Contextualization

Contextualization is the process and practice of weaving the Gospel and Kingdom into the context¹ of our lives. It’s an implication of the incarnational² way of Jesus: just as he was God in the context of human flesh. In the same way, each believer has the indwelling of Spirit, Father, and Son in the context of their human life which includes their identity, their relationships, and their societal roles — what we call The Three Layers.

Resources for Contextualization

• The Three Layers — a tool for weaving the Kingdom into all the layers of a person’s life. Especially helpful in positions and transitions on The Journey Map where people are using The Compass.
• The Spiritual Landscape — a summary of demographic information and statistics about religious belief, openness, and church mobilization. Useful for thinking about priorities, resource usage, and mobilization of the church on mission and ministry.
• The Four Modes — a model framework for missions in the West outside of the Institution-Building Mode that has dominated church work and missions in Western Christendom in the Modern Era.

More on Contextualization

Timeline and Discussion Forum posts use the #context hashtag for this topic.

1. The word context comes from con- “with” and text “weave” as in “textiles”. This is a beautiful picture of context and contextualization: it’s the process of weaving our life with Christ into the lives around us.
2. Incarnational comes from in- “in, within” and carn “flesh” and in “carnivore”.