Introduction
Werner Mischke’s book, The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World, deals with religious topics. The author discusses important issues such as achieving missionary influence in a multicultural world. Nevertheless, the main task of the author is to update the understanding of modern problems and realities in accordance with the Gospel.
For this purpose, the book considers the gap in Western theology concerning honor and shame. Moreover, the author focuses on non-Western teachings concerning the Gospel in order to unite multicultural religious perspectives. Hence, it is essential to consider the book’s impact on me and my religious value system.
Correlation of the Text with My Life
It is essential to notice that I am religious and often read theological books and other literature that aims to explain them. In addition, as a church pastor, I am constantly upgrading my knowledge to accomplish my mission, which is to spread the word about Jesus Christ. Therefore, before reading “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World,” I had a lot of theological knowledge about the Holy Scriptures.
However, it was challenging to adapt to the postulates in real life, especially in a multicultural environment. This was especially evident when church members asked about cultural differences between nations and their interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. Therefore, the book broadened my perspective on reading the Scriptures. After reading the book, I started to understand the value of shame and honor, and thus, I was able to rethink many stories that I had previously known in Scripture.
Before reading the book, I often thought that theological books were outdated because they were written long ago and did not cover the main components of modern life. Furthermore, I began to be less interested in the interpretations of scholarly postulates and texts because the world is changing, and they are viewed through the prism of the past. I often travel and can see the differences in cultural and religious perceptions of various people. That is why, when I started reading the book, I gained a new motivation to deepen my knowledge in the field of religion and contribute to the church’s followers to increase their understanding of information about Jesus Christ. Moreover, during my missionary work, I had questions about the approaches and understanding of the texts of the Holy Scriptures by persons from various cultures.
Nevertheless, recently, I have frequently attempted to analyze the development of the modern world through the prism of theological teachings. I could not achieve this because I was thinking too narrowly and needed help understanding how the changes were combined with classical religious principles. Hence, I could not adapt the universal knowledge I had gained from reading theological texts to the modern world.
This further aggravated the problem when church followers and ordinary people asked me about the concepts of shame and honor during missionary missions. I interpreted it from the point of view established in well-known religious texts rather than from the perspective of adaptation to the modern world. In addition, abstract and propositional forms permit me to adapt the Scriptures to the problems I observe almost every day.
One of the significant challenges of society is the perception of equal and worthy people, irrespective of their religious, racial, or gender differences. I encountered a situation where people were divided into various religious groups that were hostile to others. In fact, during one of the missionary missions, I met a guy named Stan, who practices Catholicism and believes that his faith is better and higher than others. I was interested in his position and wanted to explain to him from a religious point of view that religion equally supports all teachings. However, for me, Stan’s perspective was completely unacceptable because he was speaking to the public about the advantages of Catholicism and not about religion in general. Hence, he did not perform the fundamental missionary role of spreading knowledge but turned people to Catholicism.
I decided to explain to him that we should not create cultural and religious differences between nations but rather attempt to remove them. For this purpose, I once again reviewed the theological literature but could not find a sufficient and valid explanation for Karl.In this way, when I could not understand how perfect theological books explain this situation, I had a state of shock.
At the same time, I found another issue; I needed to establish what possible conceptual solutions they offer, especially because it concerned the concepts of shame and honor. If one considers Karl’s view, all religions except Catholicism are wrong, and their followers should constantly feel shame. Instead, Karl and other Catholics constantly feel honor because they profess the only correct faith.
I was once again convinced that the Gospel is about guilt and “covering our shame and restoring honor before God.” However, generally, honor can be seen as a limited good that creates a basis for competition, as shown between King Saul and David. In the New Testament, however, the concept of a limited good that inevitably leads to violence is abolished in Christ, which in itself is a great honor for Christians. Therefore, I needed help explaining to Karl that this also applies to other religions.
Accordingly, now I have enough knowledge and practical experience about theological concepts, but it is difficult for me to connect them with the modern world. Mainly when situations that are not precisely described in the Holy Scriptures require my own analysis of religious sources and critical thinking. Thus, reading “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World” allowed me to share the ideas in the book with the members of the Foursquare church and analyze the previously learned material from many angles. This is especially true of the concept of honor, which humans use to glorify God. However, I am now thinking more and more about expanding this concept, as stated in the book “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World.” Hence, I am now at the stage of rethinking the previously acquired knowledge in accordance with the ideas and explanations provided in the book.
Re-Evaluation of My Views
After reading the book, I realized I needed to reconsider my views on the information I had known for a long time. “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World” states that the Western interpretation of the Bible is that people are born, live, and die to atone for their guilt before Jesus Christ. For me, this idea used to be logical; I often told my followers that Jesus offered his own life for the salvation of people who were sinners. Accordingly, Jesus Christ created eternal honor for himself and shame for all people.
As I read the book, I started to consider that this originates from a Western theological bias. Therefore, when I used to preach this information to church followers, I would explain the four biblical principles and that Jesus died to save people. However, now I have started to think that it is worth considering the gospel message that explains the assumption of humanity’s desire for glory and honor and, thus, the alleviation of shame.
I explained earlier that it is essential to behave sacrificially to give honor and respect to Jesus Christ. However, during my missionary missions, I did not know how to respond when people asked me about shame for people who used to live and do bad things. Now, I teach them to evaluate themselves and their actions, which can lead to feelings of shame.
Simultaneously, I need to re-evaluate my understanding of fame, shame, and honor in the workplace. This choice is related to the fact that I am trying to do more work to help my colleagues and management prove that it is possible to reduce the feeling of shame and to get respect from others. It is essential to pay attention to myself, my development, and my achievements.As a result, it will be beneficial to adhere to one of the key ideas discussed in the book “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World.” That is, shame can be reduced by correctly gaining fame and honesty.
Implementation of the Main Ideas of the Book in My Life
Notably, the author’s main ideas are implemented only after a full understanding of the book written by Werner Mischke. Therefore, the central thesis is that most religious teachings focus on honor and shame. The author argues that shame is taught as a painful lesson for all believers. However, to fully understand this concept’s idea, it is crucial to trace the development of its dynamics. Therefore, the book notes that such concepts as shame and honor can be considered subjective concepts, that is, secondary.
Accordingly, to implement this concept in the information that I share during missionary activities or sermons in the church, it is necessary to explain to people that the main thing is to focus on honor and shame, which concern only them.Thus, it is essential to objectively evaluate one’s actions and recognize the adverse effects they have on other people.This understanding of this concept will allow believers to change their attitude toward individuals around them and follow the basic rules of the Holy Scriptures.
The intercultural aspect of distinguishing people based on religion and other discriminatory characteristics is crucial for my life. Therefore, it is essential to develop an understanding of different cultures and their traditional beliefs. Accordingly, through this concept of worldview, it is possible to comply with the basic rules of theological texts in the modern world and teach others to follow them.
The next aspect I can implement in my life is to develop knowledge about non-Western religions with different value systems. Literature and other metrics can be used in a multicultural world to learn about Buddhism, Islam, or other religions. Therefore, researching this will enable me to reduce intercultural differences and teach the church members to do the same.
At the same time, in the modern world, essential missionary missions are called to unite the knowledge that representatives of many religions have. This indicates that the book is a call to theological dialogue and missionary creativity, which should be continued, and I am actively engaged in it. I can use online technologies to organize meetings with representatives of different religions living in various parts of the world. In this way, it will also change the perception of traditional beliefs and adapt them to modern realities. Accordingly, trust, understanding, and respect, the central values in the Holy Scriptures, will prevail in the intercultural community. Therefore, to implement the ideas in their book, it is important to use technological progress to collect and disseminate information.
Conclusion
Thus, I have long been interested in religious issues and problems, but before reading the book “The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World,” I could not adapt the basic postulates to the conditions of the modern world. After reading this book, I began to explain to church leaders and people during missionary missions the importance of the correct perception of conscience and shame.
Another aspect is the adaptation to cultural differences, which will enable the exchange of experience and knowledge. Thus, now, the core concepts that I preach are shame and honor. This permits me to assess the follower of the church adequately, their actions, and correct them. Accordingly, I help them to follow these ideas to achieve honor, which is essential for spiritual development, and to reduce cultural differences.
Reference
Werner, Mischke. The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact In Our Multicultural World. Phoenix: Mission One, 2015.