SBTS Collegiate Conference
February 21, 2009
Dr. David Sills
www.reachingandteaching.org
1. The Biblical Mandate and Model
2. Understanding the Cultural Realities
3. Communicating the Only Savior
The Biblical Mandate:
• The Jerusalem Council: To ALL people
• The Great Commission and panta ta ethne
• The disciples stuck to the ultimate direction
Christ had given them, despite persecution and
circumstances.
• The importance of declaring the Word of
God to faithfully work toward biblical churches
around the world.
The Biblical Mandate: Examples in Acts
• First to the Jews: Acts 1-5
– The initial struggle to understand the inclusive and
transcultural dimensions of the gospel
• Stephen and the Hellenists: Acts 6-15
– “The gospel moves incrementally from a singularly Jewish
to a multicultural sphere of influence” (Fleming)
– There is a consistent movement in the advancement of
the gospel among the Gentiles
The Biblical Mandate: Examples in Acts
• A Tale of Two Conversions:
1.Cornelius: The beginning of a “bridge group” for
the progress of the gospel into the Gentile arena
2.Peter: A theological and cultural
conversion
• Overcoming Barriers of Exclusion;
lessons from Cornelius:
1.Soteriological Barriers: Jewish
Council
2.Social Barrier: Peter’s vision
Defining the Cultural Realities:
• Culture: The common beliefs, behaviors, values,
norms, and rules of the game for life held by a
group of individuals
• Worldview: The lens through which an individual
views the world, answers ultimate questions of
reality, and processes information and experiences.
Defining the Cultural Realities:
• Contextualization: Adapting the forms of
Christianity to the cultural settings of the world in
ways that are faithful to God’s Word, but are
culturally appropriate for the target people.
• People Group: The identification of a people based
upon their common culture, language, values, and
self-identification rather than geographical
boundaries or mere racial identification.
Defining the Cultural Realities
–Ethnocentrism- the degree to which individuals judge
other cultures as inferior to their own
– Ethnocentrism is often the result of a narrow
understanding of another’s culture or worldview and
results in a lack of contextualization among other people
groups.
Who is an “American”?
Crucial Aspects of the Cultural Realities:
• People Groups:
– 27,000 in the world
– 14,000 reached since the time of Christ
– 13,000 people groups unreached
• If God had not given us the Bible, what would
we know about Him?
– General Revelation vs.
– Special Revelation
Crucial Aspects of the Cultural Realities:
• Every person within the 27,000 people groups know
that:
– They have a broken relationship with their creator
• Every single culture has a religion
• Everyone worships something
• Yet, salvation is through Christ alone.
• We often forget that those to whom we witness are
not a blank slate.
Crucial Aspects of the Cultural Realities:
• Everyone has a religion
• With their religion comes spiritual baggage
• We must be prepared to present the Truth of the
Gospel in culturally appropriate ways.
Categorizing the Cultural Realities:
• NOT to prejudge or stereotype or pigeon-hole
others unfairly, But, to . . .
– Predict behavior
– Clarify why people do what they do
– Avoid giving offense
– Standardize policies
– Perceive neatness and order
– Search for a bridge to the Gospel
Cultural Realities & Lingenfelter’s Basic Values:
Time
Time oriented Event oriented
Judgment
Dichotomistic
Handling
Crises
Goals
Crisis oriented
Self-worth
Vulnerability
Holistic
Non-crisis
oriented
Task oriented
Person
oriented
Status focus Achievement
focus
Concealment Willingness to
expose
Cultural Realities & Lanier’s Hot vs. Cold Climate Cultures:
Relationship oriented Task oriented
Direct
communicators
Individualism
Indirect
communicators
Group identity
Inclusion
Privacy
High-context cultures Low-context cultures
Time & planning –
rigid & clock-based
Time & planning –
informal & eventbased
Addressing the Cultural Realities
• The Church Planting Mandate
– The desperate need for biblical ecclesiology
– Your ecclesiology will determine your missiology
• Discipleship
• Training trainers
• Biblical contextualization
• Culturally appropriate expressions
Communicating the One Savior:
A Comprehensive Approach: the Quadrupal Helix
• Theological Reflection
– Missio Dei, Kingdom of God, incarnation
• Cultural Analysis
– Social, linguistic, beliefs, worldview
• Historical Perspective
– National, ethnic, church, mission
• Strategy Formation
– Methodology, priority, team,
endview
-Dr Gailyn Van Rheenen
Communicating the One Savior:
A Comprehensive Approach: the Quadrupal Helix
• Theological Reflection
– The exclusivity of the gospel
– The lostness of man, regardless of the culture
– The command to be faithful to Matthew 28: 18-20,
Acts 1:8, etc.
– The ultimate worship of the Son
Revelation 7:9-10
Communicating the One Savior:
A Comprehensive Approach: the Quadrupal Helix
• Cultural Analysis
– The significance and influence of language
– The influence of false religions
– Cultural aspects as barriers to the
Gospel
– Cultural aspects as bridges to the Gospel
Communicating the One Savior:
A Comprehensive Approach: the Quadrupal Helix
• Historical Reflection
– The role of outsiders
– The impact of Christians
– The role of the church
– The place of syncretism
Communicating the One Savior:
A Comprehensive Approach: the Quadrupal Helix
• Strategy Formation
– Evaluate the circumstances
– Build a team
– Develop a theological triage
– Study the culture and language
– Set goals
– Love the people
– Stay grounded in the Word
– Pray, Pray, Pray
“Every statement of the gospel in words is
conditioned by the culture of which those words are
a part, and every style of life that claims to embody
the truth of the gospel is a culturally conditioned style
of life. There can never be a culture-free gospel.”
- Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to Greeks: The Gospel and Western culture, 1986, p.4
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!”
-Psalm 67:1-5