A Model for developing a Contextualized presentation of the Gospel In the previous articles of this series, I argued that there are cultural reasons why one biblical picture of the atonement may resonate1 with a people group, while others will be problematic. I suggested that believers who seek to communicate the significance of the cross [...]
All articles with the category "Contextualization".
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Contextualization is Inevitable A 10 year old Canadian boy squats by the bank of a river in Borneo and watches the Prayer Man of the Dayak tribal group prepare the Beranyut ceremony. The son of missionaries to the Dayak people, Loren Warkentin1 was filled with curiosity about this ritual that these tribal animists performed once [...]
Searching for a Metaphor that Connects “Give me my share of the inheritance” (Luke 15:11). With one small phrase the son callously declares that his Father is more valuable to him dead than alive.1 He dishonors his father, disregards his family, abandons his community and treats his religion with disdain. In the Muslim Sindhi society,2 [...]
This article tries to explain why a contextualization of the gospel, such as described in Shaping the Gospel Message so that it Resonates, does not compromise the Bible or the gospel message. It argues that one universal explanation of the cross is insufficient to communicate the gospel message because of the depth of the gospel [...]
A Shift in Communicating Salvation There was a pause in the conversation. My visitor considered seriously the illustration I had presented to him. He then spoke words that became a critical turning point in my ministry in Pakistan – he challenged my understanding of salvation. To present the gospel, I would often use an illustration [...]
see also The Pastor as Spiritual Coach (Part I) From Programs to Contextualization Who is to blame: the Congregation or the Leadership? In my responsibility of providing outreach and missions resources to churches, I have come across a curious phenomenon. My experience is that there are a number of people in church leadership who do [...]
Every year I enjoy teaching the “Pioneering Church Planting” lesson for Perspectives on the World Christian movement in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver. Perspectives is a very popular and highly recommended course for any believer who has an interest in what God is doing worldwide. The primary thesis of my lesson is that the cross-cultural church [...]
What kind of God commands people to strap bombs to their bodies and blow up crowds of people? What kind of God tells people to drive passenger planes into the sides of buildings? What kind of God commands parents to kill their children? What kind of God would come to one of his worshippers and [...]
Three ways to understand the Bible My wife, Karen, heard a message by a young woman with no theological training on Jer 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you….” The young woman spoke of the verse as if it was addressed to us today and talked about the plans God has for us. [...]
“That’s just NOT right!” exclaimed a woman in a Bible study I was conducting. The object of her disapproval was Naomi’s instructions for Ruth to approach Boaz while he was sleeping (see Ruth 3). She was correct in that she recognized the inappropriateness of such an action within our society. She was incorrect because she [...]
Jesus, No Justification for Sin There is much politically correct rhetoric about Islam in this day of suicide bombers. For example, political leaders have proclaimed that “Extremism is not true Islam. True Islam is peace-loving.” Although politically circumspect, it is not all that accurate. Islam cannot incorporate Western values and remain uncompromised and so Muslims [...]
Jesus, the Essence of Reality I was traveling down a street in Larkana, Pakistan with a friend on a very hot summer day when we came up to a “T” intersection. On the sidewalk directly in front of us sat a beggar girl. She was crippled and lay exposed to the blazing heat of the [...]
Contextualization is an important part of missiology. This is the process of discovering culturally appropriate means of communicating the transforming power of the gospel. Authenticity requires the missionary to live out the gospel with integrity according to the assumptions and priorities of his or her own culturally shaped worldview. However, missions necessitates cross-cultural sensitivity and [...]
Learning to be an effective change agent for Jesus Christ in another culture is the goal of a missionary. This can be mistakenly reduced to methods of communicating the gospel message which do not reflect sufficient appreciation or validation of the existing culture. Cross-cultural ministry is not a matter of learning a new language to [...]
One of the greatest shocks a missionary faces when entering a new culture with the gospel is the discovery that other religions can teach us important spiritual lessons. I can still vividly picture the follower of Sufism (a mystical philosophy of Islam) who taught me a good lesson. He stood before me dirty and disheveled [...]
Karen and I worked in evangelism and church planting for 10 years among the Sindhi Muslim people in Pakistan. Although our goal was to plant a church and a number of Sindhis became followers of Christ, we were not successful in establishing a "3-selfs" church (self-governing, self-supporting, self-propogating). Whenever we attended a conference in Pakistan [...]
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