Contextualization. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? Should we use it? Until about forty years ago, the word "contextualize" merely meant "To study something in its own context." However, since that time, a new meaning has arisen. It was transformed into portraying something in the context of the
audience you were speaking to.
Unfortunately, this meant adopting the world's standard and culture to try to get a point across.
Regrettably the Emergent Church has adopted this definition of Contextualization, and has used it to promote their ideas. And what culture have they decided to mimic?
The postmodern mindset that many of today's young people are accepting. The EC has embraced the main teaching of postmodernism, Truth is Relative and no one can be certain of it, and has applied it to the Bible. Many of the emergent leaders have rejected that ultimate and absolute Truth can be found in the Bible, and instead
they say they want to "have a conversation" about biblical truths and basically reconstruct everything that that Bible teaches. Emergents such as Rob Bell have begun using terms like Narrative Theology which he describes by saying, "We believe the Bible to be the voices of many who have come before us, inspired by God to pass along their poems, stories, accounts, and letters of response and relationship with each other and the living God." What he has done is reduced the Bible to mere stories which God inspired people to write. Bell has completely removed God as the author and believes that, "discovering the Bible as a human product, rather than divine fiat. ... The Bible is still in the center for us, but it’s a different kind of center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it".
In his new book, "Everything Must Change" Brian Maclaren, another emergent leader, states that we must change
everything that we do to reach the world. But we must remember that words do have meaning, so what is entailed in the words "everything must change"?
Justification. Must the central doctrine of justification change? How about the doctrine off Christ's imputed righteousness? Must that change as well? Regrettably much of what Brian Maclaren and other emergent leaders say does change these fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. And sadly many of today's youth are being drawn into what these teachers have to say. Noah and I will discuss these changes when we talk about the social gospel in our posts next week and in our second podcast.
But many emergents will say that Paul used contextualization to preach the gospel to the Greeks on Mars Hill, and that is a fair point, one that must be addressed. In order to reach some with the gospel, you must "contextualize" to some extent. If you want to reach Russians, speak Russian. If you want to reach the Chinese, speak Chinese. You may even have to speak some of the phrases that people recognize (but not swearing or blasphemy as some emergent leaders are prone to do). Paul did exercise this to an extent.
Yet the emergents will take this simple and appropriate use of "contextualization" and twist it to mean what they want it to. They have adopted the cultures
ideas and
philosophies, forced them into the Bible, and then used these new doctrines to connect with an unsaved world.
And the world is buying it. Because sinful fallen man sees these ideas in the church, and cool relevant pastors who can relate to them, then then accept what these so called pastors are saying. All the while the EC would have us believe that their approach is biblical.
Bottom Line: 1 John 2:15 "
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
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