Lausanne World Pulse – Contextualization that Is Comprehensive
By A. Scott Moreau
When you use the word “contextualization” most cross-cultural workers assume you are talking about theology. However, the foundational idea of contextualization applies more broadly than just to theology—it applies to the whole of the Christian faith. The ultimate goal of contextualization is to make the entirety of the Christian faith, including both the message and the way Christians live their faith out in local settings, enfleshed in a way that is understandable (and, insofar as it is possible, commendable) to the non-Christian people among whom that faith is lived out.
The current approach toward contextualization as limited to being a theological task is an appropriate foundation—but no more than a foundation. Contextualization must be at its core theological, but it must go beyond theology. In this brief article I will outline an approach to contextualization that includes theologizing but also incorporates all that the Christian faith is and all that following Christ calls us to do. I call this approach comprehensive contextualization.
Comprehensive Contextualization
Comprehensive contextualization is a seven-dimension approach drawn from religious scholar Ninian Smart’s model for understanding religions.1 The seven dimensions of comprehensive contextualization are (1) doctrinal, (2) mythic, (3) ethical, (4) social, (5) ritual, (6) supernatural experience and (7) artistic or material. We will explain each in turn.
1. The Doctrinal (Theological) Dimension
The doctrinal dimension refers to beliefs expressed in religious form.2 It is our attempt to answer questions such as, “How did the world come to exist?” and “What powers rule the world?” These beliefs are found in the Bible, and can be organized in a way that makes sense to a particular audience, whether through books, hymns, sermons, Bible studies and so on. This approach can be focused on a particular goal (liberation theologies) or around a particular set of practices (Pentecostal theologies). It may have a subset in mind (black theologies, feminist theologies) or try to be universal (Western systematic theologies). Although not always recognized as contextualized attempts at theologizing, that is precisely what each of these are.
2. The Mythic or Narrative Dimension
The second dimension is the mythic. In the broadest sense, myth refers to the stories of a culture that reflect how it thinks about the world. The way we are using the term should not be confused with the more popular idea of myths as stories that are untrue. Rather, myth in this sense is the power of the stories of a people to embody the things they cherish and value (as well as showing why some things are not valued). Typically, a society’s myths express that society’s ideals about several themes, including sacrifice, love, honor, power, wisdom and heroism.3 While in this sense the Bible can be seen as a “myth,” the reality is that it is the one absolute and true Myth on which all other myths are based and by which all others are judged. It is the reality; they are merely shadows.
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A. Scott Moreau is chair of the intercultural studies department at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. He is also editor of Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ). He has taught extensively on the topics of contextualization and spiritual conflict. |