Ministering in Patronage Cultures: Biblical Models and Missional Implications

by Jayson Georges

Patronage governs many relationships in Majority World cultures. But regrettably, Western theologians and missionaries rarely notice this prominent cultural reality. Patronage--a reciprocal relationship between social unequals--is a central part of global cultures and the biblical story of God's mission.

Misunderstanding patronage creates problems not only for Westerners ministering in other cultures, but also for contemporary people reading the Bible. If we ignore the concepts of patronage in biblical cultures, we will misinterpret Yahweh's relationship with Israel and miss some of the meaning in Jesus' parables and Paul's letters. Understanding patronage will illumine theological concepts such as faith, grace, and salvation.

Jayson Georges, coauthor of Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures, now brings his ministry experience and biblical insights to bear on the topic of patronage. With sections on cultural issues, biblical models, theological concepts, and missional implications, this resource will not only serve ministry practitioners but anyone who studies Scripture and worships God.

Genres: Cultural

192 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2019

About the author

Jayson Georges (MDiv, Talbot) has served crossculturally for over fifteen years in Central Asia, a refugee community in the United States, and now in the Middle East. He is the coauthor of Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures and the author of The 3D Gospel and The Honor-Shame Paraphrase series. Georges has taught about honor-shame and patronage around the world and is the founding editor of honorshame.com.

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived in an honor/shame cultural paradigm in the Middle East for 7 years, before words had been put together into books to describe the difference from the western social structure. Several times, while reading Ministering in Patronage Cultures by Jayson George, perplexing memories of those days flashed back into my consciousness, and the mysteries I’ve carried were decoded with an “aha! Now I finally get what was going on there.”

…The expectation expressed from our lawyer to give token gifts to officials who were handling your paperwork…

…The overboard respect we received for simply teaching English…

…The relational depth we unwittingly earned because we were willing to have our needs met by friends and neighbors…

…How crazy we must have looked in the neighborhood when we decided to move our own furniture to a new apartment nearby…

If I could have read this book BEFORE living overseas, life would have made so much more sense, and I would have been so much more effective in building deep, trusting relationships. Don’t you miss the opportunity to learn this stuff, whether you’re planning to live in a Majority World country or you simply have neighbors in North America who came from somewhere else.

Patronage is a reciprocal, asymmetrical relationship that requires the patron to provide for needs and the client to respond with gratitude. This pattern is so easily corrupted, but also a brilliant way to describe the perfect relationship between a believer and his or her savior. Jayson recounts repeatedly just how this paradigm for relationships is both natively biblical and historically prevalent. I especially loved the example stories.

This book was intended to help readers understand a social dynamic in order to better reach out to others and share a familiar gospel message in an unusual perspective. It was successful in that regard, but I found myself meditating through it as a personal devotional inner journey. I got the double bonus. Now, I’m eager to explore how I’ll gratefully express my allegiance to God in fresh ways that will honor and glorify him.

I was overjoyed to receive this book from Intervarsity Press in exchange for my opinion in this review. At the time, I was impatiently waiting for it to go on sale so I could buy it immediately. Honestly, the only section of the book that got a little slow was the middle part in the theological Hebrew word studies, but that will no doubt be someone else’s favorite part.

[Matthew Loftus · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're not at all familiar with ideas of patronage in the Bible, you should read this book. If you work in a patronage culture, you should read this book. I wish that Part IV (practical/missiological insights) had been expanded, as that is what was advertised... and it's a slim quarter of the book!

[Nancy DeValve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would dare to say that the number one stressor for westerners working in the majority world is the system of patronage. There are parts of culture we don't understand but we also don't have to participate in them, so we can accept those things as "interesting". But the patronage culture is an aspect of culture that we find ourselves expected to participate in. But we don't understand it so it leaves us feeling used. And then our reactions and pushback leaves our new friends feeling used. This book is so helpful in understanding patronage culture and to understand how the Bible is written to a patronage culture. Necessary reading for anyone working in Africa, Asia, or South America!

[Jennifer Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interwoven Patronage Culture

This book opened my eyes to how interwoven the patronage culture is in the Bible. I feel like I have a new perspective to read the Bible from and can have a more accurate understanding of the original interpretation. It was very well written, easy to follow, and it worked through the progression of understanding patronage to applying it to Christian ministry in a biblical, God-centered way.

[James R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This topic is one of my favorites, because understanding these all-too-often overlooked social dynamics in cultures around the world (just because they aren't as easily identified in the Western World) can help anybody crossing cultures to thrive more easily cross culturally.

[Amy Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent explanation of patron-client relationships in Majority World cultures, including biblical culture. Insightful and thought provoking!

[Paul Vawter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very helpful introduction to the topic, but the final 3 chapters on application could stand to be much larger.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

IMO, this book should be required reading for anyone with cross-cultural relationships.