humanity. Jesus is born into powerlessness and then lives in poverty under an oppressive empire for thirty years before even beginning his ministry. This humility and patience is rarely seen in success-oriented western missions.
The next generation of missionaries needs to hear Oscar Muriu’s radical call to incarnational mission. Not only this, but our mission agencies and sending organizations need to hear this message as well and change the way they train and send missionaries. The call to incarnational mission is a difficult one, but it is nothing more than the call to discipleship—to follow in the footsteps of our Lord in the area of cross-cultural missions.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM)
http://vimeo.com/8450561 - Urbana '09
Reviewed by Jim Jordan
Oscar Muriu’s talk “Money and Power” from the Urbana ’09 missions conference presents the incarnation of Jesus Christ as our model for mission. If you have time to listen to only one talk from this influential conference, Muriu’s should be that one. He captures the central message of the entire conference and speaks prophetically to a new generation of missionaries.
After generations of missions being done in a colonial and paternalistic manner, Muriu challenges young people to take up a different paradigm and follow the pattern of Jesus’ incarnation in our missionary work. Muriu both explores the Biblical precedent of the incarnational approach and calls young people to give their lives to this radical mission.
The heart of Muriu’s message is an exposition of Philippians 2:5-11. He explores four different doors that Jesus walked through in his incarnation: from pride to humility, from power to powerlessness, from privilege to poverty, and from harmony to brokenness. He contrasts God’s way of saving the world with the practices and methods of western missionaries, who often try to help the poor and needy without actually becoming poor themselves. God’s incarnational method, however, leaves behind power and privilege to enter into solidarity with dying humanity. Jesus is born into powerlessness and then lives in poverty under an oppressive empire for thirty years before even beginning his ministry. This humility and patience is rarely seen in success-oriented western missions.
The next generation of missionaries needs to hear Oscar Muriu’s radical call to incarnational mission. Not only this, but our mission agencies and sending organizations need to hear this message as well and change the way they train and send missionaries. The call to incarnational mission is a difficult one, but it is nothing more than the call to discipleship—to follow in the footsteps of our Lord in the area of cross-cultural missions.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM)
Media Review - "The Movement of Peoples"
"The Movement of Peoples" by Ruth Padilla DeBorst
http://vimeo.com/8433817
Media Review by Jim Jordan
In the Urbana ’09 general session entitled “The Movement of Peoples,” Ruth Padilla Deborst challenges us to see Jesus in the 200 million displaced people in our world and to love them as God’s children. She asks tough questions about our negative reactions to immigrants and our prejudices against some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. For any missional Christian it is important to ask these questions and to reflect on the Bible’s rich and complex teachings concerning immigrants and displaced people.
Padilla tells several powerful stories from her native Latin America about people on the move. She compares these contemporary stories with the stories of several Bible characters who were also on the move, including Jesus who suffered many displacements during his life on earth. Padilla shows how God dwelled in and used people on the move to accomplish His purposes in the great story of redemption.
Ruth speaks with sincere passion and a gripping sense of urgency. The pace of the lecture is so fast that it’s hard to keep up. Ruth weaves engaging stories with deep theology and sometimes overly technical language, which can make it a difficult lecture for the casual listener. She also touches on the highly debated issue of immigration policy, arguing not from the perspective of a political ideology but from a Biblical and theological basis.
The talk crescendos with some startling statements about love: "Love does not reach from afar—it demands incarnation. Love demands death—death to self—death to the mirage of success that society is built upon.” These difficult words challenge the missional Christian to question the abysmal heights of our Christian love, which is usually characterized by disconnected monetary donations and sterilized short-term service. This valuable message about the pressing social problem of displaced people ultimately speaks to even deeper problems with western missions and is well worth the 25-minute investment needed to hear it.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM)
http://vimeo.com/8433817
Media Review by Jim Jordan
In the Urbana ’09 general session entitled “The Movement of Peoples,” Ruth Padilla Deborst challenges us to see Jesus in the 200 million displaced people in our world and to love them as God’s children. She asks tough questions about our negative reactions to immigrants and our prejudices against some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. For any missional Christian it is important to ask these questions and to reflect on the Bible’s rich and complex teachings concerning immigrants and displaced people.
Padilla tells several powerful stories from her native Latin America about people on the move. She compares these contemporary stories with the stories of several Bible characters who were also on the move, including Jesus who suffered many displacements during his life on earth. Padilla shows how God dwelled in and used people on the move to accomplish His purposes in the great story of redemption.
Ruth speaks with sincere passion and a gripping sense of urgency. The pace of the lecture is so fast that it’s hard to keep up. Ruth weaves engaging stories with deep theology and sometimes overly technical language, which can make it a difficult lecture for the casual listener. She also touches on the highly debated issue of immigration policy, arguing not from the perspective of a political ideology but from a Biblical and theological basis.
The talk crescendos with some startling statements about love: "Love does not reach from afar—it demands incarnation. Love demands death—death to self—death to the mirage of success that society is built upon.” These difficult words challenge the missional Christian to question the abysmal heights of our Christian love, which is usually characterized by disconnected monetary donations and sterilized short-term service. This valuable message about the pressing social problem of displaced people ultimately speaks to even deeper problems with western missions and is well worth the 25-minute investment needed to hear it.
Jim Jordan lives in Miami, FL in an intentional Christian community and serves as Short Term Coordinator for Latin America Mission (LAM)
Book Review - Leading Across Cultures by James Pluddemann
Leading Across Cultures by James Pluddemann
InterVarsity Press, 2009
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
It is only the first few weeks of January, but I expect Pluddemann’s book to be one of the most helpful and fascinating books for missions that I will read all year. Leading Across Cultures is timely and recognizes the global shift in missions.
The face of missions is increasingly more multicultural and missionary teams are becoming more cross-cultural. With the dynamic change comes increasing complications as well. A missionary will not only need to adapt to the new mission context she finds herself in, but she will have to also adapt to differences with her missions team. Leadership styles may conflict, visions may look different and likely how to accomplish visions will be different in a multicultural team.
A missionary can avoid these problems by either ghettoizing himself in a unicultural missions team or avoiding mission altogether. If neither of these is an option for a missionary, Pluddemann wrote a valuable resource for addressing the multicultural missions challenges.
One of the most impacting aspects of Pluddemann’s book is that with the changing context of missions he shows that there must be a developing view of how to work together. The legacy of old missions, to set up outposts and colonize has long been dropped in missions. This legacy spurned a great sense of empowerment by the next generation of missionaries entering the field. There was an attempt to avoid dependency and to create indigenously sustainable ministries. This cautious and commendable approach to missions has also created a hyper-sensitivity to culture and sometimes impotence in ministry. Pluddemann suggests a shift to a more collaborative approach.
Paul is famously quoted in missions books for “becoming all things to all people.” But while he was willing to engage his context where he was at, he did not always shy away from being a Jew of the Jews in Gentile lands. He couldn’t. To do so would be lacking authenticity. One does not completely drive away the context from which he came, for he would lose a number of years that shaped who he indeed was in Christ. It is coming into the new context that the missionary must grow in sensitivity to the new context and let the new context shape the remainder of his life.
A Mexican friend of mine told a group of us missionaries that we ought not try so hard to be Mexican. I had just finished giving a devotional about how we need to become Mexican to the Mexicans, as a play on Paul’s words, and here my friend just denied it. But he did not completely wash out my devotion. He added to it. Rather, to become imbedded within a context for that context might mean a sense of fluidity for people, as contexts change. My friend was preaching adaptability, sensitivity and a willingness to learn, but also a willingness to share Godly aspects of my personal culture as long as I was seeking the first three qualities for his culture.
Pluddemann regularly goes through the high-context/low-context and high & low-power-distance cultural differences, almost too much, but the point sticks. When working on a multicultural team, understand the context of each person. Pluddemann gives grids and paradigms that can help define a person’s context and power-distance preferences. He talks regularly about the ability to function in ambiguity, which is a huge issue for multicultural teams. Most importantly, Pluddemann gives these paradigms and descriptors as filters for being able to understand another person, but cautions that not everybody fits the same box.
That same Mexican friend, while VERY Mexican has adapted his context some in his bicultural marriage. Some aspects of the way his people generally do things drives him crazy. He is thoroughly Mexican, with an incredible love and passion for his people, but he is an example of a missionary partner that fits only part way in the general constructs that Pluddemann provides for high context, high power-distance culture.
One of the most fun aspects to this book is the inclusion of multicultural leadership stories throughout the book by missionaries and leaders. These little articles at the end of chapters give a quick anecdote and helps to summarize in an enjoyable and instructive way, what Pluddemann communicates in the chapter.
Pluddemann writes a book that is useful, somewhat technical, but easy to read. It is a book that is valuable for any person working in a multicultural situation, but especially for those in mission teams, organizations and universities that are increasingly more multicultural. Pluddemann’s book will be a handy reference. I mark it as possibly one of the best books I’ve read in 2009, and will be one of the best I’ll review in 2010.
InterVarsity Press, 2009
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
It is only the first few weeks of January, but I expect Pluddemann’s book to be one of the most helpful and fascinating books for missions that I will read all year. Leading Across Cultures is timely and recognizes the global shift in missions.
The face of missions is increasingly more multicultural and missionary teams are becoming more cross-cultural. With the dynamic change comes increasing complications as well. A missionary will not only need to adapt to the new mission context she finds herself in, but she will have to also adapt to differences with her missions team. Leadership styles may conflict, visions may look different and likely how to accomplish visions will be different in a multicultural team.
A missionary can avoid these problems by either ghettoizing himself in a unicultural missions team or avoiding mission altogether. If neither of these is an option for a missionary, Pluddemann wrote a valuable resource for addressing the multicultural missions challenges.
One of the most impacting aspects of Pluddemann’s book is that with the changing context of missions he shows that there must be a developing view of how to work together. The legacy of old missions, to set up outposts and colonize has long been dropped in missions. This legacy spurned a great sense of empowerment by the next generation of missionaries entering the field. There was an attempt to avoid dependency and to create indigenously sustainable ministries. This cautious and commendable approach to missions has also created a hyper-sensitivity to culture and sometimes impotence in ministry. Pluddemann suggests a shift to a more collaborative approach.
Paul is famously quoted in missions books for “becoming all things to all people.” But while he was willing to engage his context where he was at, he did not always shy away from being a Jew of the Jews in Gentile lands. He couldn’t. To do so would be lacking authenticity. One does not completely drive away the context from which he came, for he would lose a number of years that shaped who he indeed was in Christ. It is coming into the new context that the missionary must grow in sensitivity to the new context and let the new context shape the remainder of his life.
A Mexican friend of mine told a group of us missionaries that we ought not try so hard to be Mexican. I had just finished giving a devotional about how we need to become Mexican to the Mexicans, as a play on Paul’s words, and here my friend just denied it. But he did not completely wash out my devotion. He added to it. Rather, to become imbedded within a context for that context might mean a sense of fluidity for people, as contexts change. My friend was preaching adaptability, sensitivity and a willingness to learn, but also a willingness to share Godly aspects of my personal culture as long as I was seeking the first three qualities for his culture.
Pluddemann regularly goes through the high-context/low-context and high & low-power-distance cultural differences, almost too much, but the point sticks. When working on a multicultural team, understand the context of each person. Pluddemann gives grids and paradigms that can help define a person’s context and power-distance preferences. He talks regularly about the ability to function in ambiguity, which is a huge issue for multicultural teams. Most importantly, Pluddemann gives these paradigms and descriptors as filters for being able to understand another person, but cautions that not everybody fits the same box.
That same Mexican friend, while VERY Mexican has adapted his context some in his bicultural marriage. Some aspects of the way his people generally do things drives him crazy. He is thoroughly Mexican, with an incredible love and passion for his people, but he is an example of a missionary partner that fits only part way in the general constructs that Pluddemann provides for high context, high power-distance culture.
One of the most fun aspects to this book is the inclusion of multicultural leadership stories throughout the book by missionaries and leaders. These little articles at the end of chapters give a quick anecdote and helps to summarize in an enjoyable and instructive way, what Pluddemann communicates in the chapter.
Pluddemann writes a book that is useful, somewhat technical, but easy to read. It is a book that is valuable for any person working in a multicultural situation, but especially for those in mission teams, organizations and universities that are increasingly more multicultural. Pluddemann’s book will be a handy reference. I mark it as possibly one of the best books I’ve read in 2009, and will be one of the best I’ll review in 2010.
Media Review - 4 Sermons by Michael Oh
Media Review – Sermons by Michael Oh
“Come and Suffer that the World Might Know” (Parts 1 & 2)
“Be a Nobody for Christ” (Parts 1 & 2)
Itunes University – Covenant College
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
Michael Oh is a dynamic speaker. He is not a man of stature, which he likes, but he is a speaker with great intellect, power and charisma. He has the ability to motivate and also bring-down; bring down to a level of humility so that his audience might be sent forth to proclaim the Gospel and suffer with the people they minister to.
These four lectures on missions are incredibly valuable and teach a lot of insight into the humility required to be a missionary. All beginning missionaries, be they short-termers or long-termers ought to listen to Oh’s powerful messages. Veteran missionaries also ought to take a listen as well.
“Come and Suffer that the World Might Know” (Parts 1 & 2)
“Be a Nobody for Christ” (Parts 1 & 2)
Itunes University – Covenant College
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
Michael Oh is a dynamic speaker. He is not a man of stature, which he likes, but he is a speaker with great intellect, power and charisma. He has the ability to motivate and also bring-down; bring down to a level of humility so that his audience might be sent forth to proclaim the Gospel and suffer with the people they minister to.
These four lectures on missions are incredibly valuable and teach a lot of insight into the humility required to be a missionary. All beginning missionaries, be they short-termers or long-termers ought to listen to Oh’s powerful messages. Veteran missionaries also ought to take a listen as well.
Media Review - "Wii and Ernie Fowler: A Faithful Martyr Even to Death
Media Review – “Wii and Ernie Fowler: A Faithful Martyr Even to Death” by David Howard Sr. & David Howard Jr.
Itunes University – Bethel Univeristy
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
Last month’s issue of DMR included a review of the book, Not in Vain, written by Ken MacHarg and David Howard. This Itunes University chapel on Ernie Fowler’s legacy is a great summary of the book and told collaboratively between Ernie’s best friend, David Howard Sr. and the boy, who at fourteen had seen Ernie lying on the ground having been shot in the face and killed, David Howard Jr. This is a great talk and worth the listen.
It is good that Ernie Fowler’s life was indeed, Not in Vain.
Itunes University – Bethel Univeristy
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
Last month’s issue of DMR included a review of the book, Not in Vain, written by Ken MacHarg and David Howard. This Itunes University chapel on Ernie Fowler’s legacy is a great summary of the book and told collaboratively between Ernie’s best friend, David Howard Sr. and the boy, who at fourteen had seen Ernie lying on the ground having been shot in the face and killed, David Howard Jr. This is a great talk and worth the listen.
It is good that Ernie Fowler’s life was indeed, Not in Vain.
Book Review - Spiritual Intelligence by Alan Nelson
Review of Spiritual Intelligence – Alan E. Nelson
Baker Books, 2010
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
The cultivation of spirituality in Evangelicalism is on the rise. Once popularly considered “new agey”, a deep longing for a deeper knowledge and communion with God has prodded a renaissance of Godly Evangelical spirituality. It has also brought on a revival of many varying types of spirituality, not all of them helpful for Christian discipleship and mission. The idea of Spiritual Intelligence is a good one, and Alan Nelson has a book about it.
Much like the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or Emotional Quotient (EQ), Nelson promotes his book as the book on the Spiritual Quotient (SQ). The use of a quotient helps to calculate spiritual sensitivity, providing a measurable check to the reader on where he or she is. Nelson’s book plainly advertizes the Spiritual Quotient on the front of the cover, but aside from a small self-assessment tool (also prominently advertized on the book) very little was mentioned about this measureable spirituality.
The lack of SQ in the book, however is one of its better aspects. The spiritual journey is too much of a journey to be so measureable. The metaphor of journey for the spiritual life is a good one, tried, tested, and true, but can also be trite. Nelson uses the journey form of a “road trip” to allegorize spirituality and spiritual growth. To make this allegory work for Nelson’s purposes, the road trip needed to be emphasized, but it felt as though Nelson did not commit to it, and turned out rather gimmicky.
Nothing Nelson writes was anti-spiritual and was very Christian. It is a good first book on spirituality for those new to the faith and for those who have not read any other books on spirituality. The book works for a reader who wants to “remove some of the mysticism of soul growth.” Nelson writes, “Far too much effort goes into subjective, esoteric activities void of measureable outcomes.” A computerized spirituality, concrete in form is often how a person begins the spiritual journey. This book is for that purpose. While spirituality is mystical and unmeasureable, the esoteric nature of spiritual growth can be confusing and scary to a new believer.
I am not a fan of the “measureable” nature of Nelson’s spiritual approach. It feels contrived. I do not measure my road trip success by how many miles to the gallon I got, nor how many songs on the radio I listened to. Rather I take in the sights, the scenes and I rock out to the music that comes from my car speakers, lost then in the experience of being on the road.
The other thing that irked me from the book took me a while to place. There is nothing inherently bad about utilizing the locations one has lived in writing a book, however by the end of the book I realized that every place that Nelson mentioned caters to an upper-middle-class reader. So often spirituality brings one low, but Nelson’s spirituality seemed to be couched in “the good life.” He never said as much and I doubt he believe spirituality caters only to the middle class, but it does alienate a large number of potential readers, and likely lacks a connection with most readers.
With regards to mission, I cannot recommend this book. Most mission fields are not to a people group that wants measureable spirituality. For missionaries or those considering the mission field, this book is too basic and does not deal well with the spirituality one faces on the mission field. An updated book with more to do on the self-assessment could actually be more helpful for a missionary despite an increase in measureable outcomes, but until then, this book is rather unhelpful in increasing library of Evangelical spirituality.
Baker Books, 2010
Reviewed by Kevin Book-Satterlee
The cultivation of spirituality in Evangelicalism is on the rise. Once popularly considered “new agey”, a deep longing for a deeper knowledge and communion with God has prodded a renaissance of Godly Evangelical spirituality. It has also brought on a revival of many varying types of spirituality, not all of them helpful for Christian discipleship and mission. The idea of Spiritual Intelligence is a good one, and Alan Nelson has a book about it.
Much like the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or Emotional Quotient (EQ), Nelson promotes his book as the book on the Spiritual Quotient (SQ). The use of a quotient helps to calculate spiritual sensitivity, providing a measurable check to the reader on where he or she is. Nelson’s book plainly advertizes the Spiritual Quotient on the front of the cover, but aside from a small self-assessment tool (also prominently advertized on the book) very little was mentioned about this measureable spirituality.
The lack of SQ in the book, however is one of its better aspects. The spiritual journey is too much of a journey to be so measureable. The metaphor of journey for the spiritual life is a good one, tried, tested, and true, but can also be trite. Nelson uses the journey form of a “road trip” to allegorize spirituality and spiritual growth. To make this allegory work for Nelson’s purposes, the road trip needed to be emphasized, but it felt as though Nelson did not commit to it, and turned out rather gimmicky.
Nothing Nelson writes was anti-spiritual and was very Christian. It is a good first book on spirituality for those new to the faith and for those who have not read any other books on spirituality. The book works for a reader who wants to “remove some of the mysticism of soul growth.” Nelson writes, “Far too much effort goes into subjective, esoteric activities void of measureable outcomes.” A computerized spirituality, concrete in form is often how a person begins the spiritual journey. This book is for that purpose. While spirituality is mystical and unmeasureable, the esoteric nature of spiritual growth can be confusing and scary to a new believer.
I am not a fan of the “measureable” nature of Nelson’s spiritual approach. It feels contrived. I do not measure my road trip success by how many miles to the gallon I got, nor how many songs on the radio I listened to. Rather I take in the sights, the scenes and I rock out to the music that comes from my car speakers, lost then in the experience of being on the road.
The other thing that irked me from the book took me a while to place. There is nothing inherently bad about utilizing the locations one has lived in writing a book, however by the end of the book I realized that every place that Nelson mentioned caters to an upper-middle-class reader. So often spirituality brings one low, but Nelson’s spirituality seemed to be couched in “the good life.” He never said as much and I doubt he believe spirituality caters only to the middle class, but it does alienate a large number of potential readers, and likely lacks a connection with most readers.
With regards to mission, I cannot recommend this book. Most mission fields are not to a people group that wants measureable spirituality. For missionaries or those considering the mission field, this book is too basic and does not deal well with the spirituality one faces on the mission field. An updated book with more to do on the self-assessment could actually be more helpful for a missionary despite an increase in measureable outcomes, but until then, this book is rather unhelpful in increasing library of Evangelical spirituality.
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