Introduction to Missiology

Ch. 19 – Contextualization and the Missionary Endeavor

Definitions

Indigenization – developing a church that is self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating, and that reflects positive aspects of the local culture in its expression of Christian community and ministry.

Contextualization – Enabling the Christian message to become alive as it addresses the core issues of a sociocultural context and transforms people’s worldview, values, and goals

Introduction

The shift from indigenization to contextualization is the greatest methodological issue facing the Christian mission today – Alan Tippett

Contextualization implies a deeper involvement in the social issues of the local setting, especially where there is rapid social change

New Testament

Paul contextualized his message to his audience God-fearers Athenians

The writers of the gospels contextualized their message to the audience

Contemporary Developments - Africa

1955 – Ghana – rise of syncretistic indigenous churches points to a problem

1965 – Nigeria – Consultation of African Theologians attempted to express historic Christianity in

African cultural forms Raised issue of the relationship between the

gospel and traditional religions

Contemporary Developments - Latin America

1962 – Brazil – Church and Society Movement – dominated by liberation theologians

1971 – Latin American Theological Fraternity – dialogue among evangelical theologians on issues of contextualization

Contemporary Developments – World Council of Churches

1968 – Upsala – addressed contextualization in world perspective In the struggle for peace and justice the church must bear

witness and speak out. 1971 – Bossey, Switzerland

Dogmatic theology fails to address ethical-social issues that arise in times of rapid change

1972 – Theological Education Fund Report Issues: social justice, local culture, and universal

technological civilization

Contemporary Developments – Lausanne Movement

1974 – Lausanne – a distinction must be made between the gospel and the cultural forms in which it is expressed

Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL) The Willowbank Group – theology &

education – sought to place greater emphasis on the influence of cultural factors upon the Scriptures as well as upon the reader

Lausanne (Con’t)

1975 – Detroit – contextualizing in North America Minorities in industrialized countries as

participants in the theologizing process Encouraged affinity groups to theologize

regarding issues in American society & the world

Evangelical Boundaries

The evangelical framework views the task of contextualization in terms of disengaging the supra-cultural message from a cultural context and enculturating it into another

Priority is always upon the authority and integrity of the biblical text

Key Issues in Contextualization

Nature of the Gospel – supracultural or culture bound?

Authority of Scriptures – normative or parallel significance with the sociocultural context?

Starting Point – sociocultural context or biblical text?

Traditional Religions – total continuity, total discontinuity, or another option?

Key Issues (con’t)

Contextualizing participants – Outsiders, insiders, or combination of both?

Syncretism – inevitable outcome of pushing contextualization too far? Result OK or non-Christian blend?

Tools to use – Marxist focus on conflict, functionalist focus on harmony, or another approach?

Translation Models of Contextualization

Formal Correspondence Literal, word-for-word translation best carries the

message into another culture Institutional parallel between cultures

Dynamic Equivalence Meaning-to-meaning translation best carries the message

into another culture Organizational equivalence to produce NT impact

Existential Models of Contextualization

Dialectical Dialogical

Guidelines for the Process

Bible the final authority Supracultural elements of Scripture

preserved Local leaders’ theological reflection given

precedence Local theology informed by historic

Christian theology

Guidelines (con’t)

Syncretism carefully avoided Patience and humility by broader Christian

community as local contextualization emerges and is tested – it takes time and revision

Adequate tools for sociocultural analysis provided to local leaders

Model used that suits both Scripture and context