25 Comprehensive Contextualization Introduction Contextualization is a central

25 Comprehensive Contextualization

Introduction • Contextualization is a central skill of missionary life and practice – So it must be understood • DEF: Planting the universal gospel in local soil • We don’t change the gospel; we change how the gospel is presented and embedded in a particular culture. – We extract the gospel from our cultural trappings and insert it into another culture – We must be careful not to change the gospel in this process

Seven Dimensions of Contextualization COMPREHENSIVE CONTEXTUALIZATION

The Doctrinal Dimension • Not just truths, but how they are expressed – Evangelicals tend to focus here • A two-way street – Extract Biblical constants from the cultural explanations of them, such as creeds & customs – Bring the constants of Biblical truth into the new context, developing new explanations of them – The process gives the missionary new insight into that truth

Examples of Doctrinal Contextualization • Isaiah 1: 18, I John 1: 9 – address guilt-innocence • Genesis 3: 10, Hebrews 12: 2, and II Thess 2: 14 address Shame and Honor • Colossians 2: 14 -15, Eph. 6: 10 -18 – speak of fear and power, also II Sam 22 – a song of David • Can you shape three different gospel presentations that are true to Scripture and addressed to the three basic approaches to sin • Where does John 3: 16 fit?

The Mythic Dimension • DEF: the stories people tell and retell – The old stories explained deep truths of reality from their worldview (creation stories, etc) – The gospel stories must answer the same set of ultimate questions, but from a Christian worldview • Two approaches are necessary – Learn to tell the biblical story so that local people understand it, and clearly see biblical values through it – Appropriate local stories as bridges to the gospel story, or appropriate the style of the teller • As people tell their stories of transformation, a new mythic texture is created that will lead to “Christian” worldview stories

The Ethical Dimension • Applying the truth to our lives • First: what are their ideals of the wise person and the hero? • Where do ideals fall short of Biblical standards – Personal ethics – Societal ethics • Sensitivity is needed: rile rulers and you may survive, but local followers may not – Prayerfully search for a link – such as happened with the peace child analogy used by Don Richardson

The Social Dimension • How the church organizes itself • Five social organizational principles – Associations – who hangs out together, either voluntarily or involuntarily – Kinship – how you define your relatives – Education – the process that teaches your role in that society – Economics – the exchange of goods and services – Law – governance and decision-making • The church will express all these aspects of its setting – filtered through Scriptural teaching

The Ritual Dimension • The symbolic actions we take to affirm aspects of our culture – including faith beliefs • Rituals play a crucial role in the Christian faith • Most cultures will expect an appropriate set of rituals to emphasize key aspects of our faith – What you don’t provide may push them back into old ways. – Birth, death, coming of age, calling/career, retirement/eldership, sickness, tragedy

The (Supernatural) Experiential Dimension • Our experience of the supernatural • NOT inventing the encounters, rather letting Scripture speak to the supernatural encounters that occur. • Developing rituals that encourage positive encounters with God, and discourage negative experiences in the world (exorcism)

The Artistic (or Material) Dimension • Performances, artifacts, and artistic expressions having symbolic value • Different cultures value different kinds of expression – Jewelry vs scarring – Caligraphy vs Representational art

Conclusion • What aspects of culture “marked” your ancestors as a distinct people? • How did the gospel transform those characteristics?