Essay on Glocalization and Religion: Analysis of Bob Roberts' Views

This essay explores the concept of glocalization, a combination of globalization and localization, as explained by Bob Roberts Jr. in his book "Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World." It examines how the events post-9/11 have influenced the reception of global news and how Christian churches are adapting to a glocal population with varied religions. The essay discusses the slow response of churches to glocalization, the integration of other faiths, and the importance of understanding and interpreting religious texts in a global context. It also highlights the benefits of combining global and local perspectives, the role of churches in addressing global issues, and the need for believers to serve people without forcing conversion. The essay concludes that glocalization has reshaped religious views and made the message of Christ clearer, emphasizing the importance of understanding the interconnectedness of people in the modern world. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study resources for students.

Running head: GLOCALIZATION AND RELIGION
GLOCALIZATION AND RELIGION
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Introduction
The term glocal began to emerge during the 1990s and it is a combination of two words
‘global’ and ‘local’. Glocalization, the combinational of globalization and localization is the
concept that refers to the concurrent episode of both “universalizing and particularizing
tendencies in contemporary social, political and economic systems”.
In this essay however, the primary discussion will be to discuss glocalization as
explained by Bob Roberts Jr. in his book titled “Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a
Flat World”1. The era post 9/11 (September 11, 2001) has seen a drastic change in the reception
of global news especially those of the United States. An incidence happening in any part of the
world now concerns not only the global public but also the locals as well. In such an era,
Christian churches, institutions and organizations have to think what it means to worship Jesus
amongst the glocal population that has varied religions. The essay will try to explain
glocalization from this perspective and understand the concept more clearly and deeply.
Discussion
In the first chapter of the book itself, Roberts Jr. elaborates on the concept of a glocal
world. The author mentions the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the way it had influenced the
entire world. The author states that prior to the attacks, he only knew about globalization.
However, the global trends that included terrorism as well, “had hit home through this single day
of terrorism on American soil”. The author points out that before the attacks, America only had
global participation in the world of the terrorists and those terrorists in turn, had reciprocated
with a local response.
1 Bob Roberts, Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage the New Flat World. (Zondervan, 2007)

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Being a pastor, the attack of 9/11 had a deep impact on the author and he began to find
new meanings of his role and the role of the church. The author explains that initially, the church
used to help the people find solace and forget their tragedies but later, they began to feel for the
innocent lives lost in Afghanistan as well. The church then began to propagate for a better
Afghanistan where people could have better opportunities of education, health and life in
general.
The world, as the author explains, had flattened like a blown-out tire “that has gone just
about as fast as it can and digging deep into the asphalt pavement” (Roberts, Chapter 1, lines 13-
14). Afghanistan, which was a distant land for the Americans, had begun to affect the lives of all
the Americans. This attack actually brought to surface, a new meaning of the word glocalization.
The author then moves on to explain the influence it had on the churches and the religion. He
states that the churches have had a slow response to glocalization. With the gradual influence of
glocalization, the merging or integration of other faiths within the Christian worlds, followers of
Jesus have found it difficult to adjust to it. He complains that the churches have failed to interpret
correctly the Acts 1:8 that had stated that the world would unite to welcome the Holy Spirit that
would disseminate power to everyone. It meant that the world would be connected globally with
the arrival of Jesus but the churches took the meaning otherwise. They began to build the strong
churches first, then made these churches stronger and then began to spread across continents and
compelled the neighbors to accept it. Lastly, when they became strong, they decided to dominate
the world.
The global positioning system or GPS was one of the achievements of globalization that
has helped humans to locate anyone within the three dimensions. Similarly, glocalization has
resulted in the creation of a “flat world” where people now are getting closer than ever before.

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God has provided people with old models with which they can locate others. However, one must
realize the correct path God desires one to explore and let the kingdom expand and advance.
The author provides lucid examples of the benefits of combining two separate fields. He
gives example of the combination of biology and technology that resulted in the formation of
biotechnology. This combination, states the author, gave great boon to both the fields. Similar
was the case with physics and mathematics. Likewise, the combination of global and local that
resulted in the creation of a glocal world would result in the rise of both the fields.
The Part 2 of the book deals with being practical about the ways humans can rebuild the
world by fulfilling God’s actual wish – which was to preach the ideologies that he preached and
not force everyone to become Christian. The author felt the influence of Jesus and his words
when he visited a communist country to “facilitate a meeting between a major American
university and his country”. During his visit, he met a key government official who asked him
about his faith and why an intelligent man like him believes in God. In answering the question,
the author talked about the existence of God other than Bible and so on that greatly influenced
the official who ended up inviting him to meet other officials and talk more about it. This shows
the way glocalization has helped spread the voice of Jesus without any violence and force.
Further, Jesus, in the glocalized world, is found in the areas where people experience
hunger, famine, war and ignorance that people watch in CNN. “God is calling the church to the
hard places of the world, not just the safe, easy or welcoming places” (Roberts, 95). Churches are
not meant to be around only the safe, easy and welcoming places in the world. Roberts argues
that if people could live, earn and network globally than they should also have faith globally. In
simpler terms, faith should also be global. People from the churches go on trips every year in

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various countries and come to know about the citizens of other countries, form relationships and
answer questions about their faith and belief amongst other things. While some people go to
other places for their jobs like dentists, businesspersons, people from the churches “go straight
through the front door first and engage the government in a certain area their society needs”.
Roberts then elaborates about banging first on the front door, which means reaching out
to people around the globe and letting them that know they are being loved and cared. When
people pass the front door, they develop genuine relationships with the gatekeepers “who can
make incredible things happen” (Roberts, 111). The world is still a better place to live in because
of the relationships people build throughout their lifetime. When people are aware of the fact that
they have people who love them and care about them, they increasingly engage in conversations
on Jesus and his belief about each individual.
The author then argues that the people in East know far better than the people in the West
do about the God and his ideals. He states that the East has a better understanding of the way
churches could respond to globalization while remaining local and thus embrace glocalization.
The reason is that the people in the East are closer to God than those in the West are because of
the sacrifices they make and the way they understand God. The West could learn the art of
discipleship from the East and be prepared for any situation. The missions are more for the West
than these are for the East. The author also gives his views about culture and states that people
should involve in creating culture and not fighting it. He refers to the path Paul followed, that is,
starting from where others were and not where he was. In this way, Paul could understand others
and not fret about the distance between them. Viewing people from other cultures as
unenlightened people needing rescue or enemies would only result in unnecessary conflicts. on

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the other hand, if people look at others as children of the God whom they need to serve then they
could find peace and not fight.
The believers of Christ must understand that the real objective of the followers is to serve
people and not use the Gospel as bait to convert others. Believers of Christ could not wish for
healing, educating and loving others and compel them to convert to Christianity. True followers
would help others and wish for their wellbeing without compelling them to accept Christ. Gandhi
was one who spread the message of tolerance that meant not to compromise own faith but to
respect others while holding tight to one’s own faith.
The Part 3 of the book deals with advancing soldier-diplomats, facing the fear of death
and depending on the Holy Spirit. The focus of Christ followers should always be on expanding
beyond the local church glocally. The pastor should lean an army of soldier-diplomats rather
than lecturing a class. The pastors however, must keep in mind the truth that when they go to
serve people, those people would not be thrilled to have them. The global era would make the
people realize that most of them do not actually depend on the Holy Spirit or the ministry, they
just learn through the cause and effect dynamics. However, people must depend on the Holy
Spirit solely for refining their behavior, thoughts, actions and attitudes.
Conclusion
The global and local worlds merging to create the glocal world have reshaped the views
held by the people regarding religion and their lives. Glocalization, as the author has pointed out
throughout his book, has actually made the message of Christ clearer to the followers. Prior to
glocalization, the followers used to force the religion of Christianity on others but glocalization
changed this view. I feel that the book has encompassed most of the modern components of the

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world and associated those with the gospel of Jesus, which was commendable. By this, one
should not confuse about the literal shape of the globe but the growing interconnection between
people. The essay has analyzed the book written by Bob Roberts Junior and found that
glocalization has indeed influenced the religious outlook of the people especially those from the
Christian Western world and their daily lives as well. Without proper understanding of
glocalization, it has been found that the churches have caused great trouble for the “missionary”
who goes to serve humanity in countries with restricted access. The essay has also highlighted
the way glocalization has affected daily lives with the emergence of the information highway
with which people from across the globe could connect.

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References:
Roberts, Bob. Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage the New Flat World. Zondervan,
2007.