The global church is now facing a “meeting of the waters” in which familiar but old-fashioned mission approaches are running into wild currents which will move the church towards future relevance, but also risk and change, according to Fritz Kling in his book The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents that Will Propel the Future Church. He identifies these currents as mercy, mutuality, migration, monoculture, machines, mediation and memory.
Mercy and justice are high on the list of priorities for the new breed of Christian worker. Previous relationships between Western sending countries and donors and the global south as recipients are now changing to relationships of mutuality. Migration is opening enormous opportunities for evangelism. A monoculture is spreading throughout the world, for better or worse. Technology (machines) is making a big difference in how Christian workers operate. Mediation between conflicting worldviews is becoming increasingly urgent. Memory, arising from traumatic events of the past in different cultures, needs to be understood if Christian work is to be effective.
The author illustrates each of the global currents with anecdotes about people he has met on his travels around the world. He is in a unique position to observe the changing nature of the worldwide church because his work as an advisor to philanthropists requires him to travel extensively to inspect mission and development projects. Where can I get a job like that? This is a very readable and helpful book.