LTM Training Week 3, Part 1: Contextualization
While we talked about a few things this week, my favorite topic was contextualization. Now, before you start cringing and thinking “But that’s changing the Gospel!”, let me say that that wasn’t the definition we were using.
“Contextualization means, quite simply, communicating the gospel in understandable terms appropriate to the audience. All christian communication should be contextualized. A Sunday school teacher using simple language and child-related illustrations, games, and activities is contextualizing. A pastor sharing a message in a senior citizens’ home, with appropriate sermon illustrations and an understanding of the unique needs of old people, is using contextualization.”
Contextualization is simply communicating the message of the gospel in culturally appropriate and understood ways. Syncretism, on the other hand, is changing the message of the Gospel in order to be culturally understood and embraced, and should be avoided at all costs. There is only one gospel. But there are many ways to express it. Even in the Bible we find diversity in the presentation of the Gospel. Jesus himself used contextualization in his teachings, most notably in parables, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” etc.
The most important thing to remember about contextualization is the the gospel and church are not permanently bound to the cultural forms of any one culture. The problem begins when the gospel and churches take shape in one culture, and considered to be absolute. In order to share the gospel in other cultures, we need to de-contextualize to be able to share well.
This is why language learning is so important. We can share the gospel in English, no problem. But to really connect with the people of other countries, we need to speak in their heart language and present the gospel in ways they understand using the ways of communication in LTM Training Part 2.
