World Travels and Contextualization
Thursday, October 25, 2007
On our way to Charlotte, NC last weekend, we had a layover in Atlanta, arriving in the international terminal. Unintentionally, we ended up strolling leisurely through the whole terminal whilst trying to find our flight to Charlotte, which was in an entirely different terminal. I have an enjoyable habit while in airports to look at the departure information on each of the gates to see the destination of the flight, all the while daydreaming of being on each one of them. In a matter of minutes, my imagination took me from Libya, to Honolulu, to Uruguay, to Bermuda, to Paris. According to Matt, he was just trying to get me through the terminal "without causing too much damage." I kept asking him, with a gleaming smile, "Honey, where do you want to go? Where can we go next?" It's not enough that in the last month, I've been in 5 airports in addition to 8 visits to the Austin Bergstrom International Airport, roamed 3 different cities coast to coast, and traveled over 3,700 miles. And in the next 4 weeks, I will be in 8 different airports, 4 countries, traveling through 13 time zones covering nearly 21,000 miles across the globe. I guess I'm just a world traveler at heart and Matt is just going to have to cause damage with me! The top 5 places I want to visit next are: Hawaii, Italy, Greece, California (as Matt has only been to San Francisco for a brief time and I want to give him a taste of it), and after seeing where Mac and Julie are staying in the Virgin Islands, I want to go there, too!
In preparing to go overseas to South Asia and England on the 3rd of November, I've been reading several resources, mostly about contextualized ministry among this South Asian people group. For the security of those I will visit in South Asia, I must be vague and discrete in my blogs. However, there are a few things I wish to share from the materials I've been reading that have 1) impacted me and 2) echo my heart to understand other cultures with a desire for their misconceptions of God to crumble that they may fully know Him in truth. Charles Taber offers an insightful definition of contextualization:
"Contextualization...is the effort to understand and take seriously the specific context of each human group and person on its own terms and in all its dimensions--cultural, religious, social, political, economic--and to discern what the Gospel says to people in that context. This requires a profound empirical analysis of the context in place of flip or a prior judgments...Contextualization tries to discover in the Scriptures what God is saying to these people. In other words, contextualization takes very seriously the example of Jesus in the sensitive and careful way he offered each person a gospel tailored to his or her own context."
With that in mind, let's take a moment to ponder this poignant poem:
I Had a Dream...
There standing before me on a dusty path
in a remote village of India
stood Jesus.
His gangi and
lungi were soiled,
His brow filled with sparkling beads
of perspiration.
Hands of labor radiated a message
of dignity.
Callused feet spoke of hours behind
a plow.
His brown, golden skin communicated a
a startling truth.
God had become a Bengali!
I fell upon the hot blistering earth
in awe and reverence.
His hands of love tenderly embraced me
and drew me to His breast.
His voice spoke with the tenderness
of the flow of a small rippling brook,
Yet with the authority of the roaring Ganges,
"Come, my child,
Come and follow Me."
My conquered will could only respond with
words of brokenness,
"My Lord and My God."
Slowly rising to my feet, I found myself struggling
for composure.
"What new thing was this?"
My heart was as joyous as the dancing of the
newborn lamb;
My tattered clothing seemed as regal as that of the
wealthy landowner;
My aching limbs became as refreshed as if I had just
bathed in the cool waters of the nearby pond;
The gnawing pangs of hunger subsided as if I
had just eaten a most sumptuous meal of rice and curry.
Yes, now I understand, I have just accepted
Jesus of Bengal
as my Lord...
My God.
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