the godfather of the missional movement (and Newcastle born), Lesslie Newbigin, had this to say as a foundation for contextualization back in the day... [my thoughts in brackets]
“The gospel is addressed to human beings, to their minds and hearts and consciences, and calls for their response.”
[This is KEY!] = “Human beings only exist as members of communities which share a common language, customs, ways of ordering economic and social life, ways of understanding and coping with their world. [literally world view.]
If the gospel is to be understood, if it is to be received as something which communicates truth about the real human situation, if it is, as we say, to ‘make sense’, it has to becommunicated in the language of those to whom it is addressed and has to be clothed in symbols which are meaningful to them. And since the gospel does not come as a disembodied message, but as the message of a community which claims to live by it and which invites others to adhere to it, the community’s life must be so ordered that it ‘makes sense’ to those who are invited. It must, as we say, ‘come alive.’ Those to whom it is addressed must be able to say, ‘Yes, I see. This is true for me, for my situation.’ [this is huge & the foundation of contextualization. this is so key - for both a missionary to China or a student ministry in the Bible Belt.]
[& before you call me and Lesslie both heretics...]
But if the gospel is truly to be communicated, the subject in that sentence is as important as the predicate. What comes home to the heart of the hearer must really be the gospel, and not a product shaped by the mind of the hearer.”
– we need contextualization “whether in one’s own neighborhood or at the ends of the earth.”
that is at the heart of what it means to be missional... literally on mission in whatever culture we find ourselves in. i say, the more we contextualize the gospel, the more effectively we communicate it.
we must... i repeat, MUST become experts not just in the gospel itself, but in contextualizing it!
you were the man, Lesslie. thankful to have you as one of my dead mentors.
that is at the heart of what it means to be missional... literally on mission in whatever culture we find ourselves in. i say, the more we contextualize the gospel, the more effectively we communicate it.
we must... i repeat, MUST become experts not just in the gospel itself, but in contextualizing it!
you were the man, Lesslie. thankful to have you as one of my dead mentors.
