(864) 546-4540
Center for Global Opportunities
  • About
  • Outreach
    • CGO Screen Ads
    • Local
    • National
    • Global
    • Request Help
  • 2023 Trips
    • CGO Mission Teams
    • BJU Study Abroad & Study USA
  • Blog
    • Submissions
  • Internationals
    • International Student Organization
  • Events
    • MLK Day
    • GO Greenville
    • GO Week
    • Summer Ministry Conference
  • About
  • Outreach
    • CGO Screen Ads
    • Local
    • National
    • Global
    • Request Help
  • 2023 Trips
    • CGO Mission Teams
    • BJU Study Abroad & Study USA
  • Blog
    • Submissions
  • Internationals
    • International Student Organization
  • Events
    • MLK Day
    • GO Greenville
    • GO Week
    • Summer Ministry Conference

THE CGO BLOG

Contextualization across Cultural Boundaries, part 3

4/3/2017

0 Comments

 

Dr. Ted Miller, SOR Faculty

Picture
When the Jerusalem Council declared that the Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised, they did more than merely free all believers from the bondage of earning merit by means of keeping God’s law perfectly.
 
The Gentiles were also in a real sense excluded from adopting key aspects of Jewish culture, as certain elements—particularly the Passover, the redeeming of a male child, and any worship in the temple proper—could be observed only by those who had been circumcised (Ex 12:34, 38, Lev 12:1-4).
 
Although the God-fearing Gentiles among the diaspora Jews would likely have adopted much of the practice from the synagogue for corporate worship, their cultural identity was not to be absorbed the religious and cultural features associated with national Israel. 
 
And yet, the same Jerusalem council also forbad the Gentiles from eating meat offered to idols (Acts 15:20, 28-29, 21:25). Paul addresses this issue at length in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, where he acknowledges that the command is not due to any inherent contamination in the meat or that any other god actually exists to make the meat unclean (8:4-8).
 
Nevertheless, he commands the believers to walk in love—taking great care that their knowledge could inadvertently encourage a fellow believer to justify a return to idolatrous practices, which would result in his perishing (8:9-13). Such behavior was not innocuous, but had been forbidden by God—and judged severely in the Old Testament (Ex 34:14-15, Deut. 32:37-38). Paul details several examples where many of the people of Israel—only recently rescued from Egypt—had fallen into idolatry and fornication and were killed by God in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1-10).
 
These stories, Paul tells us, are written for the believer’s admonition (1 Cor. 10:11). Apparently, even though the Gentiles were not constrained to observe the cultural features that had defined the community of God’s people for generations, God’s attitude about idolatry had not changed, nor had the cultural appeal of idolatry.
 
Paul even tells the believers who consider themselves strong enough to stand against such temptations not to be overconfident. Rather, Paul commands them to flee idolatry (10:14), as eating meat offered to idols inherently makes one a participant in fellowship with demons (10:16-21). 
 
Paul then gives a key qualification to his command, building on the idea that the meat itself is in no way inherently contaminated (1 Cor. 8:4-8). As long as the meat’s immediate association is unknown to the believer (whether purchased at the meat market or served at an unbeliever’s home), he is free to eat it, because the earth is the Lord’s (10:26). However, as soon as the meat is identified as having been offered to an idol, the command reverses: he is not to eat it (10:28a). 
 
There is some disagreement about whether the believer’s concern at this point is for a believer or a unbeliever’s conscience (10:28b), but by the time that Paul has finished his line of thought, he is urging the believers that every action bring attention and fame to God (10:31), to draw others to salvation (10:33), and to imitate Christ (11:1). 
 
It appears that underlying Paul’s though are two principles: The two principles are “The earth is the Lord’s” (Ps 24:1, cf. 1 Cor. 10:26), and the grave danger of idolatry, any practice of which provokes God to jealousy (1 Cor. 10:1-10, 10:14-22). I believe that these two principles provide a possible framework for communicating the gospel cross-culturally, and even in one’s own culture.
 
Paul certainly seems to believe that there are times when we can affirm (by our actions) God’s permanent ownership of everything, and other times when we should model (again, by our actions) God’s permanent hatred of idolatry. 
 
(to be continued…)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    *If RSS feed is not working for you, please add it to your app or software manually by adding this url:
    ​www.bjucgo.com/blog/feed

    The CGO Blog

    Written by the CGO staff, with guest posts from students and other faculty/staff at BJU to provide thought leadership for missions in a new millennium. 

    Categories

    All
    Alumni
    Ask A Missionary
    Atheism
    Bible Study
    Buddhism
    Catholicism
    Children's Ministry
    China
    Christmas
    Church Ministry
    Common Ground
    Contextualization
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cross Cultural
    Culture Blocks
    Education
    Evangelism
    Field Reports
    Gratitude
    Great Commission
    Greenville SC
    Holism And Prioritism
    Inspiration
    International Students
    Islam
    Local Church
    Medical Missions
    Millennials In Missions
    Ministry Team
    Missionaries You Don't Know
    Missionary Kid
    Missions Gamechangers In 2018
    Missions Internship
    Missions Mistakes
    Missions Strategy
    Missions Trip
    Muhammad
    Multiculturalism
    Outreach
    Pastoral Ministry
    Persecution
    Prayer
    Preparing For Ministry
    Sanctification
    Study Abroad
    Testimony
    Thanksgiving
    Ukraine
    Uncomfortable Ministry
    Urban Ministry
    War
    Woman's Ministry
    Women In Missions

    Archives

    April 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

Picture

                               © COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.​

#BJUCGO