Contextualization and the Gospel

In the debate over how to be ambassadors of the gospel, liberals shout that we must be ‘relevant’ to our culture and contextualize the gospel, while fundamentalists stake their claim in the offense of the Cross and the non-negotiable Truth of God’s Word. In this debate, while the liberals have forgotten that Truth does not change and that the Gospel must include the offense of sin and man’s need for God, conservatives are prone to overlook the fact that no matter how religiously you stick to the gospel, it is still a gospel that is fit into your specific cultural understanding. Contextualization here means simply that “every interpretive community has a perspective that helps us see aspects of God's self-disclosure that other communities cannot in themselves see or hear.” (Tim Keller) Every community has a certain type of language that it uses, familiar references, approved music styles, and certain values that it cherishes. Adopting any one of these automatically makes you easier to understand for some people, and more difficult for the rest. In writing to the Corinthian church, Paul says that in sharing the gospel he became “all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel.” (I Corinthians 9:22-23) If you look through the book of Acts, you can see that though Paul preached to different audiences in unique ways, he never changed the message of the gospel. This is fascinating, because we see in Acts 16:3 that Paul had Timothy circumcised for the sake of the gospel, while the book of Galatians vehemently charges those who force circumcision upon gentile believers with changing the gospel. We must follow his example, so that whether we are preaching the gospel in a foreign country or to a neighbor with a foreign worldview, we do not let our cultural prejudices cripple the listener’s ability to hear.

As noted earlier, whenever a person articulates a thing, they articulate it based upon their native context, and if in presenting the gospel our aim is to be clear, then we should state it so as to make it easier for our audience to see the truths that we are presenting. When Mark Driscoll preaches at Mars Hill church in Seattle, his t-shirt, which at times boasts skulls on the front, appeals to the young/super fly/grunge crowd and make them more receptive to what he says, while traditional conservatives prefer their preacher to wear a suit and would be less likely to listen to Driscoll’s extolling of the Cross. Now, the thing to remember is that each of these cultural expressions comes with specific pitfalls: the super fly/grunge crowd must be careful not to make light of sin and God’s holiness, while the traditional conservative struggles to realize that grace alone saves, and not piety (nor proper clothing).

In the end, if we will effectively communicate the gospel to those outside our own narrow cultural preferences, we must follow Paul’s example and determine “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (I Corinthians 2:2) Only if we fully grasp the work of Christ will be able to strike the proper balance in contextualizing. We are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), and as you nod your head in agreement, I pray that you realize what this means. It means that Christ demands you be humble, because salvation is a gift, and if a gift, then you cannot boast as if you earned it by any amount of piety or law keeping. But it also makes you confident, because when Jesus came to this earth and stretched His arms out upon the Cross, He said “Don’t you see, I have just paid an incredible price to demonstrate how much I love you.” For God, though He was rich, emptied Himself of everything (Philippians 2:5-8) and became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9) to purchase our redemption. This means we are infinitely valued, and that our worth and identity are found in Christ. Because of this, when considering how to contextualize, we can be humble about our own cultural context, realizing that we are not specially imbued with a superior culture. We can be confident too, though, which will spare us over-contextualizing, because our identity does not come from the approval of men, but from the one Man, Christ Jesus, who demonstrated our worth on the Cross. This will allow us to lose customs that inhibit gospel communication, while making sure that the truth of the Gospel, the story of God’s redemption of mankind, shines brightly; for we know that if Christ is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. (John 12:32)