Transcription
We're here in Thailand, and if you, like happened to a friend of mine, were walking by a Buddhist temple and you decided you wanted to witness, as an American you might say, you might just shout out, as this guy did, "Jesus is Lord." You know, it's something that we might be shouted out at our church, you know, especially if we're a little more expressive in our churches. But what's heard when a Buddhist hears that is not at all what we're thinking, because he has Lord Buddha, and and so maybe he hears it as a competition. Uh, and of course, Jesus is—I mean, it's no competition ultimately, we know that. So what is being heard? I mean, the the gospel, some have said, is only communicated when the person hears it effectively on the other side. And so we we have to think through what are they hearing? What are they—what do they add to that? What's what's thrown in now via the internet and other stuff about how people understand religion or Christianity, or when they look at how we do church and they see maybe these these televangelists on TV, and that's that's what a Christian is, or all the alternative—those that may not be watching English TV preachers from America could be watching our TV shows from Hollywood. And so literally Muslims around the world today who are watching TV shows like the old Dallas show—probably the new one's not any better, I've never watched it—or Baywatch. I mean, these are literally the shows that are being aired on TV in the Middle East, probably as we speak or as you watch this video, and they assume America's a Christian country. This is what they produce in their films and their TV, so that's what Christians do, and we don't want any part of it.
So if somebody comes up and asks you who thinks that way, "Are you a Christian?" The answer to the question is, "No way," even though you're a believer. You you—and so you would say, well, the the answer that question, the best answer is, "What do you mean?" Because if that's what you mean, I'm not it. But if you mean somebody who's repented and and followed Jesus and is seeking to understand and grow in their faith, then then then that's what I am. So contextualization is is merely trying to make sure that what we're saying out this way gets to them and is heard in a way that's understood, that takes their context into account.