By Michael Depew
It has been commonly reported that Francis A. Schaeffer, noted lecturer and author from L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, once said if he had only one hour to share the gospel with a person, he would spend the first forty-five minutes finding out what the person believed about God and the last fifteen minutes presenting Christ from that basis. For some, the idea of "starting where they are at" would seem a worthless exercise, because the people they are working with come from the same background as they do, so they are "starting where they are at." But the need for this type of method comes in when the respondent (1) is from a different background from the speaker. This process has been called contextualization or cross-cultural adaptation. Although there has been much work on the subject of contextualization and the gospel, most of it seems to fall into two different categories.
The first is the group which relies mostly on the modern communication theories. This work is very valuable not only in the area of cross-cultural adaptation, but in general communication. Most Speech classes teach it, and it is of great use in helping people to be more effective communicators.
The second group may use the communication theory, but its primary interest is in finding how the Scriptures apply to the lives of the new Christians of these new cultures. The idea of "de-westernizing" the gospel and its demands on the Christians of that culture is its primary concern. Questions like "How do you deal with the ancestor worship of the Oriental culture?" figure prominently in these types of discussions. (2)
These studies are very important and need to be worked through, but for this paper the idea of the Gospel itself is the main feature. The point of bringing the truth of the gospel to a culture completely different from your own is the focal point of this essay.
the goal of this paper is to show that the message of the gospel does not change, but the way it is presented is dependent on some different factors. As with other disciplines in the theological realm, the material used will be the Scripture, and the subject will be the Apostle Paul.
Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:16), but he was a devout Jew. So from his life and from his sermons, it can be seen how the Gospel presentation changed to fit the needs of the people. there will be five passages discussed. Four from the book of Acts, which will consist of two times in which Paul preached to a jewish audience and two times in which he preached to a Gentile audience. From these passages there will be two points observed. First, that the Gospel presentation changes according to the knowledge the respondents have of God (Who He is and who they are in light of that fact), and the audience's point of responsibility to God. The fifth passage will be taken from 1 Corinthians and will show a cultural factor which had bearing on the way Paul presented the Gospel. Because of the length restrictions, the passages will only be briefly discussed in their contexts, and then the way the Gospel presentation was changed will be discussed.
"Now for several days he (Saul) was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He (Jesus) is the Son of God... But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ." (Acts 9:19b-20, 22 NASB)
Here Saul is seen just after he was saved. He is found doing what would become his habit all through his ministry. When he would go to a city, he would first go to the synagogue to preach the good news to the jews. In this short passage is found "All the great superstructure of his future teaching" (3) to the Jews. "He knows by experience that Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews." (4) Here is only found the core of Saul's ministry to the Jews, but this was nothing to be brushed off because he was "confounding the Jews... by proving that this Jesus is the Christ." As Lenski says,"These proofs were conclusive, overwhelming, and silenced the opponents." (5) Now, How did Saul prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ? He reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Even though this is not stated in this passage, it is stated in other passages where Paul is seen reasoning with the Jews in the synagogues (ie. Acts 17:1-3). And if you wanted to show the Jews the person who would be the Messiah, you would have to go to the Scriptures.
"But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it, "And Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, Listen:" (Acts 13:14-16)
In this passage the cultural group is the same as before (but note also the possible inclusion of Gentiles who fear the God of the Jews), but this time Paul's message is recorded (get out your Bible because I am not going to reproduce the whole sermon.) He starts with one of the most important facts of Jewish history, the Exodus. He then proceeds to tell the history of Israel and leads them up to David. From here he introduces the Messianic promise (Acts 13:23) and connects it to Jesus. He goes on to infer that all the Scripture points to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 13:27). It is important to note that with this group of people, Paul uses Israel's history, the Scriptures, and the Messianic hope which is contained therein. One more observation, the group of "God fearers" were probably Gentiles who had become interested in the jewish religion. The importance of this will be seen when the conclusions are drawn.
The third passage is found in Acts 14:11ff. The cultural context is now Gentiles. Paul and Barnabus are in the city of Lystra, and Paul heals a man who has been lame from birth. The people see it happen and from their pagan background (6) naturally they assume that Paul and Barnabus are gods (Zeus and Hermes) and begin to worship and make sacrifices to them. As the people were speaking in their national tongue (the tongue that their patron god would expect), Paul and Barnabus did not know what was happening until it was almost too late. But when Paul understands what the people are doing he responds,
"Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, 'Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them.' And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet he did not leave Himself without a witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:15-17)
Some things should be noted about this speech. It is clear that this presentation of the truths of the gospel were presented in a much different way than in the other two passages that have been discussed. As Kent observes, " Paul's speech to the pagans was appropriate to his audience. He made no appeal to Scripture, but built upon the knowledge they had from the natural world. He stressed the evidence in nature of a supernatural Creator, and showed the folly of idolatry." (7) Although Paul did quote the Old Testament in vs. 15 (Ex. 20:11), he did not appeal to it as an authority but used it because it conveyed the truth he was trying to get across to these people.
In the fourth passage it is more clearly seen the message that paul preached to the Gentiles who had no knowledge of the God of the Scriptures. Paul is in Athens and the idolatry of the city is breaking his heart. As he preached in the synagogue and spoke in the market place, he was approached by Stoic and Epicurean philosophers to come and present this new teaching to the philosophers on Mars Hill. And when he arrived he said,
"Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with the inscription, 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore, you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. That God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things..." (Acts 17:22-25ff)
Here Paul is seen preaching to a group of not only Gentiles but to some of the intellectual elite of the city. And again he does not seem to appeal to the Scriptures but to the evidence in nature, again, of a supernatural Creator and the natural need of man to worship, the things that point to God. (8)
From these four examples, two of the reasons Paul changed his presentation of the Gospel can be seen.
As the introduction stated, one reason the presentation changed was what the respondents knew about God. For the Jews, Paul preached to them about the "God of the covenant," the God of their father's who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. The Jews were God's chosen people. God had used them to give the Scriptures and the oracles of God to the world.They knew that the God of their fathers had revealed Himself through the prophets in the Scriptures. In the Scriptures they not only had the Law, but they also had the promise of the coming Messiah on whom they waited for deliverance. It was this messiah that Paul preached to the Jews and to the Gentiles who had become "God fearers." This promise of a coming Savior who was moral and just appealed to the Gentiles. (9)
But for the other Gentiles, it was different. The Jewish Messiah seemed to them to be just that, the JEWISH Messiah. They had no Scriptures from god to depend on, they did not have the covenant relationship that the Jews had. They were not the "Children of the Covenant". But they were not without a witness. They were the "Children of Creation". The fact that God's hand could be seen in nature and the fact that they craved someone or something to worship pointed to a God who desired that kind of relationship. they knew that there was a God, but they needed guidance. This was the God that Paul preached to them, The God of creation, The God who had made them and everything around them. The God that sent the rains and the harvest. The God that they were to worship. Paul used what they knew about God and changed it. He modified their conception from an impersonal essence to the personal, living God of the Universe, and introduced them to the God of the Bible. This is not the only person who has done this type of thing. John in his Gospel wrote, "In the beginning was the Word (lovgo") Logos..." (John 1:1) Commentators are divided as to weather John is using (lovgo") Logos with a Greek or Hebrew understanding of the word. I would be more inclined to think that John had both ideas in mind when he wrote it, but was leaning more toward the Greek idea. (10) If he had written his book today, he might have said something like, "In the beginning was the Force...(11), because for the Greek mind the Logos (lovgo") was just some cold, impersonal force that gave order and structure to a universe that was in flux. But John took their misconception of the Logos (lovgo") and changed it, "...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14). He showed them that the Logos (lovgo") was a personal, living being that loved them.
this point of the knowledge of God is very important and leads right into the second point. The Scriptures teach that where much light is given, much is required in return.
The second factor that changed the presentation of the Gospel was the respondents amount of responsibility to God. Again, the Jews were the covenant people of God. Paul could have used the argument of creation on them as well as with the Gentiles, but paul had a deeper point to touch with the Jews. They knew God, they had His Word, they were responsible to Him through it. Paul knew that the Gentiles were not bound to God by the covenant, but they were bound to Him because of creation. Romans 2:12 says, "For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the law; and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law." paul started his preaching at their point of responsibility. the Gentiles were responsible to god because He is their Creator, while the Jews were responsible to God because they were in covenant relationship with him. But the God fearing gentiles were another case. They were not jews but in some cases they became proselytes, followers of the Jewish religion. They now had knowledge of God and the Messiah and they looked forward to the day when the Messiah would come, because he did not just come for the Jews but He was coming to be "a light of the Nations" (Isa. 49:6b) also. So Paul could preach to them just as he did to the Jews.
the third factor that forced Paul to modify his presentation is found in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. The Corinthians lived so close to Athens that they were easily swayed by skillful oratory. Paul was trained by the best; he was a skillful orator with a rhetoric that would have been hard to match. but Paul knew that these people did not need that, and it frightened him. He said, "My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:4-5). Paul knew that if it were only his words that convinced them, it would not last.
These are only three observations from five passages out of the New Testament. There could be more things observed but the important message here is that the Gospel must fit the needs of the people. As Paul Little said in his book, How To Give Away Your Faith, "If we want to be effective in communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others, we need to know how it is relevant to us personally. Then we must consider how to relate the relevant realities of Jesus Christ, including events that occurred two thousand years ago, to life in the twentieth century." (12) This is the mission of the Church today and into the Twenty first century.
1. Communication theory is a very profitable study for any one who is interested in taking the gospel to the world. See Hesselgrave, David J., Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978). Mainly the first six chapters give a good basic understanding of communication theory.
2. Hesselgrave, David J. (ed.), Theology and Mission (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978) There are two essays in this work that deal with the contextualization issue.
3. Robertson, A.T., Epochs in the Life of Paul. (New York: Scribner's, 1909), p 61.
4. Ibid.
5. Lenski, R.C.H., The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1934), p 371.
6. Kent, Homer A. Jr., Jerusalem to Rome: Studies in Acts. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972). Dr. Kent records the myth about Zeus and Hermes visiting the area before and the people turn them away because they were dressed like beggars, all except for one older couple. Later the city was judged with a flood and only the old couple survived. One can see why the people of Lystra would be so ready to make sacrifice to them. See pp 116-117.
7. Ibid, p 117.
8. Robertson, (Epochs) has a very good analysis of this sermon which would take up too much space to reproduce, but is worth the reading. See pp 157-162.
9. Kane, J. Herbert, Christian Missions in Biblical Perspective. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976). Kane lists six reasons the Jewish religion became popular with some Gentiles. See pp 30-33
10. A good history of Philosophy will give you some background on Heraclitus, who lived in Ephesus ( a possible location for John's writing of his Gospel)around 500 B.C., and his development of the Logos idea. One such work is, Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey, (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1985) pp 17-20 (esp. 19)
11. In the Star Wars movies the "Force" is described as the life energy of the universe. It is in everything and around everything and seems to be the new expression of Heraclitus' Logos.
12. Little, Paul E., How to Give Away Your faith. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1966). p 83.