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Williams, Book Review  53 

Book Review 

 

Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, And 

Our Hyperconnected World  
By Bryant L. Myers 

 
Reviewed by Dan Williams 

 
 

 
 

Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017. $28.00 

 

Three months ago, when I received my copy of Bryant 

Myers’ Engaging Globalization, I immediately flipped 

to the title page to see when it had been published. At 

the time, I wondered if the content would still be 

relevant. After all, in the 18 months between the book’s 

publication and my reading there had been a jolt to a 

previously consistent trend of increasing global 

connectivity. Nationalistic concern led many nations to 

exit old alliances, raise tariffs, strengthen border 

security, and increase scrutiny of asylum seekers. Was 

this book published just in time to become irrelevant?  

As I began to read, I learned quickly that my 

skepticism was unwarranted. In the same way that 

Myers’ earlier work, Walking with the Poor, digs 

beneath surface issues of poverty to build a framework 

for understanding and addressing it, Engaging 

Globalization goes beyond obvious trends in 

technology, economics, politics, and culture to build a 

framework for the Church to address what Myers 

identifies as globalization’s most important question: 

“Are we and is the world becoming what God intends?” 

(4). The Church asks this question far too infrequently, 

indicative of how shallow our engagement with 

globalization’s challenges has been, and how much we 

need Myers’ work. 

To answer this critical question, the book opens by 

establishing a set of theological assumptions, focusing 

on the biblical concepts most essential to the topic of 

globalization. These assumptions may seem tame at 

first, affirming such things as the relational nature of 

God and the value God puts on human choice. 

However, because God’s Word is sharper than any two-

edged sword, Myers does not shy away from addressing 

how these affirmations should cut deeply into how we 

engage globalization. For example, how should God’s 

relational nature shape our view of capitalism, and how 

should God’s value of individual choice shape our view 

of socialism? The first section issues a much-needed 

challenge to consider more fully how our beliefs should 

influence the way we engage these questions. 

The next two sections walk through the history of 

globalization and its impact. While many of the 

important milestones in globalization’s history may 

seem familiar (colonial empires, the Industrial 

Revolution, World War II, the Cold War, etc.), Myers’ 

unique contribution is pointing out the Church’s 

influence on each one. To shift the tides guiding 

modern-day globalization, he challenges us to consider 

the Church’s past and future role. The current societal 

relegation of the Church to spiritual matters was not 

always the case. Historical examples such as William 

Wilberforce and Victorian evangelicals in Britain show 

how God’s people were active, albeit imperfect, in 

seeking to sway social, political, and economic trends to 

line up with their understanding of God’s design. For 

believers and practitioners of integral mission, this is 

important history for the Church, and for the Accord 

community, to understand as we seek to engage beyond 

our siloed existence in the spiritual realm.  

In his historical overview of globalization, Myers 

notes a rising tide of compassion and concern for 

human development following World War II. He 

zooms in on this trend to understand how those living 

in poverty are being affected by globalization, and to 

explore contemporary thinking around development. 

This section exhorts the Christian development 

community to rediscover the unique value we offer to a 

growing secular development community. It’s a must-



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 1(1),  Summer 2019 

Williams, Book Review  54 

read for anyone participating in international relief and 

development, whether as supporters or practitioners. 

And yet, it is here that Myers’ humility gets in his own 

way. While he highlights how secular thinkers approach 

the problem of poverty, he fails to mention his own 

previous work in Walking with the Poor that has been 

so formative for Christian relief and development 

practitioners. The omission results in an incomplete 

picture of the prevailing paradigms for understanding 

poverty, even as his call to re-engage rings true.  

The book concludes by considering how the 

Church might best shape the future of globalization. 

Myers offers no forecast as to how current global trends 

will affect the future trajectory of globalization. He does 

not prescribe a single specific recommendation for how 

the Church should engage. True to his vocation as a 

professor, he provides multiple and differing 

viewpoints, allowing the reader to wrestle with the 

alternatives. Myers only insists that we engage. He 

makes it clear that, left alone, secular forces guiding 

globalization will not inevitably lead to a brighter future, 

and they will certainly fall short of God’s design. 

Resisting globalization’s progress or ignoring 

globalization’s effects would be abdicating the Church’s 

role in ushering in God’s Kingdom.  

Are we and is the world becoming what God 

intends? To wrestle faithfully with this question, I highly 

recommend Engaging Globalization to the Accord 

community as essential reading. Because it is written as 

a summary of a seminary course, buckle up for a dense 

read. The style may be heavy for a general audience, 

but it’s worth the effort. How to respond to 

globalization may well be, as Myers suggests, the most 

important missiological question of our day. As 

international relief and development practitioners, we 

are often asked by churches for perspectives on how to 

engage the world. We have the opportunity to play a 

unique role in encouraging the Church to better 

understand globalization’s chief questions, and to 

prayerfully seek a faithful response. 

 
 

 

 

 

Dan Williams  is the Director of Spiritual Integration 

for HOPE International. He has been working in 

international missions and development for the past 

11 years, living in Niger, Haiti, and the Dominican 

Republic for the first 4 years. 

 

Author email:  dwilliams@hopeinternational.org 
 

 

 

mailto:dwilliams@hopeinternational.org

