GlocalNet

I’ve not blogged this week - sorry - just been a super wild week but very fruitful.  Last week I saw something that I’ve seen for a while now, but I saw it in extreme and it fascinated me.  Half my blogs are for young pastors (or old) that are starting churches and involved in innovative global ministry in the domains of society and all that implies.  The other half of my blogs are for global issues written for people in a global audience at the domains of society and acting sometimes as gatekeepers.  When I blog I’ll often tweet a new blog is posted.  My tweet name is bobrobertsjr - Once I do that - I will have it retweeted by several people - if it’s good!  If not - well . . . .  It was funny how all the pastors and planters were retweeting a blog on “My Frustration with Theology” - the next day I wrote one on “Freedom isn’t for Sale” sharing encounters I had with young revolutionaries from Libya - it was really retweeted - by all my non-Christian friends.  It was like I had two audiences - I do.  I live at the intersection of what people perceive is two worlds - but it really isn’t - it’s one world for me. 

As I was thinking about that, I thought I don’t expect global people to be passionate about my faith or young pastors.  But it made me sad, the more I thought about it, how pastors like the “pastor” stuff, but don’t always get the “global” stuff.  This is your world, young men and women.  You cannot afford not to know what is going on in the world.  You cannot afford not to think deeply about what is the role and response of the Gospel in multiple contexts. 

I was speaking at USC last week, and a sharp young scholar asked me, you live in different worlds with multiple levels of complexity - how do you keep straight where you are and what you say?  I told him that was the best question by far - that be that as it may - I really have only one message but sometimes have to speak in two languages. 

We’ve contemporized worship services - it’s time we contemporize our global communication.  The only problem - we can’t contemporize what we don’t know.  Right now, I’m reading Oliver Roy - Holy Ignorance, Miroslav Volf - Allah, Poems of Rumi, Religion Terror & Error by Doug Johnston - oh yeah and about 5 chapters a day from the Bible. 

There is a real, live, spreading revolution of youth from the middle-east - they are going to redefine conversation globally - if you are an evangelical and all you are reading is Grudem, E.Stanley Jones, Willard, Piper (which I love and do) - you will not be prepared to take all that truth you learn and apply it transformatively.