The Missions World is Flat

A couple of years ago I enjoyed reading a book by Thomas Friedman called the The Lexus and the Olive Tree. It is a cataloguing of the intersection/collision of high tech possibilities (the Lexus) and old world values (the olive tree). Essentially, it is a book about the cultural tensions of globalization. It has many implications for how we work around the world.

I've been hearing about a new book by Friedman and I bought it last month. It's called The World is Flat, a Brief History of the 21st Century. Bonnie Meagher accurately commented that the book itself is neither flat, nor brief! It is not something that many people are going to want to wade through. But because it has so many implications for what we do and how we do them, I've been wanting to do a summary for you.

In the book (it's not new, now in its second edition) Friedman makes the case that the question is basically settled, the world has been globalized. At least it has been sufficiently globalized to have profound implications for how hundreds of millions of people work and live. A flat world for Friedman, is a world in which we have a global level playing field, new players on the field from all around the world, and new technologies they can use to work, collaborate and compete. He calls the coming together of these three elements (playing field, new players and technology) a "triple convergence" and draws analogies to the "perfect storm" -- an unusual simultaneous occurrence that creates a powerful unexpected effect.

We shouldn't think that we are immune to these tendencies in the world of missions, or within any given region. I am convinced Friedman is describing movements that have already begun to effect us. When I was in Atlanta last month for a mission agency briefing on the P.E.A.C.E. plan, Rick Warren said that "the world of missions is flat too." I think he is right. It's not productive to ponder whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing. It will be good for those that adjust to it, and bad for those that don't. Please don't toss this into the category of diabolical manipulations toward a one-world government. Even if that is what it is, we need to be aware of it and respond.

One quick example of a flat world of missions is what we are seeing in the church-to-church missions movement. We live in a day and age when almost all unreached people groups have reached people groups in close proximity (geographical, linguistic or cultural proximity). Transportation and communication is easy. As a result, it is not hard for any church in America to find a church to work with directly to target virtually any people group they desire. What does this mean for the mission agencies? At a minimum it means they need to modify their roles, or become less and less important to the church that underwrites them with people and money. This has nothing to do with how good a job the missions are doing. It has everything to do with a flat world in which churches don't "need the missions" to do the same things they used to need them to do.

Rather than give a detailed book summary myself, I found a decent summary on-line. You can find it and some additional links on the subject at:
http://www.jimpinto.com/writings/flatworld.html

You can read a NY Times interview with Friedman about the book at:
http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1777087,00.asp

You'll find some excerpts on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader/103-6954960-8035834?asin=0374292884&pageID=S057&checkSum=fE3sbbxv9OxOlkD%20Ky1bpSmHPFwwYR2xSznDSGI769Y=#