Questions of Context: Reading a Century of German Mission Theology (Missiological Engagements)

by John G. Flett

At its most simple, contextualization concerns the expression of the gospel within particular localities in a way that is faithful both to the gospel and to the context. This follows a theological axiom—it belongs to the gospel to become and be local. There is no single cultural expression of the gospel, one form and language to which all peoples must conform. The gospel can be spoken using local languages, embodied in different ways, and addressed to different sets of questions.

The gospel is a story of God’s relationship to human beings. It is the story of a first-century Jew, meaning that the gospel was never without context. It was never a disembodied message that might take on different form as though it were a naked idea taking on different cultural clothing. It belongs to the gospel that it exists only in context, as it is embodied in Christian communities. If the gospel is gospel only in its embodiment, and if the form of this embodiment is informed by each context and the questions asked in these contexts, might the gospel become a different word in different times and places? And what might the church learn from this difference? This radical position is, for Lesslie Newbigin, the lesson that comes from the conversion of Peter in his encounter with Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48). In relation to this pagan servant of the empire, Peter learned anew who God in Christ was, and this would inform the events of the Jerusalem Council concerning the Gentiles and the law. In this event, Newbigin argues, “‘Christianity’ was changed.”10 Nor, Newbigin continues, is it a task of the church to make demands as to what commitment to Christ might mean for these new believers in different cultural contexts. It is for the church to “learn from them new lessons about its own obedience.”11 This applies not simply to matters of precise theological interpretation, but to the big questions of human life: to those of power, governance, politics, economy, gender and race ...