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| A pearl-spotted owlet. © Jonny Burgess |
Contextualisation… It’s a controversial word, whether you know it or not. When teaching God’s word in various contexts, in what way should we adapt or change the content or the packaging of the message that we preach?
Some devote their lives to thinking about it for the sake of the gospel. Others deride it as a waste of time. I’m not really up to giving a thorough contribution to the debate. Maybe one day. (Probably not.) But for now, let me just give an interesting recent example of this issue in real life.
People often ask me, “Do you change the way you preach in the Gambia, compared to when in the UK?” Definitely. Here is an example of the kind of thing one has to keep in mind.
A visiting friend from the UK was with me in the Gambia for a few weeks. He had the opportunity to preach at my church. He’s a gifted Bible teacher and he had got to grips with the meaning of the Bible passage very well; it was a refreshing change not to have to guide him step by step through the interpretive process, as I usually do with students in the Gambia.
However, as a preacher, understanding what the Bible means is only one (though crucial) part of the process. Knowing how to communicate it is equally crucial. Otherwise – if you are not understood – your hearers will be no better off than before you opened your mouth. In fact, if the end result is that they’re confused or (inappropriately) offended, then it would have been better for you not to open your mouth! Sadly I have sat through preaching where that has been the case. I was strongly tempted to jump up and tell the preacher to shut up and sit down. Maybe I should have done.
The passage in question was Romans 6:19-23. There, the apostle Paul is teaching Christian believers about how God has set them free, through the gospel, from slavery to sin. Now, as those enjoying God’s free gift of eternal life, their ownership has changed: they no longer belong to the horrid death-giving slave-master of sin; they are now slaves to God who gives life and grace, and to the control of righteousness. Therefore they must live out who they are, offering their bodies to God in obedience to him. That’s the general gist.
When thinking of an introduction to a talk or sermon, it’s good to think of a ‘way in’ that connects your hearers to where you’re going in the message. Our Western friend, in his preparation, had thought about and answered a good question that tees up the topic. I think his thought process went a bit like this: “What would the world around us think about this idea of belonging to God as ‘slaves to righteousness’? Well, I suppose they’d object to it and find it repulsive! My friends (like the culture at large) tend to disregard Christianity, thinking it’s horribly enslaving and restricting of our individual freedom. So I’ll articulate that, and then subvert it with God’s word – showing how actually slavery to God is a wonderfully good thing, enabling us to flourish as we were truly designed to – in obedience to God and beautiful righteousness.”
That’s a good possible way in to a talk on this passage; I agree that many have that impression of slavery to God and to righteousness. Many, that is, in the West! So, if preaching this passage in the West, go for it along those lines.
BUT – I had to warn my friend to stop right there… It couldn’t have been any further from the state of play in West Africa. Your average Gambian absolutely does not object to Christianity as being “enslaving” or “restrictive” of one’s individual freedom. Not at all. In fact, the very opposite! Sadly, the common perception of Christianity in the Gambia (understood from the impression given to Africa by Western culture as a whole) is that it’s shamefully unrestricted and devilishly licentious! Tour buses full of drunken, sunburnt, fornicating tourists come every year from the ‘Christian’ West, lounging around disrespectfully, loudly and rudely, and that is what Gambians think Christianity means. (The reality is not quite as extreme – but that is the understandable impression.)
So if you began a sermon in the Gambia saying, “The world around us considers Christianity to be oppressive and restrictive… Well, the Bible actually says something quite different…” – your hearers would, at best, be very confused and wonder what strange hole of non-reality you live in. More seriously, they would likely switch off before you’ve even begun to open up God’s word, concluding that you’re unbelievably out of touch with their world: “This guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.”
So in the West, one could well approach this topic by saying, “The world around us considers Christianity to be oppressive and restrictive. Actually, we learn from God’s word here that, yes, we are in slavery to God but that is such a good thing – the alternative is slavery to sin, which is miserable and only results in shame and death. God is the perfect Master, whose ways mean beautiful holiness leading to eternal life.” I reckon that’s the kind of angle to use in teaching the truth of this part of God’s word – in the West.
Whereas in the Gambia, whilst teaching the exact same truth, it needs approaching from the very opposite angle: “The world around us considers Christianity to have no moral limits, and to be an excuse for all kinds of shameful practices. Actually, we learn from God’s word here that that could not be further from what true Christianity is. Christians are slaves to God and to righteousness. We are no longer slaves to sin! Our lives should display the beauty of a convicted and glad obedience to God, beautiful holiness which shows we are on the way to eternal life.”
There’s clearly a grave danger in contextualisation of getting tied in knots, paralysing yourself with over-complicated attempts at cultural relevance. But slowly observing how very different the world is in West Africa, compared to Northern Europe, makes me acutely aware of the opposite danger: the folly of assuming that contextualisation means no more than inserting the odd local story or reference into my thoroughly Western sermon. Rather, it requires carefully observing and seeking to understand where you are, what people think and how they feel. Otherwise my attempts at communicating God’s truth will be dreadfully ineffective. I’m learning that it takes time. I’m certainly much further on in that than I was 18 months ago. But boy do I know that I’ll be far further on in 5 years’ time!
