========================
What are we going to do?
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·
We are going to
discuss the following:
o
Indigenizing the
gospel in the context of CDMCPM involves deculturalizing
the gospel from a source culture and contextualizing
the deculturalized gospel in a target culture.
o
The Jerusalem
Council is an instance of deculturalizing the theology
of salvation and contextualizing the deculturalized theology
of salvation.
o
We are going to
go through an instance of deculturalizing evangelism
from the source western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
evangelism in the target Japanese culture.
o
We are going to go
through an instance of deculturalizing church from
the source western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
church in the target Japanese culture.
========================
What are we going to do?
========================
========================
Indigenizing the gospel in
the context of CDMCPM involves deculturalizing the
gospel from a source culture and contextualizing
the deculturalized gospel in a target culture
========================
In the document ‘The
Traditional Model or CDMCPM’ it is pointed out that
-------------------------------------------
The gospel should be deculturalized by the missionary first so that it is free
from their cultural and religious traditions and then contextualized in the
target culture. Deculturizing
the gospel is to get at the transmissible gospel from the source culture that
is destined for the target culture.
Contextualizing the deculturalized gospel is
for speeding up its acceptance and transmission in the target culture.
-------------------------------------------
Indigenizing the gospel in
the context of CDMCPM involves deculturalizing the
gospel from a source culture and contextualizing
the deculturalized gospel in a target culture. It is a handy term covering both deculturalization and contextualization. We need to indigenize the gospel whenever we
engage an unreached people using CDMCPM.
In the context of CDMCPM the
gospel is an umbrella term that covers the whole gamut of evangelism, church
and theology.
Deculturalizing the gospel includes deculturalizing
·
Evangelism.
·
Church.
·
Theology.
Likewise contextualizing the
gospel includes contextualizing
·
Evangelism.
·
Church.
·
Theology.
Indigenizing the gospel then
involves deculturalizing evangelism, church and
theology from a source culture and contextualizing
the deculturalized evangelism, church and theology in
a target culture.
The gospel exists in context,
i.e., in cultures. We get to know the
gospel through cultural means such as the language the gospel is conveyed
in. For that reason the gospel cannot be
completely free from cultural entanglement.
Even the bible is culturalized because it is written
and printed in a language. Make no
mistake that the Greek New Testament and the Hebrew Old Testament of the bible
are themselves culturalized. So we can deculturalize
the gospel only to a certain extent. Deculturalizing the gospel can never be exact and complete
because we live in cultures, always.
In the current document we
are going to go through examples of deculturalizing
evangelism, church and theology from a source culture and examples of contextualizing
the deculturalized evangelism, church and theology in
a target culture in order to show how we can indigenize the gospel for an unreached people.
========================
Indigenizing the gospel in
the context of CDMCPM involves deculturalizing the
gospel from a source culture and contextualizing
the deculturalized gospel in a target culture
========================
========================
The Jerusalem Council is an
instance of deculturalizing the theology of salvation
and contextualizing the deculturalized theology of
salvation
========================
The Jerusalem Council is an
instance of deculturalizing the theology of salvation
and contextualizing the deculturalized theology of
salvation.
Acts 15:28-29
28It seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following
requirements:
29You are to abstain from
food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and
from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Deculturalization and contextualization of the theology of salvation
performed by the Jerusalem Council is an action of substitution with the
requirement of circumcision replaced by the requirement laid out in verse 29 in
the target Gentile culture. If
circumcision is required for salvation, it would hinder acceptance and
transmission of the gospel in any target culture today apart from the Jewish culture. It would be the same back in those days. The church at
The church at
The consultation for deculturalizing and contextualizing the theology of
salvation was done for the sake of facilitating the acceptance and transmission
of the gospel in the target Gentile culture and allowing churches in the target
Gentile culture to remain on good terms with the church at
It took a deliberation process
that draws on the work of the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles and the bible and
that is recorded in verses 7-21 (not quoted above) to justify the deculturalization of the theology of salvation by way of
subtraction of the requirement of circumcision.
Furthermore the contextualization of the
deculturalized theology of salvation by way of a replacement
in verse 29 for the requirement of circumcision does not hinder acceptance and
transmission of the gospel in the target Gentile culture and is itself compatible
with the bible. So
the deculturalization and contextualization of the
gospel is validated by the Holy Spirit/bible.
The Jerusalem Council
furnishes the model for deculturalizing and
contextualizing the gospel that is
·
Driven by a need
in the target culture.
·
Based on
validation by the Holy Spirit/bible.
Deculturalization and contextualization of the gospel for the sake of
indigenizing the gospel always proceed in a pair. Deculturalizing the
gospel is a mental action of subtraction from the gospel in the source culture of
something that is to be actually performed on the gospel in the target culture
before the corresponding contextualization.
If what has been subtracted from the gospel in the target culture is to
be replaced in the corresponding contextualization, deculturalizing
and contextualizing the gospel involve an actual action of substitution in the
target culture. If there is no replacement,
it is a simple action of subtraction.
Please note that the decision
from the deliberation process of deculturalizing and contextualizing
the gospel at the Jerusalem Council only refers to the subtraction item and the
replacement item for the gospel in the target culture and not the totality of
the gospel. Every instance of deculturalizing and contextualizing the gospel is only
concerned with changes that need to be made to the gospel in the target
culture.
Please note that the
deliberation process of deculturalizing and contextualizing
the gospel at the Jerusalem Council is focused on justifying the subtraction
from the gospel in the target culture and not on the replacement. The replacement apparently does not hinder acceptance
and transmission of the gospel in the target Gentile culture since nobody
raised any objection. It is compatible
with the bible since the new requirement for the Gentiles is taken from the
bible. This indicates that subtraction
from the gospel in the process of deculturalizing the
gospel needs to undergo much scrutiny and must be explicitly validated by the
Holy Spirit/bible, which is a stringent process. On the other hand the corresponding replacement,
if any, in the process of contextualizing the deculturalized
gospel can proceed as long as it does not negate the reason for the deculturalization and contextualization and is not found to
contradict the bible, which is a less stringent process.
The division of
indigenization into two separate processes, one for deculturalization
and the other for contextualization, is to intentionally emphasize deculturalization such that it is not just an implicit part
of contextualization as is commonly done. The reason is that the justification required
for the action of deculturalization is more stringent
than that required for the action of contextualization. Mixing the two together might blur the two
different levels of justification required and result in confusion. The division allows for a more systematic and
cleaner indigenization. Furthermore
certain deculturalization can be done once and for
all. For instance deculturalization
of individualism from evangelism from the western culture can be done once and
for all for many target cultures. Mixing
deculturalization and contextualization would
duplicate the effort.
We are going to apply the
principle gleaned from deculturalizing and contextualizing the theology of salvation at the Jerusalem Council to an instance of deculturalizing and contextualizing evangelism and an
instance of deculturalizing and contextualizing
church respectively. The process of deculturalization
and contextualization for the sake of indigenization is not exact. What we are doing is simply going through
some examples that hopefully will shed some light on the complex task of
indigenizing the gospel.
========================
The Jerusalem Council is an
instance of deculturalizing the theology of salvation
and contextualizing the deculturalized theology of
salvation
========================
========================
We are going to go through an
instance of deculturalizing evangelism from the
source western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
evangelism in the target Japanese culture
========================
Let’s go through an instance of
deculturalizing evangelism from the source western culture
and contextualizing the deculturalized evangelism in the
target Japanese culture. The western
culture is individualistic. Evangelism
in the western culture conveys the idea that repenting and believing the good
news is entirely a personal matter of the newly committed disciple that has no
impact on people in the disciple’s social network. That is the case in the western culture but
not necessary the case in other cultures where it may have impact on people in
the newly committed disciple’s social network, which in turn has impact on the
disciple.
In a target culture such as the
Japanese culture that emphasizes individuals’ obligation to the group and where
people are ostracized when they do not conform, emphasis of individualism in
evangelism hinders evangelism. People in
that culture are suspicious of those who move out of the main stream by
becoming committed disciples of Jesus. Committed
disciples of Jesus would need to deal with social pressure from their breaking
ranks with fellow Japanese. Deculturalizing evangelism by way of subtraction of individualism from evangelism in the target Japanese
culture is required. For instance all
references to Jesus being our personal savior that conveys the idea that
salvation is entirely personal need to be removed. Contextualizing the deculturalized
evangelism by way of offering support for newly
committed disciples in dealing with social pressure against them in the target
Japanese culture is also required. So the deculturalization and contextualization
of the gospel is driven by a need in the target culture.
John 4:42
42They said to the woman, “We
no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus is the savior of the
world and therefore a corporate savior and not necessarily just a personal
savior. Deculturalizing
evangelism by way of refraining from referring to Jesus as a personal savior is
justified from the bible.
In
According to Jesus what a disciple
looses in terms of community when the disciple starts following him is
substituted by what is gained from the faith community.
Mark 10:28-30
28Then Peter spoke up, “We
have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus
replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or fields for me and the gospel
30will fail to receive a
hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers,
children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal
life.
John Mehn (Multiplying churches in Japanese soil. William Carey Library. eBook.) states in his book the
following:
-------------------------------------------
There is a very high threshold
for a Japanese to become a member of a church. Later, when these new believers
feel they have failed and so lose face, the path from shame to save them honor
is to simply quit or “leave the church by the backdoor.” Other Japanese finally
give in to the unrelenting social pressure and leave the faith. Researchers
report that “probably 1–2% of the Japanese population has “graduated from
Christianity”.
…
Matsunaga, retired head of the largest Protestant seminary in
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The above quote shows that
there is room for improvement in the efficacy of discipleship in the Japanese church
and the routine care for disciples for them to stay in the faith. It only takes 2% of Japanese being committed
disciples for
For that reason there should
be committed Japanese disciples in the catechized bible study light of the
gospel of Mark for evangelism so that uncommitted Japanese disciples could see
in the committed disciples the path forward in becoming committed. Experience of committed Japanese disciples in
coping with ostracization by society can help guide
the uncommitted disciple. Intercession
on behalf of one another should be emphasized as a means of helping and caring
for one another in the group. The group
provides relational support and serves as the substitute for the loss of
relationship resulting from becoming committed disciples. Evangelism that leverages the relational support
of the faith community in dealing with social pressure against becoming
committed disciples goes a long way in easing the difficult transition of
becoming committed disciples.
The catechized bible study light
of the gospel of Mark is discipleship-oriented.
The catechized bible study ‘Cost of Discipleship’ helps uncommitted
disciples assess whether they are ready for bearing the cost of becoming
committed. It is only after uncommitted
disciples have carefully counted the cost of discipleship that they are asked
if they are willing to repent and believe the good news. This helps reduce the rate of falling away
after they have believed the good news and become committed disciples.
The above contextualization
of deculturalized evangelism in the target Japanese
culture is compatible with the bible. Furthermore
we have justified from the bible the deculturalization
of evangelism that promulgates refraining from referring to Jesus as a personal
savior earlier. So
the deculturalization and contextualization of the
gospel is validated by the bible.
Please note that
individualism is just one perspective from which evangelism can be deculturalized and contextualized. There can be multiple perspectives from which
evangelism can be deculturalized from the source
western culture and contextualized in the target Japanese culture. What has been done is simply to provide an
example of how evangelism can be deculturalized and contextualized.
========================
We are going to go through an
instance of deculturalizing evangelism from the
source western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
evangelism in the target Japanese culture
========================
========================
We are going to go through an
instance of deculturalizing church from the source
western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
church in the target Japanese culture
========================
Let’s go through an instance
of deculturalizing church from the source western
culture and contextualizing the deculturalized church
in the target Japanese culture. The
church model in the western culture is primarily the traditional model with
disciples meeting in a public place and preaching as the means of instructing
them. Missionaries from the west planted
churches in
There is a graph in John Mehn’s book that shows that Japanese pastors who are under fifty years of age account for only 15% while those
who are over fifty account for 85%.
John Mehn
in his book continues to state the following,
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Size of Protestant Churches
in
|
Size of Churches
(attendance) |
Percentage of Total |
|
Under 50 people |
81.5% |
|
Under 30 people |
62.4% |
|
Under 15 people |
30.6% |
The number of congregations
in
…
For the last several years
the net gain in churches has been a negative number in
…
Some churches, without the
cooperation of other churches, in a period of ten years could not reproduce
their own church. Church planting workers find the task very difficult,
expending 6–12 years or more, to get a church to a degree of stability in
active numbers, ministry, organization and finances. This difficulty is
compounded in a traditional church planting model by the considerable financial
outlay to hire a full-time seminary-trained pastor and acquire land and a
building. At present, there are few churches actually reproducing and many of
those only have enough resources to start one church and therefore do not
multiply.
…
Kenneth Dale has accurately
described the reasons for the paucity of growth of the gospel in
-------------------------------------------
So under the traditional
model the church in
On the other hand church models
like CDMCPM promote the priesthood of all believers and use rank and file
believers to
·
Disciple one
another in a group setting.
·
Hold one another
accountable for obedience to instructions in the bible.
·
Start bible study
groups and facilitate bible studies for evangelism.
·
Harvest the crops
by forming churches.
CDMCPM churches meet at home
or wherever is convenient and do not require a dedicated building. Financial resources are not tied down by the
church building and can be used for other ministry purposes that can build up
the church.
There is the continual need
to put a particular emphasis on group relational support in order to stamp the
exodus of churchgoers through the back door of the Japanese church. The CDMCPM church gathering is conducted like
a prayer meeting in a small group in order to put an emphasis on praying for
one another as the means for disciples to help and care for one another. It
·
Draws out the
pastoral care of individual disciples for one another.
·
Enhances their
fellowship experience with one other.
·
Makes for a more
cohesive church.
In order to engage and be
relevant to the community, on the occasion the church meets to partake of the
Lord’s Supper, the church after partaking of the Lord’s Supper immediately goes
out to serve the community. That is part
of their obedience to the command for the church do good.
Because the traditional church
model is not fully meeting the needs of and is putting a strain on the
resources of the church in
The bible alludes to both the
traditional church model with disciples meeting in public places and the house
church model with disciples meeting in homes.
It is permissible for churches in
Please note that church model
is just one perspective from which church can be deculturalized
and contextualized. There can be
multiple perspectives from which church can be deculturalized
from the source western culture and contextualized in the target Japanese
culture. What has been done is simply to
provide an example of how church can be deculturalized
and contextualized.
========================
We are going to go through an
instance of deculturalizing church from the source
western culture and contextualizing the deculturalized
church in the target Japanese culture
========================