Contextualization — Indigenization

It's been a busy 2 months since I last posted. Ed Stetzer is the head of Lifeway Research in Nashville, TN (USA). He's a prolific writer, tweeter, and speaker. Over the last few weeks and months, he's written several blog posts about contextualization. Yesterday, he posted a 5th installment of that series: Calling for Contextualization, Part 5: Indigenization. It's worth reading whether you plant churches in North America or in an international setting.


A key statement from the post: ...we must remove all the cultural barriers that we can so that men and women can be honestly confronted with the stark reality of a bloody cross and an empty tomb. There will always be the stumbling block of the cross (and we should never seek to remove that), but indigenous churches seek to remove unnecessary barriers along the way.

• What cultural elements from your own home culture have you had to remove from your own thoughts and methods in order to remove unnecessary barriers to the gospel among the people you are trying to reach with the good news of the gospel of Christ?

For the Kingdom,
Bob A