{"id":22758,"date":"2024-03-22T05:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/?post_type=resource&p=22758"},"modified":"2024-03-20T19:19:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T23:19:34","slug":"know-your-context","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/know-your-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Know Your Context"},"content":{"rendered":"

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.<\/em> \u2013 Peter Drucker.<\/p>\n

You may be able to rightly divide the word of God. You may lead people, teams and organizations. You may care well for those in your congregation. However, without understanding your surrounding context, it will be difficult for you to connect with your people.<\/p>\n

Bob Bumgarner, guest on the \u201cReplant Bootcamp\u201d podcast earlier this year,\u00a0said<\/a>, \u201cListening to the field will lead you to the future.\u201d This statement emphasizes the importance of cultural exegesis \u2013 paying close attention to the culture surrounding you and being able to use that to minister wherever God has placed you.<\/p>\n

If you are involved in a replant or revitalization of any kind, cultural exegesis will be critical to consider, and there are several tools to help you in that effort.<\/p>\n

Here are four ways to be more intentional about your surrounding context, ranked from least to most important.<\/p>\n

1. Study your demographic<\/strong><\/p>\n

In episodes\u00a086<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a089<\/a>\u00a0of the Replant Bootcamp podcast, Josh Dryer helped us understand demographics\u2019 vital role in your ministry. When I began working with churches at our association, we used a resource called\u00a0Mission Insite<\/a>\u00a0to provide a detailed report of demographics in our area. Using those reports, I created customized demographics for all our churches and began speaking on Sunday evening services, doing a presentation called \u201cWho\u2019s My Neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

While \u201cdemographics\u201d sounds boring to some people, this presentation helped our churches understand what were the most significant ministry needs in their area. Part of cultural exegesis involves thinking missiologically. If you use demographics to pull income information, average age, ethnicity and family structures, ask yourself, \u201cDoes my church look like my community?\u201d Demographics paint a picture with broad strokes to help us recognize how God wants to use our churches most effectively.<\/p>\n

2. Be in your community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another way to \u201clisten to the field\u201d is by being active in your community. As a replant or revitalization pastor, you will do yourself a favor by being as active in the community as possible. Some of the most helpful conversations I have been in have been at the coffee shop, a football game or a city council meeting.<\/p>\n

Please forgive me for quoting a Johnny Cash song instead of a theological book. Still, in the song \u201cNo Earthly Good,\u201d Johnny says: \u201cThe gospel ain\u2019t gospel until it is spread, but how can you share it where you\u2019ve got your head? There are hands that reach out for a hand if you would, so heavenly minded, you\u2019re no earthly good.\u201d In the podcast, Bob said, \u201cYou can\u2019t exegete your community from your desk.\u201d Don\u2019t forget that as a shepherd, you need to smell like the sheep. Be where your people are, and use your insight from the surrounding community to help you minister to their needs.<\/p>\n

3. Listen to your people<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to learn about your community and surrounding culture is to listen to your people.\u00a0What do they fear? What do they value? What is essential for your church in this community?<\/p>\n

After doing a \u201cWho\u2019s My Neighbor?\u201d presentation, one of our churches recognized the need to focus outwardly on their low-income neighborhoods. So they consulted an agency to do food drop-offs and started doing a bi-monthly food giveaway. On the second Saturday of those months, I drive through their town and see cars lined up for miles. With each bag of food, they give away tracts and invitations for people to visit their church. It all started with a pastor asking his congregation, \u201cWhat do you think are major needs in our community?\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget that those congregation members have likely been in your town longer than you and will be there long after you are gone. As they listen to you preach the Word, listen to their needs and let them lead their engagement in the community.<\/p>\n

4. Be led by the Holy Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mentioned in this episode was Henry Blackaby\u2019s classic work,\u00a0Experiencing God.\u00a0<\/em>In the book, Blackaby suggests that we should look around, see where God is at work, then join him in that work. Blackaby would say we need to be led by the Spirit if we are seeking to engage our communities.<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit\u2019s work involves prompting, convicting and leading. If we are walking by the Spirit, expect to think of prompted ways you can understand and minister to your context. Karl Barth once said we should \u201chave the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in another.\u201d Use Scripture to exegete your culture. One example given was in Acts 6, where a need arose among the apostles. The widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The word of God continued to spread when the apostles addressed the need, listened to the people and met the community\u2019s needs (Acts 6:1-7)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My encouragement to church leaders is to not be tone-deaf to the culture but instead be good students of it. While the gospel\u2019s message never changes, ministry opportunities sometimes change around us. If we study the people and listen to them while we are in the community, the Holy Spirit will lead us to minister effectively for the glory of God.<\/p>\n

This post originally appeared on the <\/em>Replant Bootcamp blog.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. \u2013 Peter Drucker. You may be able to rightly divide the …<\/p>\n

Know Your Context<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22759,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[53],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-22758","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-replanting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKnow Your Context - Church Replanting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/know-your-context\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Know Your Context\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Culture eats strategy for breakfast. \u2013 Peter Drucker. 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