Hollywood seems to have impacted missions in some significant ways. Western culture (and progressively the entire world) is contaminated by “one-man army” ideas. According to my students at Evangelical Theological Seminary this can be seen in Hollywood (Spiderman, Batman, Whatever-man). One gal asked, "how responsible is Protestantism with its overemphasis on the Cross (forgetting the carpenter and the empty tomb) in creating these “Lone Ranger” ideas that we now struggle with?"
Then the real fun begins. From there the students allowed me to see that from where they are sitting, mission leaders sometimes act like managers of companies. Vision-casting is nothing more than pet project promotion, forcing our Western ideas on the nationals. Having lived in the Slavic world for most of the last 12 years, I have to uncomfortably admit that there is much truth to this. Of course the CMA is never guilty of this, we are talking about other missions, . . . ah hum.
When one begins to look at missions and missional activity from the perspective of the local . . . it doesn't seem quite so clean and altruistic and holy. There is only one way to redeem such situations and assure that they no longer happen. My students and I agree; we have to work, engage, and live in relationships of mutuality and equality. All superiority and arrogance needs to stay home in the West!
When I tell my students about our relationships with our Macedonian leaders and what we are invited to do and invited to join in with and invited to share, they are not quite sure they believe me. I tell them, "there are no supermen or whatevermen in our partnership in Macedonia, only the dream team." No superstars needed or wanted.
1 comment:
Interesting blog. I think there is a change taking place in western culture. There seems to be a lot more emphasis on community and team then on the individual. I hope I am right about this. That said there is still a consumerism that saturates western Christianity. Good thoughts!!
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