Leadership in a Postmodern Context

Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder The gospel is always conveyed through the medium of culture. It becomes good news to lost & broken humanity as it is incarnated in the world through God’s sent people, the church. Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder

Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder To be faithful to its calling, the church must be contextual that is, it must be culturally relevant within a specific setting. The church relates constantly & dynamically both to the gospel & to its contextual reality. Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder

Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder It is important, then, for the church to study its context carefully and to understand it. The technical term for this continuing discipline is contextualization. Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder

We must learn the skill of exegeting both the scripture & culture. Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder

We must learn to separate the gospel from our culture. Real “Jesus” ministry is only possible when we believe we are not moving into a void, that we go expecting to meet the God who has preceded us. We don’t have God in our pockets and we don’t take God to others. Ken Shuman D.Min.

Transforming Mission by David J. Bosch We should never have transplanted Christianity without breaking the pot in which the plant came. Transforming Mission by David J. Bosch

Transforming Mission by David J. Bosch Our hope lies not in trying to create (for instance) just an Indian Christianity but a Hindu Christianity. Transforming Mission by David J. Bosch

The Discipline of Creative Tension A clear picture of current reality A clear vision of God’s preferred future.

People are increasingly turned off by the Christian sub-culture.

People are increasingly indentifying themselves as spiritual but not religious.

Why are more people interested in books on Buddhism than they are books about Christianity?

Aptitudes of Missional Congregations in Context