I learn something this week, or should I say that I was reminded of something this week. What ever it was, learning something new, or just deepening of old knowledge, I needed the thing.
This week was not the easiest one that I can remember. Funny thing is that the work load was not to heavy. I even was able to get back to all my excising and other thing more ministry and spiritually related that had stop for the crazy week of pre-Easter! But, despite this, it was tough!
Friday night after a long swimming, and a even longer time talking to my wife I figured it out. Saturday evening turned out great after I had the chance to study my thoughts out from the Bible. Here is what I learned.
Somewhere during the beginning of the week I stopped using my Shield of Faith.
Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked".
It seems amazing to me the times Satan seems to attack. There are the normal day to day attacks, but it seems as if he likes to attack most during two different times. First, when a person is weak and sickly. Second when a person has just had a victory or miracle.
Sunday was one of those great victory days. Five people baptized, great services, good activities on Monday. It was like a Goliath had fallen and everyone was standing around jumping for joy. Sometimes these time of rejoicing can be dangerous.
Here I was jumping up and down, shouting about the victory, not thinking that I had raised my shield and sword up over my head. Here I was cheering over the victory, paying not attention to the enemy soldiers that were left. At this moment the enemy show it. Bulls eye! I am sure he thought, "Lets try and shoot a couple of arrows in there and see if they might hit something"!
Tuesday came around and with it came arrows of doubt, fear, anger, frustration. It was like a endless on slot of little thoughts that where meant to smolder and burn. See, Satan knows that if he can get your faith, he will dampen your hope, and if he dampen your hope, he can stop your love.
In-attention is a great way for a soldier to get killed. Well, that is what happened to me this week. It took me a couple of hard experiences and times of quite to figure out what was going on, but finally I figured it out.
I thought, I have been doing everything right. Reading, praying, obeying, but why did I feel so weak and fearful! I had forgot faith, above everything else I had forgot to hold hold it. Little by little I let the devil knock it out of my hand.
See, faith and fear can never live together. They are incompatible. I am not saying that a person that has faith, never fears, NO! But faith pushes out fear and as it grows fear reduces. One most always be in control. Either I am ruled by fear, or I am ruled by faith.
Well, finally on Saturday night I figured it out. I had not been fighting the battle the right way. I forgot to quench those darts of discouragement, fear, and doubt with faith.
Where did that faith come from? Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". I did not have faith to quince the fire, because I was not really listening to the word. I was reading it, praying it, but not really hearing it!
A person is always listening to something, if it is not God's faith building words, it will be Satan's doubt giving accusations. Once I saw this, God let me fix the problem. I got out the word and listened to it!
After just about an hour of reading and study about faith, the shield was back and ready. The fires were quenched. I learned that weather in victory or failure, keep the shield in place. Weather a person is tired from long times of fighting or elated over victory, they need to see the important of keeping a firm grip on the faith God gives them through the promises of God. They need to read them, claim them, and believe them!
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Thursday, October 8, 2009
What’s the Bible Say about Contextualization?
If anything is going to be useful to a missionary, it must be Biblical. And if it is Biblical, then it must have a strong foundation in the Bible. So, the question remains, is contextualization in the Bible. All it takes is a Concordance to prove that this long word does not appear in scripture, but does the proper idea of contextualization appear.
Here, I want to make a point. Most liberal missionaries, start this discussion with the following verses: 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
With this starting point they say that we must become just like others to reach them. But, they conveniently miss a phrase in these verses: “being not without the law to God, but under the law of Christ”. They forget that though somethings in style, form, and presentation can be changed, they are not lawless. If they change the message or methods of the Bible, they are just opening the door to syncretism. They will not have a faith that is relevant to the new person, but a new faith!
With this point made, lets move to the Bible, which is the sole authority for faith and practice. Does the Bible make a case for context or against context? We will bring three witnesses to the stand, and let the Bible speak for these witnesses and their actions.
The first Witness is… Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus Christ being Himself totally God, is not limited to man's culture. He is the embodiment of heavenly values, teaching, and truth. We see in his earthly ministry, that he always placed the truth of the Bible over the culture of man, even Hebrew culture. We see an example of this in Matthew 15:1-6
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Here we see that Christ strongly condemns the braking of scripture to make way for tradition and/or custom. This passage is speaking against syncretism, not context. Does context, have any place in Christ’s ministry?
The scripture does tell us that Christ did put his message into a context. It was put into Jewish world view. Jesus spoke Aramaic, though Greek and Latin, where the world wide languages.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Jesus Christ, wore clothes, wear prayer shallows, beard and sideburns, all in the manner and custom of the devote Jews. This is how the women at the well in Samaria, knew right away that Jesus Christ was a Jew, and that is why she thought he would condemn her for being a Samaritan. Christ ministry on this world, was spoken in a thoroughly Jewish context. The forms, styles, language, all prove this.
Also another point to consider is that Christ would vary the mode of his presentation of the gospel depending on the audience. This is seen in the Emmaus road trip, witnessing to the Syrophenician women, and witnessing to Nicodemius.
If Christ could allow His eternal, heavenly message to be shaped and influenced by the audience that he was speaking to, and in no way sin, because he is sinless, then there is a way as a missionary that we can do the same thing.
Witness Number Two… Peter
The Bible tells its reader that Peter had a specific ministry. Though he was the first person told by God, that the Gentiles should be reached, and preached to the first totally Gentile audience. He was given the ministry of the gospel to the Jews.
Galatians 2:7-9 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
This passage does not teach that there are two gospels. For as a person sees in Galatians 1:6-9, any other gospel, that is new or different, is not the gospel at all. This passage tells us that these men had different ministries, and that these different ministries reached people with different world views. The gospel was the same, but the way in which they presented and ministered the gospel was different.
Witness Number Three… Paul.
There is probably no great example for the missionary in the Bible, then the life of Paul. The book of Acts is a divinely inspired history book, that gives us great insight to the methods and means of the New Testament churches. In the book of Acts we can see clear examples of how Paul presented the gospel to different groups under different circumstances. Here, I will site a view example of direct quotes from the book of Acts, to see different ways in which Paul presented the gospel.
Example Number 1
Acts 13:14-43 We see the first full message that Paul preaches of the gospel. They are in a synagogue and preaching to a thoroughly Jewish group. Paul starts the presentation giving Jewish history and builds up through David, to present the coming of Messiah. He quotes many quotations from the psalms, which because of Hebrew worship in the synagogues, most Jews knew these passage by heart.
Example Number 2
Acts 17:22-31 We see the second full message of Paul recorded in the book of Acts. The location is Mars Hill. The audience is mostly gentiles, and gentiles that do not have a Jewish world view. Paul starts with their own idols, and speaks of their altar to the Unknown God. He makes us of quotations of their own secular poets. Brings these points to Christ, and their need for him.
Example Number 3
Acts 21:40-22:1-21 Paul hear is addressing the crowd that has beaten him in the temple. He speaks to them in Hebrew, and the Bible puts an emphasis on this point. He starts by telling them that he was a Pharisee, and gives his Hebrew pedigree; then moves to the way that Christ called him unto salvation.
Example Number Four
Acts 26:1-23 Here we have Paul last recorded sermon in the book of Acts. He is preaching to King Agrippa. Though he is a Jew, and would naturally disdain the king’s herodian lineage, he starts by giving him the proper deference that a person would give to a king. Here he speeches Greek, and comports himself in such a way that would be fitting to the case that he is in.
In these four example we can clearly see a Biblical pattern for contextualization. Paul never changed the message. He preach the authority of scripture, and the clear intent of helping the listener understand the propose of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But in each case, the language, starting point, style, and information used, varied as he presented the gospel to a new audience or people group.
I believe that the use of contextualization is very important. It helps to fulfill the very heart of 1 Corinthians 9:2-22. It allows us, under the law of Christ, to become all things to all people, so that we might WIN SOME!
Also I believe that the danger is very real if a missionary does not learn the context of his listeners. The mission field today is filled with this: unconverted, confused, followers of a Western thinking ‘gospel’.
In the next post I will show how conservative Christians have already embraced this idea of context, in minor ways, but how we need to apply it in a more fully in our modern missions.
Here, I want to make a point. Most liberal missionaries, start this discussion with the following verses: 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
With this starting point they say that we must become just like others to reach them. But, they conveniently miss a phrase in these verses: “being not without the law to God, but under the law of Christ”. They forget that though somethings in style, form, and presentation can be changed, they are not lawless. If they change the message or methods of the Bible, they are just opening the door to syncretism. They will not have a faith that is relevant to the new person, but a new faith!
With this point made, lets move to the Bible, which is the sole authority for faith and practice. Does the Bible make a case for context or against context? We will bring three witnesses to the stand, and let the Bible speak for these witnesses and their actions.
The first Witness is… Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus Christ being Himself totally God, is not limited to man's culture. He is the embodiment of heavenly values, teaching, and truth. We see in his earthly ministry, that he always placed the truth of the Bible over the culture of man, even Hebrew culture. We see an example of this in Matthew 15:1-6
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Here we see that Christ strongly condemns the braking of scripture to make way for tradition and/or custom. This passage is speaking against syncretism, not context. Does context, have any place in Christ’s ministry?
The scripture does tell us that Christ did put his message into a context. It was put into Jewish world view. Jesus spoke Aramaic, though Greek and Latin, where the world wide languages.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Jesus Christ, wore clothes, wear prayer shallows, beard and sideburns, all in the manner and custom of the devote Jews. This is how the women at the well in Samaria, knew right away that Jesus Christ was a Jew, and that is why she thought he would condemn her for being a Samaritan. Christ ministry on this world, was spoken in a thoroughly Jewish context. The forms, styles, language, all prove this.
Also another point to consider is that Christ would vary the mode of his presentation of the gospel depending on the audience. This is seen in the Emmaus road trip, witnessing to the Syrophenician women, and witnessing to Nicodemius.
If Christ could allow His eternal, heavenly message to be shaped and influenced by the audience that he was speaking to, and in no way sin, because he is sinless, then there is a way as a missionary that we can do the same thing.
Witness Number Two… Peter
The Bible tells its reader that Peter had a specific ministry. Though he was the first person told by God, that the Gentiles should be reached, and preached to the first totally Gentile audience. He was given the ministry of the gospel to the Jews.
Galatians 2:7-9 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
This passage does not teach that there are two gospels. For as a person sees in Galatians 1:6-9, any other gospel, that is new or different, is not the gospel at all. This passage tells us that these men had different ministries, and that these different ministries reached people with different world views. The gospel was the same, but the way in which they presented and ministered the gospel was different.
Witness Number Three… Paul.
There is probably no great example for the missionary in the Bible, then the life of Paul. The book of Acts is a divinely inspired history book, that gives us great insight to the methods and means of the New Testament churches. In the book of Acts we can see clear examples of how Paul presented the gospel to different groups under different circumstances. Here, I will site a view example of direct quotes from the book of Acts, to see different ways in which Paul presented the gospel.
Example Number 1
Acts 13:14-43 We see the first full message that Paul preaches of the gospel. They are in a synagogue and preaching to a thoroughly Jewish group. Paul starts the presentation giving Jewish history and builds up through David, to present the coming of Messiah. He quotes many quotations from the psalms, which because of Hebrew worship in the synagogues, most Jews knew these passage by heart.
Example Number 2
Acts 17:22-31 We see the second full message of Paul recorded in the book of Acts. The location is Mars Hill. The audience is mostly gentiles, and gentiles that do not have a Jewish world view. Paul starts with their own idols, and speaks of their altar to the Unknown God. He makes us of quotations of their own secular poets. Brings these points to Christ, and their need for him.
Example Number 3
Acts 21:40-22:1-21 Paul hear is addressing the crowd that has beaten him in the temple. He speaks to them in Hebrew, and the Bible puts an emphasis on this point. He starts by telling them that he was a Pharisee, and gives his Hebrew pedigree; then moves to the way that Christ called him unto salvation.
Example Number Four
Acts 26:1-23 Here we have Paul last recorded sermon in the book of Acts. He is preaching to King Agrippa. Though he is a Jew, and would naturally disdain the king’s herodian lineage, he starts by giving him the proper deference that a person would give to a king. Here he speeches Greek, and comports himself in such a way that would be fitting to the case that he is in.
In these four example we can clearly see a Biblical pattern for contextualization. Paul never changed the message. He preach the authority of scripture, and the clear intent of helping the listener understand the propose of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But in each case, the language, starting point, style, and information used, varied as he presented the gospel to a new audience or people group.
I believe that the use of contextualization is very important. It helps to fulfill the very heart of 1 Corinthians 9:2-22. It allows us, under the law of Christ, to become all things to all people, so that we might WIN SOME!
Also I believe that the danger is very real if a missionary does not learn the context of his listeners. The mission field today is filled with this: unconverted, confused, followers of a Western thinking ‘gospel’.
In the next post I will show how conservative Christians have already embraced this idea of context, in minor ways, but how we need to apply it in a more fully in our modern missions.
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