In ministry and mission one of the important aspects we need to consider is the context we are ministering in.
If you don't think context is that important take a look at the Gospels.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Have you ever wondered why there are four and not just one big one(that would make life easier wouldn't it)?
Well part of the answer to that question lies in the fact that each of the Gospels were written for a different audience.
Matthew was written primarily for the Jews, Mark for the Romans, Luke for the Gentiles and John for the Greeks. Now each of these groups had a different view of life and so if you take the time to investigate the Gospels further you will notice their emphasis of Jesus differs and so does their focus.
The Gospel however always remains.
Question for you to consider
What is the Gospel?
Do you understand what must not change?
Furthermore when we delve into scripture...we see Jesus deals with sin differently depending on who he is dealing with...to the Pharisee, those who claim to know God's ways he is often more critical, but to others like the women who had committed adultery he takes a different approach. (read Matthew 23 and John 8:1-11)
Also Paul writes to a variety of congregations, his letters are frequently yelling about Jesus the wonderful Messiah and how good he is, but he also discusses what this means in relation to some issues occuring in these various places.
And some many years later Martin Luther spent a considerable amount of time and energy translating the bible into the German language, so more people could grasp the Gospel.
Now some people worry that if we attend to context too much we will lose the gospel. But others say that unless we attend to culture and context people will not even consider the gospel. This is why it is important to understand what is essential, what the message of the Gospel is? How that is communicated may alter, but the Gospel itself never alters.
Let me give you an illustration that may help, currently I live in Tasmania Australia. Its a cold place. Some years ago they discovered that the most cost effective heating came from Reverse Cycle Air Conditioners. Despite this initially sales were shockingly low. Very few people in Tasmania were interested in air conditioners. Advertising wouldn't work. Men thought their wives were crazy suggesting they buy an air conditioner in Tasmania. And telemarketers were frequently laughed at and had the phone slammed in their ear. Then some bright spark got the idea that they needed to focus on the heat they pumped out, so the name heat pump was adapted and almost instantly sales went through the roof.
Likewise as leaders in mission who understand our contexts, we need to listen for what parts of the Gospel message people are most likely to get people's attention. Now this is not changing it or promising something that it is not, or downplaying those things that are true and important. But it is emphasising those things that help people grasp the Good News of Jesus.
A question for you to consider
What is the context of the people you are leading?
Or probably more appropriately what are the contexts of the people you are leading?
Consider who are the people, what is the environment like, what is happening around you and your congregation, how do people perceive the church or parts of the church, does your congregation context match your community or part of your community context?
The reality is most of us lead and minister in not one but many contexts, and this affects how we may need to go about ministry and mission. Recently I had a discussion which highlighted this. A grandmother was complaining that the grand children she was regularly looking after were disobedient because they were always questioning her. I then remembered a discussion I had with my father some months ago. He said when he went to school it was sit down, shut up and listen. Everything you needed to know you were told, if the teacher didn't know it you never got to know it. Now jump a few generations ahead and life is somewhat different. Children are encouraged to ask questions, encouraged to explore, are used to learning through a multiple of resources and at times discover things that their teacher didn't even know. As the grand mother thought this through she became a little more tolerant of her grand children, realising that their questioning was how they went about life.
Now lets transfer this into a congregation where we have a mixture of grand parents, parents, teenagers and children. Already you probably have 4 contexts. Each of these groups learn differently, express themselves differently and even understand the world around them differently.
Question to think about
As leaders how do these different contexts affect how your congregation worships, handles money, learns, relates to each other, serves in the church community and the wider community, views the gospel and how they are cared for?
Apart from age what are some of the different contexts that exist in the community you are leading?
What does it mean for us as leaders to be responsible for leading a group of mixed contexts?
What are some of the challenges?
How might this be exciting for us?
Read Galatians 3:26-28, Colossians 3:5-11 and 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
What is God saying in these three texts about leading different people from different contexts?
How do these texts affect how we lead in an organisation with a variety of contexts?
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