The Christian theological conversation spans two millennia. Recently, however, more and more scholars have begun to recognize that, in the words of Andrew Walls, "the theological agenda is cultural induced; and the cross-cultural diffusion of Christian faith invariably makes creative theological activity a necessity." What does that look like in practice? Doesn't that lead to syncretism? Can't we just teach a pure gospel?
Taking the gospel message into another culture requires culturally integrating it, without misrepresentation, into that specific culture. Bentley looks at six different aspects involved in contextualizing the gospel.
Welcoming a new reality even when it is at odds with the stories we have come to believe about China and about ourselves.
It is possible to agree on many things about China, yet still talk past one another.
The presenter for our upcoming webinar, "How Relevant is the Gospel for the Chinese."
In Asian culture, often anyone who is born in a Buddhist country is considered a Buddhist. It’s not uncommon for people with a strong family identity to consider their family and religion together.
In Chinese culture the concept of face is a very important part of social interaction and is specific to the group or family to which the person belongs.
There is a Chinese saying 《十年树木，百年树人》 which means, “It takes ten years to grow a tree but a hundred to cultivate a person.”
Building relationships through sharing resources.
When we lived in Asia, I was constantly asked for things and especially for money. Being a typical American, I was offended with their constant asking. I discovered later that asking for favors was a means of developing relationships.
Our friends in Asia suspected that we did not want to take care of our family members, our parents in particular, and so we came to their country. They couldn’t understand that we had come for any other reason.
I didn’t understand that by disagreeing with my parents and older people that I was not showing them respect and returning the care they had given me.