EMQ » October–December 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 4
By Jayson Georges
IVP Academic, 2019
165 pages
US$25.00
Reviewed by Lynn Thigpen who has served twenty-five years in Southeast Asia and is an adjunct professor at Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia.
According to Jayson Georges, “patronage is the de facto system of social organization” in many societies (113). It took me a decade and a half to begin to understand patronage, but new missionaries, development workers, or NGO staff need not remain in the dark. Ministering in Patronage Cultures comes to the rescue as a crucial text for pre-field orientation and a resource worthy of occupying every missionary suitcase.
Ministering in Patronage Cultures begins as such a book should, with stories from the field, then contains sections covering cultural issues, biblical models, and theological concepts. These first sections comprise the majority of the book and lay a foundational understanding. The fourth and final portion turns to missional implications and more stories. My only criticism would be that the ministry section, the “ministering in patronage cultures” portion, spans only forty pages. Readers are left yearning for more stories and practical helps, demonstrating the need for a helpful sequel.
Sharing his own failings and frustrations throughout, Georges honestly explores how to participate in patronage dynamics, “I realized my initial objections to the structures of patronage came from my own pride and ethnocentrism” (125). He then makes a profound statement: “Over time I realized patronage simply uses honor as a form of payment instead of cash” (126) – a concept forever linking this book with his Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures. Along those lines, Georges also highlights the sin of ingratitude as it pertains to God as the true Patron.
Georges’ book focuses on a number of vital concepts. He contrasts God-centered patronage and human-centered patronage (71) and offers advice for transforming social patronage to a more biblical or virtuous model (149). Many Western missionaries and national pastors would benefit from this model. Georges also describes what conversion to Christianity means on a social level, something Westerners can fail to remember. Leaving one’s family faith might be viewed as disloyal and shameful, abandoning vital “reciprocal relationships” (106). Georges affirms that this conversion and “repentance . . . is the transfer of one’s allegiance from false patrons to the true Patron, a change in patronal relationships” (105) – salvation vocabulary that much of the world can grasp.
There are very few books like Ministering in Patronage Cultures and few experts to educate us. Georges seeks to help answer the questions “When should I help?” and “When do I form a patronage relationship with someone?” (117) Why? Because some individualistic, non-patronage-aligned minds can be unaware that “patronage is also an enduring commitment. The relationship does not end when you leave the country or a client finds a job. Westerners can quickly forget relational obligations, but the bonds of patronage are not easily unfettered” (118). Devour the models and follow the applications and admonitions in Georges’ book. Many a cross-cultural relationship may be preserved, and God may be glorified by taking heed to the insights found in this book.
For Further Reading
Bates, Matthew W. Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of
Jesus the King. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017.
Crook, Zeba. Reconceptualising Conversion: Patronage, Loyalty, and Conversion in the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean. New York, NY: De Gruyter, 2004.
EMQ, Volume 56, Issue 4. Copyright © 2020 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
