Contextualizing the Gospel

Introduction

If you know me well, you know that I hate buzzwords. You know, those words or phrases that become popular for a time and are typically used to impress people. Too often the buzzwords lose their meaning as people overuse them, or people just don’t understand what they mean. For example:

Circle back...

Hard stop...

Drill down...

Have a national conversation...

Skibidi...

110%...

Gas lighting...

The GOAT...

Toxic...

Unprecedented...

OMG...

My truth...

Manifest...

Church leadership has it’s own share of buzzwords that are popular for a time.

Do life together...

Plugged in...

Let’s give the Lord a clap offering...

Lord, we invite your into our worship...

Relevant...

Missional...

Resonate...

Authenticity...

Empowered...

Visionary leader...

Transformational...

All that being said, I’m using one of the more popular buzzwords in the sermon today: contextualized or contextualization. Contextualization mean that something is placed within a specific context and adjusted in order for better understanding for those within that context. For example, if I was going to preach this morning’s text to the folks I did a funeral for yesterday I would have made certain points that I won’t be making this morning, because the group I ministered to yesterday were predominately non-believers or passive believers. Only a few were committed to the faith to the level that most here this morning are.

Contextualization has been overused, and thus for many people it’s just a big word without a specific concept. That’s unfortunate, because throughout Christian history there has been a desperate need for contextualizing the Gospel message to those who are hearing it. In fact, we see this in our text this morning.

But before we get there, let me be very clear on what contextualization of the Gospel is not. The essential message of the Gospel never changes. ((Explain the essentials...)) The way we present the Gospel to people is constantly changing, but the message of the Gospel must never change! It doesn’t here in Acts, and it must never change in our time or in the future.

So, lets see how the Gospel was contextualized once it went out from Jerusalem.

Body: Acts 8:4-8

Verse 4

..Think back to what Jesus said at the beginning of Acts:

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

As the first great persecution of the church begins in Jerusalem, Christians are scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. They bring with them the Gospel.

Again, as we saw last week, it wasn’t the apostles who were scattered, but the average men and women who trusted Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

They might not have the same calling as the apostles, but they used their circumstances as an opportunity to tell others that the Messiah had come, and He is Jesus.

If they were preaching the word in new places, there was a need to contextualize their approach to people outside of Jerusalem.

One of the interesting things that will happen is that the church must begin to encounter a very different society than it had in Jerusalem. Now they will have to bring the Gospel to people steeped in occult magic and syncretistic religious practice (explain syncretism...).

It’s important that we see this because the Gospel will not be changed, but the way the message is presented will be different to connect with a different group of people.

This is so vital for us because for years the church has asked people to come and conform to our ways.

Today, by and large, that is failing. As the church, it’s our job to adjust to reach the culture. As I made clear earlier, we don’t adjust the message or the truth of Christ, but they way we present the message.

If we are going to go to those who don’t know Jesus, we have to care more about them than we do about their church membership. We have to convince them that they actually matter to us as people.

How do we do that? Big Huge Secret: Actually care about them as people...

Next Saturday, I will be announcing at Oblivion Wrestling in Lacey, Washington...

I care about wrestling; I care about the wrestlers; and I care that the wrestlers succeed in their craft. And, I care about their relationship to Jesus. But if I only care about their relationship to Jesus, then they won’t let me in. I need to show them all that I care about, not just their salvation (as important as that may be!)

Two important questions we need to ask as a church and as individuals:

Who is God calling us to reach? (Who is God calling me to reach?)

How are we going to reach them? (How am I going to reach them?)

Until we take both questions seriously, we will never fulfill God’s calling on our lives to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Verses 5-8

One example of the young church preaching the Word was Philip.

Philip was one of the servants from Act 6 who served the church by administering the feeding program. Potentially the early role of deacon.

Notice, he isn’t a one-trick-pony. He administers the food program, but also preaches to Word. Gospel proclamation is the call of all Christians, preacher or not...

Philip went to the hated Samarians to share the Good News of Jesus with them.

The Samaritans were hated by the Jews because they were seen as half-breeds and because of their syncretistic religious practices.

Samaritans were descended from the northern tribes of Israel. Those not taken captive to the Assyrians remained in the land and intermarried extensively with the native Canaanite population and those that the Assyrians resettled in the land.

They still saw themselves as the people of God, however they had their own version of the Pentateuch and had a temple on Mt. Gerazim. They were looking for the taheb (“restorer”), a prophet-like messiah who would restore the true worship on Gerazim.

Thus, the Jews saw them as half-breed heretics.

John softens this hatred in John 4:9.

John 4:9 “The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”

And yet, the disciples during Jesus day maintained their cultural hatred of the Samaritans.

Luke 9:54 “And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?””

Jesus taught better.

Luke 9:55–56 “But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.”

The point is, preaching to the Samaritans was a very radical move, considering Jewish hatred for the Samaritans…remember, Christianity was still predominately a Jewish religion.

And yet, Philip went where God called him to go, and preached to those whom God called him to preach to.

The response to Philip’s preaching

The crowds

Upon seeing the signs, the crowds listen to him.

It’s worth mentioning, miracles always need to be kept in perspective:

They can assist faith but can never substitute for it.

“When the miraculous assumes priority, it can actually become a hindrance to faith.”

As we shall see next week…

We need to be careful with this passage on both sides:

Luke is not claiming that these signs are normative to the working of God, and should be expected today to confirm the Holy Spirit’s presences.

However, we also should expect a powerful working of the Holy Spirit in modern situations.

The spiritual realm

It wasn’t just the crowds that responded to Philip’s preaching, but even the spiritual realm did! (Verse 7...)

The infirmed

And the infirmed were healed!

The city

The city was, shockingly, joyful because of what Philip was doing.

This obviously wouldn’t last forever, but we see that as Philip contextualized the Gospel message, there are lots of responses.

Important Point: The Gospel always elicits a response.

If you proclaim the Gospel in its fullness (i.e. not a watered-down, secularized version of it), people will respond.

Some will reject it...

Some will seem apathetic about it...

Some will get angry about it...

Some will agree in principle, but...

Some will receive it...

Here’s the beauty, their response is not on us! God changes hearts, not us.

But, it’s our responsibility to meet people where they are at, not where we would like them to be.

And when we do, we know that in His time, and in His way, people will respond to the Gospel, because it always elicits a response.