For the past few years the issue of "contextualization" has been intensely discussed and debated. Throughout the many discussions I have had, listened in on, and read, I have found some legitimate differences in perspective, but also some pretty serious misunderstandings concerning the nature of contextualization. I will spend several posts sharing my thoughts on the nature of contextualization and the need to contextualize. The place to start in this conversation is with an understanding of culture. So, let me start with a bit of a personal journey...
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What is Culture and Why Does it Matter?
I planted my first church in 1988 in the inner city of Buffalo, New York. I was planting a church way before church planting was an "in" thing to do. When I would tell people I was planting a church, they would look at me with a blank stare and ask if I was planting because couldn't get a "real job." I was 21 years of age. I didn't know anything about church planting. I graduated from college with a degree in biology and chemistry, and I went to the inner-city, multi-racial, urban poor people of Buffalo and just started knocking on doors and telling people about Jesus. I wore a suit and a tie and occasionally carried my Bible door-to-door. I might as well have ridden a bicycle and worn a backpack and said I was with the Mormons.
God was so gracious and patient with me as a young man who didn't yet have a good grasp on how to approach the culture He had sent me into, and by His grace we were able to plant a church. But it was so hard. It took us years to grow the church to a place where it could be self-sufficient and self-supporting. I believed in church planting, but I knew I needed to become effective in making the gospel known and developing the church in areas where churches were desperately needed. Around that time, there was a pastor in California who was getting a lot of attention for his strategy and effectiveness in making disciples. He was part of my tribe, so I started communicating with this guy, Rick Warren.
Source: Christian Post
Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Ed blogs daily at EdStetzer.com.
