Yin-Yang Contextualization
By Ed, I've been meaning to say a few things on contextualization for a couple of weeks. You're helpful post Contexualization and Consistency provides me with the opportunity. One question from your remarks: in your second to last paragraph, you pit "fitting in like an insider" against "making hard choices." Can you give some concrete examples from Paul's life of what you mean by the latter category that does not also fall into the former?
What occurs to me about contextualization is that people often think of it in terms, as you suggest, of making ourselves like the culture we're trying to reach. It attempts to build a bridge on the power of similitude.
But watching Mark Dever for years now has taught me about a different kind of contextualization. He has a good eye for locating the particular weakness of a culture and then adopting practices that directly run against those weakness. For instance,
- We live in an entertainment-driven culture, and so he works hard to make sure our corporate gatherings don't cater to that desire among Christians and non-Christians.
- We live in a highly emotivisitc culture, and so he's careful not to use overly dramatic sermon illustrations that play to that desire for an emotional rush.
- We live in a style-conscious and celebrity-driven culture, and so he dresses plainly/unremarkably, puts someone else in the pulpit around 35% of the year, and generally promoted the leadership of others.
I could keep going with the examples, but you catch my drift. He's a contextualizing "yin" to the typical contextualizing "yang."
Now that doesn't mean he doesn't do the "yang." Clearly there's a time to build on similitude. His sermon introductions are all about meeting people "where they are at." But what I've learned watching him is that a pastor should also have a willingness to build on points of dissimilitude.
This takes humility and trust in God because building through similitude will almost always build the numbers more quickly. Building on points of dissimilitude may hurt the numbers in the short run. But you do it because it builds a firmer foundation for the long haul. You do it when you see that certain cultural preferences are in fact borderline idolatrous (e.g. entertainment, emotivism), and not finally usable for building healthy Christians and churches.
I haven't read much contextualizing literature, and perhaps the literature says all of this already. But the bottom line: my hunch is that we need a larger vision of contextualization. One needs discernment for knowing when to build with the YIN and when to build with the YANG.
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I'm sorry you employ the yin-yang principle as a means for conveying a truth. I understand what you want to say, but I think that yin-yang is so much driven by heathen philosophy that I wouldn't use it as a symbol in Christian context.
The philosopy that good and bad together makes a better whole is very heathen. In the Bible we see that we are to be "children of the light" 1Ths 5:5) and that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1Jh 1:5). In the beginning God separted light and darkness, he did not put it together to make a better entity from both of it. In Christianity it is either - or, you have to choose, light versus dark, life vs sin, etc.
Chris, I was wondering if someone would say that. I guess my impression is that the symbol has been sufficiently "generic-alized" to be serviceable for other purposes. That may be a mis-read on its usage. Certainly I agree with your second paragraph entirely. I do like it for the idea of contextualization because I'm trying to communicate the idea that the two sides of contextualtizing (building through similitude and dissimilitude) are mutually implicating and highly connected.
Hey Jonathan, I think you're onto something as usual. I especially like the bold blue fonts but can't figure out how to do that at my age! All I get is gray ones.
Seriously, I think the yin/yang thing is important. We need to build on similitude and establish dissimilitude. In communicating,we may define what we mean by clarifying what we do NOT mean. Don't we see Paul doing both the yin and the yang thing in his Acts 17 speech?
But you asked a question- Hard choices Paul made that made him not fit in like an insider? Maybe I should have been clearer. Paul seems less concerned with appearing or remaining an insider than he is with clarifying the gospel message and life. Everything seems to turn on clear, honest, understandable communication with insiders. Some people when talking about contextualization speak of overcoming barriers by becoming insiders. Paul seems to be aware of something else that is rarely discussed in contextualization: Paul is aware of barriers to clear understanding of the gospel message and lifeway that can only be removed if we choose NOT to live/speak/worship like the insiders (Yang). Much more could be said but here are a few examples of Yin and Yang, mostly Yang.
1. In some places like Corinth, Paul chose to be a tentmaker(Yang) rather than a religious professional.
2. In his Acts 17 speech, after finding a point of contact (Yinning), he builds mostly upon dissimilitude doesn't he? (Yanging.) If he had been overly concerned with being an insider he would have have emphasized similarity(Yin)not difference (Yang)?
3. In the first few chapters of 1Corinthians, he Yins a bit by using the "technical" insider vocabulary of his opponents but then Yangs by redefining some of the terms. Then he mostly Yangs with his "where is the wise man? where is the scholar?...Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, BUT[Yang], we preach Christ crucified...I did not come to you with eloquence or superior wisdom...I came to you in weakness and fear, with much trembling...."
Paul might have adorned himself (literally even) with the trapping of a religious professional in Corinth (Yin). But in his estimation that would have been a barrier to clear communication. So he didn't. (Yang)
4. When Paul encourages the believers in Galatia NOT to observe all the cultural and religious dynamics that obtained in Asia Minor, he was doing some serious Yanging. "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal 3:28. In Paul's day, communicating this about social and religious norms was also a "hard choice" that earned him some additional suffering and hardship at the hands of insider Jews and even apparently some believers but it was and is a truth central to the gospel message and life.
All that is to say that I have a hunch that Paul usually Yanged with his life and his words when he thought that Yinning would confuse rather than clarify the gospel. And as you say, that takes discernment when working with a near cultural setting. In real hard cross cultural settings (I would say Paul's was fairly soft) where language and culture are very different, it will take quite a while before we have a feel for when to Yin and when to Yang. Thanks Jonathan for providing the vocabulary to talk about this further. There has to be some Yinning to communicate meaningfully and relevantly, but the gospel has plenty of Yang also.
Ed, that was downright elegant. Quote of the day: " he was doing some serious Yanging."
What the whole exercise emphasizes, I think, is that we're dealing in relative matters that require much prudence. So the next question becomes, how does one develop such prudence? Also, what criteria does one use for whether yin is called for or yang?
Jonathan,
It appears that the key question (for determining yin or yang) is: what will communicate the gospel most clearly? That seems to be Ed's driving question and that makes biblical sense to me.
Thanks for the discussion.
Garrett
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