Bio

 

 

I write on theology and culture from my vantage point as a man between worlds.

 

Worlds separated by time: raised in a tribal culture that venerated the ancient, I now live in a society enthralled by the new, and work for the synergy to be found between wisdom and innovation.

Worlds separated by interests: as a servant to leaders, I seek to connect the world of business to the world as a whole, a world made for flourishing;

Worlds separated by identity: where cultural and institutional identities often tussle and collide, I seek to build bridges, for each has so much to give to the other;

Worlds separated by sight: life on four continents in four decades trains you to be a translator of one foreign way of thinking into another. The greatest undertaking of this kind is to learn to understand that which is most foreign to all of us — the Word of God.

Most of all, as a pilgrim following Jesus, I seek in faith, by his Spirit, to embody and anticipate in today’s world that which God will bring about in tomorrow’s world.

If the biographical details interest you, read on.

Before my current role in a venture firm investing in systems-changing companies in sub-Saharan Africa, I worked as a writer, speaker and consultant in the fields of leadership and strategy. Before that I worked in an NGO engaged in political mediation in situations of violent conflict and in multi-stakeholder processes (in situations much more ordinary).  I have lived and worked on four continents and in diverse situations: tribal, political, corporate.

My roots mean a great deal to me.  My great grandparents, grandparents and parents were missionaries in central Africa and SE Asia, and while learning indigenous cultures and languages, sharing the Good News of Jesus, and walking alongside indigenous Christians in support, they also actively campaigned against colonial atrocities and intervened in situations of tribal rights abuse.  They documented tribal practises and knowledge, introduced frontline medical care, and helped indigenous peoples add new learning to their own, in medicine, agriculture and literacy — and in the end my missionary forebears found themselves as deeply changed as those whom they served.

I was trained, informally as a child, formally as an adult, in theology and culture.  Along the way I have, with mixed results, led or participated in multi-denominational and public initiatives to bring Christian thought to bear on a variety of social and political issues facing the Church in various parts of the world.  I have lectured and written theologically, and regularly preach: whenever I have the opportunity to express, in some way, the Word of God to his people, and like flowers they open to its rain, I am deeply content.

– Jonathan M Wilson