Long-term cross-cultural worker Jonno digs into
the black, white and grey of contextual mission
and shares how he is witnessing it play out among
the Yawo of Malawi and Mozambique.
At its most basic, contextual mission
is about taking seriously the context
we are in and adapting the way we
communicate the message of Jesus
so that it is understandable in that
cultural context. Contextualisation
is not about changing the Gospel… it
is about communicating the Gospel
and ONLY the Gospel. It’s about
communicating the core of what it
means to follow Jesus and not all the
cultural rituals and traditions that make
up our expression of faith. Those rituals,
traditions and expressions are our
distinctive ways of following Jesus, but
sometimes we can think they are the
way to follow Jesus.
Although Jesus preached the most
radical teaching in the history of the
world, he did it using language the
community He was speaking to already
knew, with stories they could easily
relate to and in clothes they were
also wearing. But, he wasn’t like a
chameleon. He didn’t fit in so perfectly
with his environment that nobody
noticed He was different. He chose to
be the same in things that didn’t matter,
but different on the things that did. We
shouldn’t underestimate the challenge
that being different poses to those in
power… it got Jesus killed!
So our challenge, as we try and
imitate Jesus’ ministry, is telling the
difference between what does and
doesn’t matter, and how to engage
with the things that do matter in a
way that enables the indigenous
faith community to survive and grow.
Since 2002, Heather and my context
has been among the Yawo tribe in
Malawi and Mozambique. They’re
predominantly Muslim and also
practice African Traditional Religion
so the culture is quite (very!) different
from our own. Sometimes it’s fairly
easy to put issues into ‘does matter’
or ‘doesn’t matter’ categories, but
that’s not always the case.
Let’s start with an easy one. Most
men here have more than one wife.
However, Heather my wonderful wife
of 25 years, is my only wife… and I plan
on keeping it that way! In this context,
having just one wife is pretty unusual,
so Heather and I are just going to look
different on this one. This faithful Yawo believer was so
excited when he read this passage
because he could see something that
the average Aussie reader would not
see. He saw that Isaac, the ancestor
of the family of Jesus, and Ishmael, the
ancestor of the family of Muhammad,
buried their father together!
On the other end of the spectrum is
how to pray. People here pray with
their eyes open, holding their hands
open and upward. Although this is
different to how we have traditionally
prayed, we don’t think it matters to
pray in the posture of our friends.
God loves to hear our prayers
whether our eyes are open or closed. If it was acceptable for their ancestors
to be at funerals together, surely it
would be acceptable for them!? A
village meeting was arranged with the
chief and sheik in attendance. Upon
hearing this story from the word of
God, and application humbly presented,
the chief reversed his decision and
allowed the believers to attend
funerals. This is a beautiful example
of Yawo believers, interpreting
Scripture contextually and applying
it to their own cultural situation.
There are lots of other things in the
middle though which are harder
to figure out. Should we attend or
involve ourselves in cultural events like
funerals, memorial services or initiation
ceremonies? A girl in Mozambique
who was a new believer and had been
healed of seizures began having them
again after attending a memorial
service. That points to there being a
negative spiritual dimension going on,
so should we go or not go? If we do go,
should we take precautions like praying
for protection beforehand or fasting?
In a village in Malawi recently, the chief
told the faith community that they were
no longer allowed to attend funerals.
The believers felt strongly that they
should continue to attend but how
could they go against the directive of
the chief!? They were stuck. One of the
Yawo believers was reading in Genesis
and came across the story
of Abraham’s death.
These examples might sound foreign
to most Australian believers however
from our visit back to Australia last
year, it looks to me like the church
needs to be re-asking itself some of
the same questions. What should we
be participating in and what should
we be challenging in our own culture?
Actually, I reckon the church in
Australia may have got some of the
answers to these questions wrong.
Most of us in the church embrace
our culture’s hyper individualism and
materialism which has led to severe
social isolation and rampant anxiety
and depression.
Maybe it’s time for the church in
Australia to re-discover its own
authentic and distinctive way of
following Jesus?
Genesis 25:9 says, “His sons Isaac
and Ishmael buried him in the cave
of Machpelah near Mamre, …”
resonate · issue 33
· page 4