Contextual Preaching

We must look for those cultural bridges to every people group, population segment and cultural environment. Obviously, this may look very different from one group to another.

Redemptive analogies are 21st-century parables. They are like the stories Jesus told. They are examples and stories that bring truth about the kingdom of God to life in the common language, stories and symbols of the day. They are like the trilogy that Jesus spoke of in Luke 15, where He talked about “lostness” by using the example of a lost coin, a lost sheep and a lost son. All three of these analogies related to the culture of His day, and the common person could place himself into the reality of any of these stories. The stories illustrate the demonstrable love the Father has for us.

Summary

In our current environment, contextualized preaching has its origin in God’s heart; but it is first expressed when we connect with hearers. He already had given us the message and the Scripture. It is relevant in this and every culture.

Too often we say, “I want to make the Bible relevant.” No need. It already is. Our job is to present it in ways that help the hearer see that it is relevant—in this and in every culture. We do so by starting at their understanding and taking them to Scripture for the whole answer.

Simply put:

• It is easy to preach in culturally relevant ways.

• It is easy to preach solid biblical texts.

• It is hard to do both in the same message.

But, if we are to preach like Jesus and Paul, we must learn to do so. Just as Jesus did, we must preach in a way so that people can best understand and respond to the gospel message.

This article is adapted from the book Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putnam. You can interact concerning this

article at www.edstetzer.com.