Prepare for Worship | What is Contextualization?
Last Sunday, Pastor Jeremy Chasteen preached from Acts 17:1-9 and encouraged us with the wonderful truth that Jesus Christ is the risen King.
Read: Acts 17:10-34
This Sunday, Pastor Jason Finley will preach from Acts 17:10-34 and exhort us with the truth that all who know Christ make Him known to all people. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this chapter excerpt from Tim Keller sharpen your understanding of biblical, gospel contextualization for the purpose of Kingdom advancement.
Reflect: “What is Contextualization?”
Contextualization is adapting the expression and practice of biblical truth to people of a particular culture, so it is as understandable and compelling to them as possible, without compromising that truth in any way. That means we must avoid two things: over-contextualization, which fails to honor the truth by altering the truth itself rather than its expressions and practices; and under-contextualization, which fails to honor the truth by making it unnecessarily alien and incomprehensible.
Contextualization distinguishes between essentials and nonessentials. On one hand, we must be sure not to remove any of the essentials of the gospel that may potentially offend, such as the teaching on sin, the need for repentance, the lostness of those outside of Christ, and so on. On the other hand, we must be sure to remove any nonessential language or practice that will confuse or offend the sensibilities of the people we try to reach. Determining the difference between essentials and nonessentials is an inevitable part of contextualizing to new cultures, new times, and new generations.
Contextualization is not giving people what they want to hear. It is giving them what God says (that they may not want to hear!) but embodied in cultural dimensions to which they can relate, and argued for in terms they can understand and on the basis of things they already believe.
Contextualization is to be “receptor” or hearer-oriented rather than exclusively “sender” or speaker-oriented. It is to lovingly take on the burden and do more of the communicative “work” necessary to connect so that the listener does less. This is the Christ pattern of servanthood applied to communication. It happens at the intersection of God’s unchanging Word and our constantly changing world and settings.
The Bible and Contextualization
The book of Acts shows us contextualization in the early church. In Acts 13:16–41, Paul shares the gospel in a synagogue to Jews, those who believed in the God of the Bible. In Acts 14:8–17, he shares the gospel to a pagan, “blue-collar” crowd. Finally, in Acts 17:19–31, he speaks to a “white-collar” pagan audience—the philosophers on Mars Hill. The differences and similarities between each of these gospel presentations are striking. They show that the eternal gospel is being expressed in different ways to different listeners. Elsewhere, Paul says that, as an evangelist, he contextualized not just his message but himself.
By living in a community and truly becoming part of the society, a missionary allows people to see the gospel embodied in love, honesty, kindness, and loving our neighbor. This enables nonbelievers to get a sense of what they might look like as Christian members of their own culture.
The work of the Holy Spirit is directly involved in contextualization. Jesus begins the book of Acts saying that the Holy Spirit would move them to take the gospel to “Jerusalem … Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8). In other words, it was the will and work of the Holy Spirit to break through cultural barriers and enable the church to proclaim the gospel in different social settings. Then, in one of the great cultural moves forward, the Spirit sets up the meeting of Philip with the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:29, 39).
All throughout the Bible, authors contextualized. But perhaps most telling of all is the fact that Jesus’ incarnation was itself an act of contextualization. God did not just come to earth as a human. He came as a Jewish Galilean, a particular, culturally contextual human being, so we could understand and grasp who he is. Jesus is the Word become flesh (John 1:14). He is the “exact representation” in human form “of [God’s] being” and of “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). God adapted to us and accommodated human nature.
Just as Jesus became fully human yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), so are we to adapt and accommodate the gospel message to cultures without compromise. Indeed, Jesus says in John 20:21 that “as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
“City to City DNA: What is Contextualization?” chapter excerpt from Gospel-Centered City Ministry: The City to City DNA, by Tim Keller.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “Worthy of More,” by Austin Stone Worship
2. “Jesus Only Jesus,” by Matt Redman
3. “I Am Not My Own,” by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Skye Peterson
4. “Be Thou My Vision,” Arr. Crosspoint Music
5. “There Is One Gospel,” by CityAlight