CHALLENGES TO MISSION IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION

Abstract

We meet at a special time in world history; at the turning not just of a century but of a millennium. What characterizes our times? Can we discern the spirit of our time? It is now, as never before, that of a global village. It is difficult today for any nation to remain isolated, pursuing an independent course without relating to others. Advances in communication and mass media provide widespread availability of information, and, to the few who can afford the use of them, technological advances promise a standard of living, health and longer life. Within a single day I can be in Geneva from India. A satellite enables me to speak to my cousins in London, Glasgow and California. Globalization is a process that makes the world one! Sounds good. But what is the spirit (essence) of globalization? Careful study soon reveals that the major force in this process is economic, and this results in fragmentation. There is an increase in material goods and a reliance on money as saviour. People are counted as rich by the number of things they possess. Technology ensures better cars, stereo systems, washing machines and toys. Consumerism stresses the need for these goods as a pre-condition for personal identity, and the acquisition of goods has become the all-consuming passion in many lives. With increasing possessions has also come the need to protect them; and the final result is the use of force by one person or nation against another. Profit for the producer, and not the need of the people, is the force that drives the market. Mammon has become God. Technology has advanced rapidly. Some technologies become an end in themselves rather than one of several means to an end. There is a tendency to worship some forms of technology as God. In India, Star TV brings soap operas like the Bold and the Beautiful directly, unrevised, from the USA to the villages of Tamilnadu in India. The reverse does not happen, so there is domination of one culture over another. Medical technology ensures longer lives, new kidneys, livers, hearts, faces, and now the possibility of eternal life - a clone! The diversity that God saw at creation as good is forced into the mold of conformity and we move towards one dominant world culture. Technology, instead of increasing the options people have, is being used to force all towards a few options. We become slaves to technology. We talk of free markets and claim that more people more, but the reality is that fewer people control more of the world's share of power and resources; the gap between the haves and the have nots is increasing, and the consequences are all around us: polluted skies, toxic dumps, advancing deserts, shrinking forests, shantytowns, broken families, neglected children, lonely people turning to sex, drugs and alcohol for fulfilment. Truly, the garden has been laid to waste, joy has been taken out of life, human beings dehumanized, turned into objects and manipulated for profit. The world is split into the consumers and the consumed. It is in this context that we are called to mission. I believe that our remains the same as that of Jesus, of redemption, so that dehumanized people may once again become what they were created to be: whole and restored to joyful relationship with the creation and the creator, as it was when God saw all that God had made and beheld that it was very good. I know that the word mission in World Council of Churches' circles has a certain history, and it is perhaps important to understand this in context. But I would like to go back to Jesus himself to try to define and understand mission. At his baptism Jesus received an affirmation that he was indeed the beloved son, with a to announce the redemption of humanity, and indeed of the whole creation. Jesus then went on a retreat in order to work out his modus operandi. Jesus must felt that the struggle he experienced at this time was important enough to be shared with his friends, otherwise we would not had a record of the temptations, which I believe can offer us valuable insight into our own dilemmas today. …