Have you ever heard of a “truncated icosahedron”? If not, don’t worry—you’re not alone.
To make it more understandable, imagine a sphere covered in dots that are evenly spread out. Now draw lines between each dot in all directions, creating a honeycomb-like pattern similar to a soccer ball. This lattice structure is strong because every point is well-connected to the others.
Not only is this a fascinating geometrical shape, but it's also a beautiful visual representation of how the global church can function today. Christians and churches can be connected through friendship across geographical, linguistic, and cultural boundaries, much like the dots on the sphere. The beauty and strength of this worldwide community lies in its interdependency. The relationships are mutual, the connections multidirectional, and the encouragement, support, teaching, prayer, and pastoral counsel flow from everywhere to everywhere.
Although we in the West have been accustomed to giving, going, training, and blessing others for the past couple of centuries, we cannot consider ourselves a full part of the robust and beautiful "honeycomb" global church unless we are also receiving, welcoming, learning, and being blessed by others. As the apostle Paul explains, each part of Christ’s body is in need of the others: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ . . . Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:21, 27). That is true within a local congregation and also on a global level—we need one another!
But what does this beautiful reciprocity look like in practice today? How can Western churches receive and benefit from the blessings and teachings of their sisters and brothers from other parts of God's global church? Although entire books could be written on the subject, here are four practical ways to begin cultivating greater mutuality with the global church.
1. Examine Our Attitudes
To truly foster global relationships, Western churches need to embrace a humble posture. We must recognise that we’re not the top stone of a pyramid from which everything flows down, but rather, we’re just one part of a honeycomb-shaped lattice and, as such, codependent on others for our spiritual and theological well-being.
Unfortunately, this can be difficult for some Western Christians to accept. Our culture tends to promote individualism and self-sufficiency, making it easy for us to believe that we can do it alone. Sometimes, this attitude stems from a misplaced sensitivity toward others in the global church (“I don’t want to burden you”), while other times the motivations can be more troubling (“I’m better than you”).
Regardless of the cause, we need to identify, confess, and repent of any prideful or condescending attitudes we have toward those who come from different contexts and cultures. Only then can we move forward and foster genuine mutuality in our global relationships.
Pause and Reflect
When was the last time a believer from another culture significantly influenced our church's thinking or practice?
Do our missionaries primarily teach us, or do we intentionally create opportunities for them and their local partners to teach us as well?
Are there areas where we assume Western methods, structures, or perspectives are inherently superior
What evidence would demonstrate that our church is learning from the global church, not simply serving it?
Using the scale below, discuss where your church currently falls:
1 — Primarily Giving - We primarily view ourselves as providers of resources, training, leadership, and support.
3 — Growing in Mutuality -We are beginning to create intentional opportunities to learn from and be influenced by other global believers.
5 — Mutually Learning - Our partnerships are marked by reciprocal learning, shared influence, and a genuine expectation that God will use believers from other cultures to shape our church.
2. Expand Our Horizons
It is good and right to be rooted in your local church family, and being led and fed by those who know and love us personally is a profound privilege. But we should also strive to open ourselves up to new perspectives from faithful Christ-followers outside our immediate reference points. Reading books or listening to online sermons by African believers on church growth and mission, Chinese believers on Christian endurance and zeal, South Asian believers on faithfulness amidst pluralism, and Latin American believers on gospel engagement in the public sphere can broaden our understanding of God's work in the world and deepen our faith in him.
Ways We’ll Learn from the Global Church This Year
Check all that apply
Read a book by a Christian author from another culture
Listen to a sermon preached by a pastor in a different country
Invite a global partner to share with your church or leadership team
Highlight a story from the global church during a worship gathering
Include global church perspectives in a Sunday School class
Follow a ministry that shares testimonies from believers around the world
Schedule an event with a cross-cultural church in your town
Ask your missionaries what they have learned from local colleagues
Watch a documentary about a faithful Christian from another culture
Ask a cross-cultural leader to mentor you
Become a prayer partner with an international friend
3. Extend Our Partnerships
Many of us belong to churches that already send and support missions partners cross-culturally, but we can extend those partnerships by involving national Christian leaders from our missions partners' host settings. We can invite these friends to preach on Zoom, write for the church newsletter, chat with small groups, or even visit in person. Churches that extend their partnerships in this way often speak of the tremendous gift it is to learn from faithful gospel partners from different contexts. It’s important to make it clear from the start that we want to learn from their ministry and gospel perspectives, rather than exclusively the other way around.
Sometimes All it Takes is a Few Small Shifts
4. Posture Our Learning
Christian believers should love to help and serve others. That’s a Spirit-driven longing, and it should never be diminished or devalued. However, there are times when the most significant act of service we can offer is to allow ourselves to be served by others, for doing so embraces and expresses codependence, vulnerability, and trust.
For instance, instead of going on a short-term mission trip with the sole purpose of doing something useful for our hosts, we can adopt a posture of learning. By genuinely listening to and learning from national believers, understanding their concerns and perspectives, praying for them, and subsequently sharing what we’ve learned once we’re back in our home setting, we can experience transformative benefits for everyone involved—the visiting team, the host partner(s), and the sending church. This is a truly blessed partnership!
While in Uganda, I witnessed this approach succeed when staff and students from a theological seminary in the U.K. visited the Bible college where I worked. They spent much of their time sitting in lectures, Bible studies, and seminars led by Ugandan staff and students. Everyone involved benefited significantly from this exchange, with many participants commenting on how beneficial it was to travel far to sit, listen, and learn.
Before every short-term trip, ask:
What are we hoping to learn?
Who will teach us? Have we asked them?
How will we create space to listen well?
How will we share what we learned with our church when we return?
A Beautiful Mutuality
As Western churches, we have a unique opportunity to learn from and be blessed by our brothers and sisters around the world. Cultivating this kind of mutuality begins by examining our attitudes, expanding our horizons, extending our partnerships, and posturing ourselves to learn.
It may well be that the term “truncated icosahedron” is an unnecessary mathematical mouthful, but what the shape represents is worth remembering. God did not design his church as a pyramid with wisdom, influence, and resources flowing in only one direction. Rather, he designed it as a beautifully interconnected body in which every part both gives and receives.
As we learn to listen to believers from different cultures and contexts, we discover new perspectives on God's character, fresh examples of faithfulness, and deeper expressions of gospel partnership. In doing so, we not only strengthen our relationships with the global church—we become more fully connected to the beautiful, diverse, and interdependent body of Christ that God intended his church to be.
Author - Dr Chris Howles - Director of Cross Cultural Training at Oak Hill College - Originally written for Upstream Collective
