Contextualizing the Gospel message is the task which lies ahead of anyone who wishes to share the Good News. Ensuring that the message conveyed is not condemning, but moves the person or culture toward blessing and wholeness, is crucial to the success of an evangelization effort. A gospel which shares the truth and love of God must begin with people as they are, allowing the Holy Spirit to woo them into relationship, and then into lives which are appropriate in both the culture in which they live in, as well as the context of biblical truth.
But contextualization, while remaining in the realm of the missionary to the target culture is perhaps not the ultimate goal. Throughout this class we have exhorted each other to be able to contextualize, while remaining true to the apostolic faith. The task which lies ahead, and perhaps the task that lies ahead of all who would be missionaries, as well as those they witness to, is to be able to identify with, to understand, and share the gospel unflinchingly with other cultures. In order to achieve this lofty goal, the missionary must do more than simply understand other cultures and share the gospel with them. The missionary must also work within the culture to develop leadership with in the culture which will challenge the structures of the culture which do not align with the gospel, and further, to begin to understand the gospel as something that is not only within their own culture, but ultimately beyond their own culture, and in fact, supracultural.
This leap of understanding brings people to a place where they are equipped to spread the gospel to other cultures, recognizing and valuing the beauty and diversity of the expression of God within various cultures.
No comments:
Post a Comment