The Most Important Business at the Recent IMB Meeting

Contrary to what a few (out of 16 million Southern Baptists) people believe, the most significant item of business conducted by the IMB at the Springfield, Illinois, meeting was a comprehensive set of principles to guide IMB missionaries in their efforts to contextualize the gospel. Though I cannot discuss any particular missionary context because of personnel security concerns, I am happy to fulfill my responsibility to speak positively of and interpret our IMB policies.

First, a little background is in order. Missiologists categorize churches in indigenous cultures as on one of 6 "Christian" levels. I will paraphrase the C1 to C6 levels, though I do not know who originated these. For my informal purposes, however, I will let my disclaimer that these are not original with me and the note in the affirmations below be as close to attribution as I will come. Furthermore, for security purposes I will not use the name of any particular religions or deities, and I encourage anyone else who writes on this subject to exercise the same care. We dare not raise the ire of any particular religions who might then target missionaries or movements.

A C1 church is typically a church that is completely out of touch with its surrounding culture. It may be Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, but it functions like an island in its own surroundings. Exhibiting a huge cultural chasm, a C1 church uses language and symbols completely foreign to its surrounding community.

A C2 church is much like a C1, except this traditional church makes some effort at using the "insider" language of its culture. It is still much removed from its surrounding context, but some linguistic adaptations have been made.

A C3 church employs insider language and contextualizes its forms of worship and expression and may include "neutral" forms like folk music, artwork, and the ethnic dress of that would be recognizable by those in the surrounding culture. While a C3 church may include non-traditional forms of worship, etc., these elements are filtered so that the "religious" elements of the surrounding culture are removed. The purpose is to be true to the essential elements of the gospel while simultaneously making local people as culturally comfortable as possible. A c3 church may meet in a church building or a more religiously neutral location. Significantly, C3 believers call themselves "Christians."

A C4 church is similar to a C3, but it might use biblically permissible forms that are native to the local religion. Architecture, art, or geometric patterns, for example, that come from the local religion or its adherents might be present or used. These churches are often comprised entirely of converts from the local religion. Though believers in C4 churches are highly contextualized, adherents of the surrounding religion usually don't see them as still following the indigenous faith, and C4 believers identify themselves as followers of Jesus the Messiah.

C5 believers remain legally and socially a part of their indigenous faith, even though they have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. They reject parts of their original faith that are incompatible with the Bible, or else the reinterpret them, but many of them still participate in the corporate worship of their original indigenous religion. They typically refer to themselves as members of their religion who are also followers of Jesus.

C6 believers worship Christ secretly, perhaps due to fear of death or persecution, but they typically do not witness or identify themselves as followers of Christ. They purport to be and are seen as adherents of their indigenous faith.

IMB missionaries have to wrestle with all the issues that come with contextualization. We obviously are not trying to make western Christians, but biblical disciples. Separating cultural Christianity from biblical Christianity is sometimes a difficult task, but separating Christianity from the essentials of the gospel is a deadly task. Along the way we encounter linguistic issues like how we should refer to God in a receptor language, especially if the generic word for God coincides with a particular religion's name for its deity.

As a result of working through these issues, the IMB affirmed the following principles. These principles were voted on in a plenary session and are therefore public.

We affirm that the Bible is the only infallible text that exists. It is appropriate to evaluate all other books by the Bible. We encourage our personnel to search the Scriptures daily to see whether the principles presented by any text or teacher are true (Acts 17:11). Content that is in accord with biblical truth should be embraced. What is contrary to sound doctrine should be rejected.

We affirm that there is a biblical precedent for using "bridges" to reach out to others with the Gospel (Acts 17:22-23). The fact that Paul mentioned an aspect of the Athenians' idolatrous worship was not a tacit approval of their entire religious system. He was merely utilizing a religious element of their setting (an altar to an unknown god) to connect with his hearers and bridge to the truth. Similarly, our personnel may use elements of their host culture's worldview to bridge to the Gospel. This need not be construed as an embracing of that worldview. It should be noted that Paul not only used their system to connect, he also contrasted elements of it with the truth. Our evangelism must go beyond bridges to present the whole unvarnished truth of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

We affirm an incarnational approach to missions that is bound by biblical parameters. Following the example of Him who became flesh (John 1:14), it is appropriate that our personnel continue to tailor their ministry to their setting. The Apostle Paul likewise embraced this approach, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22b). We advocate the learning and appropriate utilization of language and culture. Constant vigilance is required lest contextualization degenerate into syncretism. (In John Travis' spectrum of contextualization, C-4 wold be the extent of indigenization acceptable for IMB personnel ["The C1 to C6 Spectrum." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 34 [4]:407-408].) Where linguistic categories and cultural mores are deficient, these must be challenged and corrected with biblical truth.

We affirm both the sufficiency and unique nature of biblical revelation (2 Timothy 3:14-17). We deny that any other purported sacred writing is on a par with the Bible. While reference to a target people group's religious writings can be made as a part of bridge-building, care should be exercised not to imply a wholesale acceptance of such.

We affirm the need to be ethically sound in our evangelistic methodology (2 Corinthians 4:2). Becoming all things to all men n an incarnational approach does not necessitate an ethical breach. Jesus instructed his disciples to be as "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16). We are to be wise in our bridge building. We are to be armless in our integrity as we hold forth the word of truth.

What It Means

These principles represent a thoughtful, prayerful, and well-reasoned response to difficult missiological issues. Our missionaries are free and even encouraged to contextualize the gospel, but not to the point where it is unrecognizable. We are not free to misrepresent ourselves and claim to be members of a religion or sect other than Christian. Our missionaries can use the normal words of a receptor language, including their word for "God," so long as they theologically pack that word with the person of God revealed in Scripture. In the same way that I would explain to a Mormon that the God they believe in is different than the God of the Bible, so our missionaries should work toward that goal, even as Paul did on the Areopagus with "theos" in Acts 17.

Long after issues of personality and procedure have faded from memory, these principles passed by the board will continue to provide a significant guideline for personnel on the front lines of proclaiming the gospel.