Globalocal

In the Bronx I like catching events that impact my borough on Bronx channel 12. It is community news for the Bronx that runs repeating 30 minute segments thoughout the day in a similar fashion to Headline News of CNN. The motto of Bronx channel 12 is "As Local As Local News Gets." Yet, it is interesting to note that hardly a day goes by that included in this local broadcast are headlines from Latin America and the Caribbean. That is because we live in what some have termed a globalocal society. Everything local impacts everything global and visa versa. So what does the globalization of the local have to do with the church? In short, more than any one person could possibly realize -- including this writer.

It means that perhaps finally U.S. churches will destroy (yes, destroy) the dichotomy between domesticated U.S. Christianity and missions principles often reserved for the "foreign field." Perhaps, the Western church will finally come to terms with such truths as Samuel Escobido has written: "Mission is everyone going everywhere." It means that reaching a person in a city -- or even small town -- in the U.S. could impact someone else in London, Lebanon, or Laos. It means that resources for mission are spread across a global landscape. It means that multicultural as a congregational characteristic is no longer the exception to be featured in a pastoral magazine, but it is to become normative if we are going to have any relevance in a postmodern world, not to mention obedience to the Gospel. It means that language study among MDiv students is going to be crucial, but while I'm not lessening the importance of Greek or Hebrew, I'm referring to Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, or a number of other options. It means that networking is in and homogeneous institutions are out.

We are all living in the globalocal. Some of us just don't know it yet. As a resident of NYC, I happen to live in the future. I hope we are ready for an exciting ride because things are only going to get more interesting from here.