I just signed a contract for my newest book! It is titled One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization. The book is due out this coming winter (December 2014–January 2015). Thanks to William Carey Library for their vision and support of this book. Just as the title suggests, this book offers a practical approach for doing biblical contextualization. Why the word “biblical”? In this book, I suggest that we can see a very distinct pattern whenever... Read more
From beginning to end, the Bible primarily talks about groups, not individuals. This is another reason why we should reconsider our traditional methods of evangelism. As I’ve said throughout this series, our typical use of the Adam story breeds an individualism that may not serve those with whom we speak. Click on the following for Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five of the series. I want to focus on a particular advantage we gain by... Read more
I want to briefly illustrate the idea from my previous post. I suggested that it may be better for us to begin with the Babel story (rather than with Adam & Eve) when preaching the gospel. The Babel account is especially meaningful for collectivistic, honor-shame cultures. Previously, I interpreted Genesis 11 and discussed issues of face and collective identity. In this post, I’ll use a Chinese context simply for the sake of illustration. I encourage people to find similar explanations... Read more
Ever wonder what Western collectivism looks like and why it matters? My recent article attempts to deal with these questions. You can find it over at the Missio blog, which is hosted by The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture. The article is called “The Chase for Face: The Shame of Western Collectivism.” Here are some of the things I address. Socially speaking, what is “collectivism”? Why are honor-shame cultures considered “collectivistic”? What’s the logic? What does Western style... Read more
Have you ever wondered how honor-shame might influence a gospel presentation? This video gives just a small glimpse into how such a conversation might flow. It is guided by two questions related to “face.” Who are your relationships? (i.e. ascribed honor and shame) What have you done? (i.e. achieved honor and shame) These are the two ways that a person can either get face or lose face. The video is intended to be a training video used to help people... Read more
Recently, Stratfor.com had an excellent summary of the Chinese government’s perspective of Christianity. The article is titled “China Takes a Pragmatic Approach to Christianity” (Aug 8, 2014). Here is a noteworthy excerpt: For Beijing, religion is not seen solely as a personal moral or spiritual decision. Organized religion is seen as something that can rally support, build connections and potentially create a center of power opposed to, or at least not aligned with, the Communist Party. Yet Beijing also recognizes... Read more
Previously, I examined common problems that emerge when we start with the Adam story (Part 1, Part 2). I also suggested another way one could start with Adam and Eve without succumbing to individualism or running into a number of apologetic questions. Today, I offer an example whereby we can start with the group rather than the individual, i.e. the nations rather than Adam as an individual. Read more
HonorShame.com was gracious enough to allow me to reblog his most recent post. It is extremely helpful in equipping people to identity honor/shame themes in Scripture. Enjoy! And take a few minute to check out and subscribe to honorshame.com. There has to be a sociological term for this, because it is a universal phenomenon. When something new comes onto your radar, you begin seeing it everywhere. This is true not only of tangible things, but ideas as well – if... Read more
When sharing the gospel story and/or talking about sin, I suggest we start with the group, not the individual. In other words, we should discuss sin as a collective-group problem rather than explaining sin primarily as an individual problem. I know some people might get worried at this point, thinking I am doing a theological “slight of hand” whereby I insert liberal theology and alleviate individuals. Not at all. Here are 2 reasons. (more…) Read more
There are a number of reasons people normally start with Adam when sharing the gospel. But there's a big problem for people who hear this account. Read more
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