Contextualization

Christians should always bring the gospel to people groups in those peoples' own language.

• Agree

• Somewhat Agree

• Somewhat Disagree

• Disagree

If a church is planted in the US, but in an area that is predominately Spanish-speaking, that church should

• Hold all services in Spanish

• Hold two services, a Spanish service and an English service

• Hold one bi-lingual service

• Hold English services since it is the official language of the US

If a people group has no name for a supreme deity, no "Lord of all," missionaries should

• create a new term for this concept in the people group's language

• adopt an analogous term that isn't a perfect fit and then try to teach the people what Christians mean by the term

• use multiple terms from the language that describe deities with different powers, but try to emphasize that these all point to the one, true God

• introduce a new term in a new language, such as "Yahweh," to distinguish the one true God from the people's false gods

If a community is matriarchal (i.e., a family and community structure where women lead), missionaries should

• honor the tradition for now, but begin trying to move the community toward male leadership

• honor that tradition and work with women as head-of-household

• attempt to set up male missionaries as the religious authorities in the community

• emphasize the passages of scripture that seem to teach male headship from day 1

If a community is matriarchal and worships a supreme god that is feminine, missionaries should

• especially emphasize imagery and passages of scripture that depict God in feminine language

• change biblical translations that talk about God as "Father" to God as "Mother"

• keep "God as Father" language and try to explain the cultural differences between Jewish and their own culture

• teach the community that a feminine deity is demonic and depend on the power of the Bible to change their minds

It is okay for churches in the US to have an American flag in front of the sanctuary during worship

• Agree

• Somewhat Agree

• Somewhat Disagree

• Disagree

It is okay for churches in Communist countries to have their national flags in front of the sanctuary during worship

• Agree

• Somewhat agree

• Somewhat Disagree

• Disagree

Many cultures engage in the practice of ancestor veneration and prayer. When bringing the gospel to such cultures, missionaries should

• Teach such cultures that ancestors, while meant to be honored, are dead and cannot do anything for them

• Teach from the history of Israel that God punishes idolatry. He alone is worthy of worship.

• Find points of continuity between ancestor veneration and the worship of Christ, framing Christ as the Great Ancestor

• Introduce Christian practices that map onto ancestor veneration, such as the veneration of saints.