WHY MISSION IS SO HARD - #2 We Don't Contextualize
Several years ago as I was working in my front yard, I looked across my neighborhood with a broken heart. It wasn’t because I knew the struggles that my neighbors were working through. It was because I didn’t know my neighbors at all. I was living in a Christian bubble. I was working a ministry job that took up large amounts of time, and I spent all of my remaining time with my family. Those were both important things, but there was no place in my life where I was building relationships with people outside of that bubble. This wasn’t the first time that this happened to me in my life. Periodically, I look down only to discover that I have no contact with the outside world.
I don’t do this intentionally, but simply because it’s the easiest and most comfortable route. It’s the direction that our lives tend to take naturally. Anyone who has grown up inside the church is going to struggle with this to some degree. Those who come to faith in Christ later in life seem to find a more natural progression in just bringing the gospel of Jesus into the context of their lives. Most are already living life out in the harvest, so this work seems more natural. For those growing up in the church, there is an additional step of creating relationships and life out in the secular world which can be fearful to many.
So, how do we as God’s people begin to not avoid, but interact with secular culture in an effort to see the gospel of Jesus penetrate darkness? Even more important, how do we speak the gospel into culture in a way that makes it understood by the culture we live in? This is called contextualization, which for our context basically means making the gospel and the church as culturally accessible as possible without compromising on matters of belief and truth. This is one of the hardest things to do well as a believer.
On a simple level, I think there are two steps to the work of contextualization that will at least help us get started on the path of living out the gospel in the context of a lost world.
1. A FOLLOWER OF JESUS MUST STUDY
Several years ago as I was working in my front yard, I looked across my neighborhood with a broken heart. It wasn’t because I knew the struggles that my neighbors were working through. It was because I didn’t know my neighbors at all. I was living in a Christian bubble. I was working a ministry job that took up large amounts of time, and I spent all of my remaining time with my family. Those were both important things, but there was no place in my life where I was building relationships with people outside of that bubble. This wasn’t the first time that this happened to me in my life. Periodically, I look down only to discover that I have no contact with the outside world.
I don’t do this intentionally, but simply because it’s the easiest and most comfortable route. It’s the direction that our lives tend to take naturally. Anyone who has grown up inside the church is going to struggle with this to some degree. Those who come to faith in Christ later in life seem to find a more natural progression in just bringing the gospel of Jesus into the context of their lives. Most are already living life out in the harvest, so this work seems more natural. For those growing up in the church, there is an additional step of creating relationships and life out in the secular world which can be fearful to many.
So, how do we as God’s people begin to not avoid, but interact with secular culture in an effort to see the gospel of Jesus penetrate darkness? Even more important, how do we speak the gospel into culture in a way that makes it understood by the culture we live in? This is called contextualization, which for our context basically means making the gospel and the church as culturally accessible as possible without compromising on matters of belief and truth. This is one of the hardest things to do well as a believer.
On a simple level, I think there are two steps to the work of contextualization that will at least help us get started on the path of living out the gospel in the context of a lost world.
1. A FOLLOWER OF JESUS MUST STUDY
Studying the Bible - To be growing and doing anything correctly, believers must always be studying Scripture to provide the proper context in which to live their lives.
Studying the Culture - Knowing the culture of an area will help determine which areas need to be addressed and which errors need to be dealt with in order for the gospel to speak into the hearts of people. It can also help influence methods in which the gospel will be shared. The believer must become a missiologist, who studies their own culture in an attempt to reach it. This is not for entertainment primarily, but for missional observation. Here are some ideas:
WATCH TV
TV gives you the best smattering of culture that you can find anywhere. Although you must be careful, it is a clear indicator of which direction culture is heading.
GO TO STARBUCKS
Go sit in Starbucks for a few hours and you will overhear some of the most interesting discussions on culture, politics, religion, and whatnot. This can help in gaining an understanding of a more local region.
CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE RACK
Magazine covers are basically pictures of the idols that exist in culture. It is very easy to see what is being idolized in a culture, whether you are looking at Cosmo, People, or Popular Mechanics.
LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBORS
Do you want to know what people are really like? Take some time and just hangout with your neighbors, hearing their struggles and joys.
READ CITY PAPER
I can’t imagine a better place to read and understand the culture of a place and age group than to read the local Arts paper for a downtown area.
2. A FOLLOWER OF JESUS MUST CONTEXTUALIZE
1 Corinthians 9: 19 - 23 - For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Jesus is of course the best model of this. Paul models it here in his letter to the church in Corinth, but we are to model it as well. The work of contextualization isn’t about making the gospel relevant (because it always is), but it is about showing the relevance of the gospel to a specific culture. We must do this in our speech and in our methods. This does not mean that we water down truth, the gospel, or doctrine. It must remain a part of everything that we do, but it must be communicated in a way that is understandable and applicable. Missionaries do this overseas all the time, but it must be done in our culture as well as well if we want people to understand how the gospel of Jesus is good news to their lives.
Typically, we struggle with one of these over another. As a whole, we tend to extremes in one direction or another, often failing to understand that speaking the good news of Jesus into our culture is a both/and.
Problems to watch for -
2. A FOLLOWER OF JESUS MUST CONTEXTUALIZE
1 Corinthians 9: 19 - 23 - For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Jesus is of course the best model of this. Paul models it here in his letter to the church in Corinth, but we are to model it as well. The work of contextualization isn’t about making the gospel relevant (because it always is), but it is about showing the relevance of the gospel to a specific culture. We must do this in our speech and in our methods. This does not mean that we water down truth, the gospel, or doctrine. It must remain a part of everything that we do, but it must be communicated in a way that is understandable and applicable. Missionaries do this overseas all the time, but it must be done in our culture as well as well if we want people to understand how the gospel of Jesus is good news to their lives.
Typically, we struggle with one of these over another. As a whole, we tend to extremes in one direction or another, often failing to understand that speaking the good news of Jesus into our culture is a both/and.
Problems to watch for -
STUDYING, BUT NOT CONTEXTUALIZING
It does the Kingdom little good if we entangle ourselves well with culture, but make no effort to use that culture to speak the gospel. You can know every hit album, every sports statistic, and hangout with lost people all the time. If you aren’t using those things to express the gospel of Jesus, then you are no different from a firefighter who goes into a burning building with people inside and chooses to just stay there. You are sent to rescue with the hope of the gospel, not to be culturally relevant.
TRYING TO CONTEXTUALIZE WITHOUT STUDYING
If we try to speak the gospel into culture, but we don’t know anything about culture, it always comes off bad. We’ve been guilty of this numerous times, using bad art, music, or movies to proclaim the gospel message. In this scenario, we can often make the gospel seem un-relevant, which can do more damage than good. The gospel is always relevant, we just have to show people that truth.
Mission is hard for us because we struggle to contextualize. We struggle to show people that the gospel of Jesus is good news for their lives, their struggles, and their families. Jesus is our hope, and the hope of all who are in darkness. Let’s believe that, live that, and speak it into the lives of our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers.
Mission is hard for us because we struggle to contextualize. We struggle to show people that the gospel of Jesus is good news for their lives, their struggles, and their families. Jesus is our hope, and the hope of all who are in darkness. Let’s believe that, live that, and speak it into the lives of our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers.
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