Most people consider Wichita, Kansas to be the global center of the world right? I might be misguided but the truth is I don\u2019t have to go very far to see the impact of a global interconnected society.<\/p>\n
My wife and I had a sweet Guatemalan man do some work on our house. He came to America a few years ago and started his own painting company. After working for 3 years, he had finally saved enough money to fly his dad over to come live him with. He likes to say he is living the American dream. A couple months ago he invited us to a party when he received his US citizenship and we were introduced to an entire Guatemalan community living in Wichita.<\/p>\n
Just a few weeks ago, I struck up conversation with my cashier at Starbucks. Her family lives in Mexico, she works 30+ hours a week and is a fulltime student at Wichita State University. She\u2019s been pushing hard for 3+ years, but graduation is in sight. She has a dream to get an accounting job and start her career. I connected her with a local CFO friend and there\u2019s a decent chance he will hire her once she graduates.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been working with Arise Africa in Jinja, Uganda now for almost 9 years. It always amazes me when I pick up the phone and call my friends in Uganda, or when my friends start instant chatting me on Facebook. My Ugandan friends live in the bush yet have instant connection anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
I really enjoyed Anthony Elliott\u2019s book Contemporary Social Theory.<\/em> I had a hard time getting through this book in one week because I was really intrigued by it. Elliott\u2019s intro chapter describing the life of \u201cglobal citizen\u201d Natalie compared to the estimated millions, maybe billion \u201cbare living\u201d people scrapping to get by[1]<\/a> really paints a picture of the difficulty one has in defining social theory.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt I live as a \u201cglobal citizen\u201d compared to most and this has impacted my theology and has been a privilege I take for granted. How can the local church acknowledge that this is taking place and find value in connecting global relationships to learn and process our faith in societies we have maybe never experienced?<\/p>\n Elliott asks a great question towards the end of his book. Elliott asks, \u201cIt is easy to grasp the economic forces of globalization, but harder to understand the globalization of culture and personal life. Discuss.[2]<\/a>\u201d They way we discuss this question impacts how we view God\u2019s relationship with the world. My personal life has directly been impacted by globalization because I now can receive an email from an Ugandan friend dealing with malaria or I can now drive a few miles from my house and eat Guatemalan tamales. The only way for me to stay in my white suburbanite bubble is through ignorance. This impacts the way I choose to live, the way I view God, and way I share who God is. It is increasingly complex but this is the society we live in.<\/p>\n As a preacher\/teacher I\u2019m often reminded of my need to contextualize the scripture but Elliotts book reminded me that I need to contextualize scripture not just in my own community, but in a global society. The local church needs to deeply understand the implications of the Gospel on a global society. It\u2019s a complex process but it is now easier then ever to do.<\/p>\n
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