I’m not talking about the one on your piano. I’m talking about the one your agency or church is probably nervous about.
It’s the Contextualization scale. Where…
C1 – describes a church that uses a language likely to be foreign to the people being reached — so that the inner truths of the religion can be shared in the original language. This is what Roman Catholicism used to do when they would do masses in Latin.
C2 – describes a church that is one step friendlier, with religious services in the local language of the people — but everything else is still pretty foreign.
C3 – describes a church that is starting to “look like” the local community a bit more. But followers still call themselves “Christians,” even if that term causes locals to bristle.
C4 – describes a group that has stopped referring to themselves as a church. Now they’re a contextualized community and each member is known, simply, as a follower if Jesus.
C5 – This designation describes, for example, a Muslim who has come to believe in Jesus — but he still calls himself a Muslim. So local Muslims say he’s a strange kind of Muslim and Christians try to think of him as a Muslim who follows Jesus.
C6 – This person calls himself a Muslim and hasn’t owned up to the fact that he follows Jesus. For whatever reason, he’s keeping it all a secret.
So — which term describes the way YOU would like to start a church and why. Using the comment box below, see if you can convince us that your part of the spectrum is truth… or at least, more effective at bringing people to the truth.
Warning: No matter what part of the spectrum you adopt, it won’t be easy to convince everybody. Some people are still going to be up in arms.
Need more background before you answer? I believe the scale was first coined by a worker who used the pseudonym John Travis. Read what might be his first public article on the subject here:
http://www.getonyourboots.net/uploads/6/2/2/8/6228171/travis_must_all_muslims.pdf
(Note: This last link will “wrap.” If you have trouble copying it and pasting it into your browser, just log on to Brigada today online and find this same item posted there. We’ll make sure the link works on our site. Thanks.)
Interestingly, the point of the article isn’t missionary strategy but observation of different ways Muslims respond to the gospel. I just reconfirmed this with John.
Contextualization:
Just happen to be preparing to teach a course that demands I present contextualization and the C 1-C6 scale. As I was looking around I found this written by David Watson under “Leadership Essentials”
contextualization is…
…local obedience response to the Word of God.
….local expression of love/obedience for God in response to God’s love/mercy for them.
…It is as wrong for us to contextualize practices for another culture as it is for us to foist our personal practices on another culture. – Watson
That being read my goal would be to plant a church that decides for itself based on obedience to their own study of the Bible how they are going to live as God;s ‘called out ones’.
Since Contextualization isn’t a Biblical term, how about we agree on T6? Transformation 6! :-)
Every culture must be Transformed completely by the Gospel, submitting all things to the Christ.
When this is done I’m confident we will obey the Bible, loving good, hating evil, confessing Christ before men, and doing it w/ incredible relevance for a world that desperately needs a clear message of Good News, etc.