contextualization.

"Mission consists in incarnating Christ in the given time and place, allowing him to be reborn in the given lifeway. A true Christian is but another 'Christ.' The all-important question that faces the Church and all engaged in mission action, be it in a ministry or in witnessing one's faith, is, What would Jesus teach and how would he behave if he were born today, say in Japan, Brazil, Kenya, or for that matter, in my home parish in London, Paris, Rome, Bonn, or Washington -- not two thousand years ago but today here and now? Contextualization is the process by which a local Christian community integrates the Gospel message (the 'text') with the real-life context, blending text and context into that single, God-intended reality called 'Christian living.' By 'Christian living' we mean living as Christ would live here and now -- that is, as he would behave, what he would teach here and now, and what his values and emotions, his underlying premises, attitudes, and drives would be if he belonged to the particular community we are dealing with."

-- Louis J. Luzbetak, The Church and Cultures

chris and i moved to norman for the purpose of helping plant a new church, providence road. we are very much trying to view ourselves as missionaries here -- just as if we had moved to asia or africa or something. you may think that sounds crazy since oklahoma is in the southern part of america, but 80-85% of normanites are not involved in church -- that's about 92,000 people!

so... a huge aspect of mission must be contextualization. as luzbetak explains above (yes i busted out an old seminary textbook for this one), contextualization involves incarnating christ in your culture, integrating the gospel message with your given context. how would jesus christ live in norman in 2012? how can two texans who didn't attend the university of oklahoma reach the people of norman with the gospel? these are our questions. maybe pictures will help explain our answers.

a good example of contextualization:

an OU football ornament on our first christmas tree.

a bad example of contextualization:

cheering for the opposing team at an OU basketball game. oops. sic 'em bears.

okay so clearly we're still learning here... pray for us!