THOUGHT OF THE DAY...contextualization and the cross of Christ

this is worth repeating

MIND YOUR FAITH: Using the vernacular of the day isn't contextualization; it is speech, communication (cp, 1 Cor. 9:18-23). But when the message gets altered within a certain methodology to appeal or fit within a specific cultural paradigm, then that is no longer just communication, but contextualization. Example: Communication: "Jesus was born of a Virgin named Mary. She was a woman who found favor with God. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."" Contextualization: "Jesus' mom was a poor, unwed teenage girl who was often mocked for claiming she conceived via the Holy Spirit. Most people thought she concocted the crazy story to cover the fact she was knocking boots with some guy in the backseat of a car at the prom." One communicates truth; the other... fabrication.   Which one do you prefer?

"A shallow and worldly leadership

would modify the cross to please the entertainment-mad saintlings

who will have their fun even within the very sanctuary;

but to do so is to court spiritual disaster

and risk the anger of the Lamb turned Lion."

-A.W. Tozer

Contextualization.

It is the latest buzz word adopted by emerging/emergent/missional adherents who want to be contemporary and cool, yet biblical both at the same time thinking they have found something new that will revolutionize evangelism and redefine the church of the 21st century.

This missional arrogance has its roots in what is known as Sociolinguistics. "It is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics." (source)

What is of significant importance to note, is that the most vocal of contextualizationists elevate this application of language to the place of equating effectiveness of the gospel message in regards to its ability to effectively contextualize itself in any given culture. IOW, if you preach and proclaim the gospel message as it is given in the fullness of biblical truth, you may not garner the fruit and/or numbers of converts you desire for the kingdom if you fail at contextualizing those same truths. Therefore, the "success" of the gospel transforming lives then becomes directly linked to ones association with sociological pragmatics; rather than to God.

Young, pomo-pastoral 'Chicken Little's" are crying that the "gospel sky" is falling and that there is a crisis of evangelism going on in the world because not as many souls are being saved as we once were; that this maybe the last Christian generation; that most converts occur before the age of 18; and if we don't somehow employ new methods and techniques in our outreach programs then the growth of the church, the faith, and belief in the gospel are straight-jacketed and doomed.

I guess the Lord's promise and declaration is outdated and has lost its meaning today when He said, "I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH..."

What is also of tremendous significance, is that this mode of ministry is being embraced by reformed people across the board as being essential to the mission of the church (missional if you're post-modern). Beloved, the message of the cross is not bound by cultural peccadilloes or idiosyncrasies. And though we are to go to a lost world understanding the times and to become all things to all people without violating the command or standard of Scripture, a simple reading of Paul's epistles reveals the same gospel message absent of distinct cultural moorings and modifications from book to book. His instructive words to the church at Corinth was this: "I sought to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

This simple model for ministry must be asininity (that's foolishness for those of you in Ballard) to the architects of today's contextualized evangelism. How "old school" of Paul to think that proclaiming Jesus Christ and Him crucified would have any real or lasting impact at Corinth. To suggest that the gospel ITSELF is the power of God unto salvation is mere nonsense in light of the seeker-sensible-relevant times of our advanced society.

So what really matters for evangelism to be effective? Demographics? No, doctrine. Contextualization? No, content. Sociolinguistics or strategery? No, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus. Tactics? No, truth. Technique? No, theology. Methods? No, message. Culture? No, Christ.

Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind and with all of your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. Live out the great truths of Matthew 5-7; love the brethren, worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, go into all the world and make disciples, and preach the whole counsel of God and the genuine, authentic, biblical, gospel, of grace. And if along the way you meet a few trendy contextualized-missional-emerging/emergent-seeker sensitive-seeker sensible- "trying so hard to bend over backwards to be culturally relevant" types - pray for them, extend Christian charity to them, point them to the real Mars Hill, and humbly show them a more biblical way. And tell them plainly to repeat three times: we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord; we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord; we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.

From the context of the Bible,
Steve
Acts 20:24

God Always Acts Like Himself...recovering a reverence for God in ministry

A.W. Tozer has always been a favorite of mine.  He is not a flatter; he certainly is not politically correct in any way; he spoke the truth in love without thought of himself and the inevitable fallout to his popularity.  He served an Audience of ONE and we are grateful for the faithfulness in ministry this dear man of God has passed on to us.

The following devotional from him goes along the theme of recovering a reverence for God in ministry.  So little is being done these days on the glory, majesty and character of God without the anthropomorphic tag line of "personal esteem."

I commend this highly to you in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

By His grace and for His glory,

Campi

2 Cor. 3:5

 

"To whom then will you liken God, 

or what likeness compare with him? An idol! 

A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays 

it with gold and casts for it silver chains. 

He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wool 

that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman 

to set up an idol that will not move.

To whom then will you compare me, 

that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 

Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? 

He who brings out their host by number, 

calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, 

and because he is strong in power not one is missing.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

The LORD is the everlasting God, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might 

he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, 

and young men shall fall exhausted; 

they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings(AO) like eagles; 

they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." 

-Isaiah 40:18-20; 25-26; 28-31

by A.W. Tozer

Since true faith rests upon what God is, it is of utmost importance that, to the limit of our comprehension, we know what He is. "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee" (Psalm 9:10). The name of God is the verbal expression of His character, and confidence always rises or falls with known character. What the psalmist said was simply that they who know God to be the kind of God He is will put their confidence in Him. This is not a special virtue, I repeat, but the normal direction any mind takes when confronted with the fact. We are so made that we trust good character and distrust its opposite.

That is why unbelief is so intensely wicked. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar" (1 John 5:10). The character of God is the Christian's final ground of assurance and the solution of many, if not most, of his practical religious problems. Some persons, for instance, believe that God answered prayer in Bible times but will not do so today, and others hold that the miracles of olden days can never be repeated. To believe so is to deny or at least to ignore almost everything God has revealed about Himself. We must remember that God always acts like Himself. He has never at any time anywhere in the vast universe acted otherwise than in character with His infinite perfections.

This knowledge should be a warning to the enemies of God, and it cannot but be an immense consolation to His friends.

Prayer
You are my resting place. The more I know You the more I trust You. I can trust You even when I do not understand.

Scripture
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
— Hebrews 13:8

Thought
Horatius Bonar understood it well when he wrote: "I change, He changes not, the Christ can never die; His love, not mine, the resting place; His truth, not mine, the tie."

Source:
That Incredible Christian
Chapter # Six
Faith's Foundation Is God

Listen to Tozer's Sermons online here.