There are dozens of examples I could use to stress this, but here are just a few quick ones:
- The fall of the Berlin Wall
- The Yellow Revolution in the Philippines
- The Arab Spring—Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria
In each case, how were these people mobilized? The internet & text messaging – the people are networked.
As it’s a new day for revolution, politics, science–well, just about everything; it should be a new day for how we do missions too.
We need to create new structures that fit the new generation of workers. We can’t do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow. Like the men of Issachar we need to understand the times. (1 Chronicles 12:32) This is core to where we need to move missions.
I was at a table discussion yesterday afternoon and I could see a couple guys were asking the wrong questions. Their focus was on the past. The future is not going to be the past. Look at how quickly the world has changed! When I went to university words like; Wi-Fi, internet & cell phone didn’t even exist! Now we use them every day. The world is changing so fast that some business experts say you basically have to reinvent yourself every 4-5 years or you’re going to go out of business.
Missions has been trudging along using strategies that were developed in the 1980’s or earlier. We need to rethink how to do these things. It’s time to rethink missions.
PATRICK LAI and his family have worked in SE Asia for over 37 years. His experience in doing business with Jesus has brought him to understand the meaning of work and worship in the marketplace. He started 14 businesses in four countries, six of which are still operating. Patrick and his wife, May, mentor and coach businesspeople working where there are few or no Christians. Check out Patrick’s latest book, Workship, now available in paperback and e-book.