Atheism / Belief and Bible and Books and Authors and Emergent Church and Emerging / Emergent Church and Emerging Church and Jesus and John Piper and Mark Driscoll and Quotes and Comments and Seen and Heard and Study Resources and Theology and Tim Keller Michael Krahn on 11 Dec 2008 05:26 pm
Tim Keller on Contextualization
From a two-part interview with Darryl Dash:
How do we change in order to contextualize without changing the gospel?
That is the practical question in ministry. If you under-contextualize your ministry and message, no one’s life will be changed because they’ll be too confused about what you are saying. But if you over-contextualize your ministry and your message, no one’s life will be changed because you won’t really be confronting them and calling them to make deep change.
If this scares you and you say, “Well then let’s not even try it,” then you have to remember something: to over-contextualize to a new generation means you can make an idol out of their culture, but to under-contextualize to a new generation means you can make an idol out of the culture you come from. So there’s no avoiding it.
There’s far more to say about this subject, but I’ll just give you one bit of advice. The gospel is the key. If you don’t have a deep grasp on the gospel of grace, you will either over-contextualize because you want so desperately to be liked and popular, or you will under-contextualize because you are self-righteous and proud and so sure you are right about everything. The gospel makes you humble enough to listen and adapt to non-believers, but confident and happy enough that you don’t need their approval.
Michael Krahn (michael.krahn@gmail.com) is a husband, father, Pastor, writer, and recording artist who enjoys books, theology, technology and the Ottawa Senators.
Get connected - subscribe--->
Follow--->
Related posts:
- Books in Grand Rapids (Day 2) Ok, I’m done now… I told Anne Marie not to let me go out again. Here’s the academic stack: …and the other stack. You’ll notice I out the Bell and...
- Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (5) – Confession is a Two Way Street ***You might want to read part1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 first*** I’m quite certain Don’s chapter on confession is unlike anything you’ve read before. The subtitle of...
- Richard Dawkins: Heaven. Leona Helmsley: Hell. Jerry Falwell: Somewhere Between People are… amusing? Is that the right word for this? I received these three comments on my Dawkins page. I reprint them here for your enjoyment. Let me know what...
- D. A. Carson: Five Trends in the Church Today D. A. Carson in a talk before last week’s Desiring God national conference: 4. There is a trend in our churches to be consumed by social concern. In the most...
- The Shack – a review For a week or so I carried around this book called “The Shack”. It’s one of those books that “everyone” is reading. At the time of this writing it has...
Buzz it!
on 11 Dec 2008 at 8:40 pm # ED...
I think he’s got it right. The gospel is the key, because contextualising is always going to be a judgment call, but grace gives judgment. What’s more, God is the gospel, and it’s easier to introduce God than it is to change lives, which is what God does anyway.