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The Critical Need for Contextualization in World Missions

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

The Critical Need for Contextualization in World Missions

contextualization of the gospelIn Roland Allen’s excellent book on missions, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, he tells the story of a Siouxย Indianย chief ย named Big Hunter who wished to become a Christian. The problem was that Big Hunter was a polygamist. He had several wives, as was customary in Sioux culture.

The Presbyterian missionaries who were working with Big Hunter told him that if he wanted to follow Jesus, he had to put away all of his wives except one. This is what the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ expected from those who were children of God.

Big Hunter was now faced with a dilemma. One the one hand, he really wanted to become a Christian, but on the other hand, he knew that any wife he got rid of would starve to death. So, not knowing what else to do, he hanged all of his wives except the one he decided to keep. Then he came to the missionaries and told them that he had done what they wanted.

They were shocked and outraged at his actions, and drove him away as a murderer. Big Hunter despaired of ever becoming a Christian, married two new wives, and lived as an unbeliever for the rest of his days.

Did the missionaries do the right thing? If not, what should they have done instead?ย 

How you answer those two questions is called “contextualization.”

What is Contextualization?

Contextualization is the way which mission workers apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truths of Scripture to the various cultures in which the missionaries work.

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Reading, Discipleship

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The Best Way to Teach Theology

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

The Best Way to Teach Theology

storms of lifeAs we go through life, there are people who are involved in storms all around us. What is our responsibility as followers of Jesus toward these people?

I sometimes think that Christians have such a difficult time these days bringing other people to Christ because we are asleep as they battle the storms of life. As they face the destruction of their lives, they look at our prayer meetings and Bible studies and wonder, โ€œI thought you were a Christian. How can you be doing nothing at a time like this?โ€

When our neighbors or co-workers are going through the storms of life, are we taking the opportunity to minister to them and reveal to them the power of the God you serve, or are we, like Jonah, asleep in the hull of the ship?

Jonah’s Muddled Theology

When Jonah is given the chance to share some truth about Yahweh with the sailors, the only thing he gives them is some muddled and misleading theology. They ask what they can do to calm the storm, and Jonah doesnโ€™t pray or tell them to pray to God. He doesnโ€™t confess his sin. He doesnโ€™t repent. He doesnโ€™t even tell them to turn the boat around and head back toward Israel.

Instead, he tells them to throw him into the sea, which they would have interpreted as offering a human sacrifice to the god of the sea.

I believe Jonah knew what he was saying and how the sailors would have interpreted it, but he didnโ€™t care that they would end up believing bad theology.

Why not?

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Commentary on Jonah, Discipleship

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Why God Sends Storms

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

Why God Sends Storms

Judgment of GodIn a previous post, I asked why storms come upon us. If we believe that in some fashion or another God sends some storms, we must ask a second but related question: Why does God sometimes send storms?

To Punish the Wicked?

The usual answer is that God sends storms upon wicked people to punish them.

When the terrorist attacks killed thousands of people on 9/11/2001, some Christians said this was Godโ€™s judgment upon wickedness in our country, and specifically condemned feminists, abortionists, and homosexuals as the cause for this attack.

When a tsunami killed over 200,000 in 2004, some Christians said this was Godโ€™s judgment upon Islamic fundamentalism.

When Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans, some Christians said this was because of voodoo and immorality in the city, especially because of what takes place during Mardi Gras.

When Hurricane Sandy swept along New Jersey and New York in 2012, some said it was Godโ€™s judgment on President Obama and gay people.

Even if we can defend from Scripture the idea that God does sometimes send storms, it is much more difficult to defend the idea that God sends storms and natural disasters to punish wicked sinners. Instead, it seems from Scripture that if God sends storms upon nations and countries (in all their forms), it is not because of the sin of that nationโ€™s leaders or citizens but because of the waywardness of Godโ€™s people themselves.

To Discipline God’s People

If God does send storms, it is not to punish sin and evil, but to call Godโ€™s people to wake up and act.

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Commentary on Jonah, Discipleship

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The Worldwide Threat of Christian Moderates

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

The Worldwide Threat of Christian Moderates

The christian threat to the worldIt is popular in some circles today to talk about the terrorist threat from Muslim extremists. While a Muslim threat may exist, I am more concerned about the Christian threat.

No, I donโ€™t think that Christians are likely to become terrorists. There are a few crazy Christians out there who behave in such a manner, but they are roundly condemned by all Christians as not accurately reflecting Christian values or the teachings of Jesus. So I am not that concerned about the threat from Christian extremists.

What really concerns me is the threat from Christian moderates.

This might surprise you a bit, because maybe you consider yourself to be a Christian moderate. You are not one of those fire-breathing, wild-eyed zealots shouting into a bull-horn on the street corner, nor are you one of those dreadlock-growing, communal-living, vegetarian pacifists. You faithfully attend church every Sunday, you go to a small group on Wednesday, you tithe 10% to your church, you volunteer every year for VBS, and you donโ€™t try to cram Jesus down everyoneโ€™s throat at work. This is a general description of a Christian moderate.

Yes, and this sort of Christians is exactly what I am afraid of.

Christian moderates are one of the biggest threats to the world today.

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Commentary on Jonah, Discipleship

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How to Teach Heresy to Your Neighbor

By Jeremy Myers
10 Comments

How to Teach Heresy to Your Neighbor

teaching heresyEveryone knows the world if full of bad theology. Most people believe some horribly incorrect things about God.

Sadly, much of this is the fault of Christians. We often teach heresy to our neighbors by how we live.

We are sometimes like Jonah. When God tries to get Jonah to obey Him, Jonah tells the sailors to pick him up and throw him into the sea. In other words, Jonah tells the sailors this:

My God is vengeful and angry. I disobeyed Him, so He is out to destroy all of us, and you just happen to have the bad luck of being nearby when He kills me. But my God, who lives in the sea, can be appeased. How? He loves human sacrifice. Throw me into the sea so He can take my life and judge me as He sees fit. If you do this, He will leave you alone.

Jonah is a prophet of God, and he knows better.

Jonah’s Horrible Theology Lesson

He knows that everything he is telling the sailors is wrong, but in this situation, he doesnโ€™t care.He has his own agenda, and no matter what, he does not want to do what God asked.

So he teaches some horrible theology and drags the sailors into committing a horrible sin.

Thankfully, God is gracious to them and spares their lives, no thanks to Jonah.

Do we Christians sometimes do the same thing today? What are we teaching those around us about God through our actions and our behavior?
[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Commentary on Jonah, Discipleship

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