I posted this over at our Missouri Baptist Yahoo List which is “private”, so I thought I’d post it here too, for the sake of my fellow Missouri Baptists who may want to join in the conversation about “contextualization”.

With this good discussion going on about contextualization

First, everyone on “both sides” of the issue should be thankful that we are even having a conversation like this. When a bunch of pastors are talking about “relevance” and “contextualization” of the gospel…with all the dangers and delights therein, it means that we are on the same page when it comes to a very true gospel that very definitely needs to be brought to the world. So, for all the passionate discussion about METHODS of getting the gospel out, be thankful that we aren’t wrestling over whether people need a Christ-gospel in order to be saved.

Second, our own MBC pastor Darrin Patrick recommends a a book called “Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission” by Dean Flemming. I’ve got my copy and will be throwing it in The Pathway in January. It is a book about the Bible, specifically the Bible’s teaching on contextualization. Hence, the chapter titles: “Contextualization in Acts”, “Case studies from Corinth”, and “Paul and Culture”.

Why don’t we get the book, read the book, and talk about the book.
We could do it here, or perhaps over at www.thoughtsandadventures.com or www.wisdomofthepages.com. (I’m not trying to get free advertising here, I just think perhaps we might want this important conversation to take place in a public forum for the benefit of others who want to listen in on good Missouri Baptist dialogue).

We simply must plan on taking time to think and talk about the issue of contextualization. At the end of the day you may reject or accept the idea, but we aren’t going to be able to ignore it.

What do you guys think? Any takers? Let’s get past the holidays first… get your copy… and we’ll start in January.

Scott Lamb

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.