Contextualization in Karl Barth's Theology of Preaching
From his preaching ministry experience
Barth expresses the problem he faced between the infinite
message of the Bible and the life of his audience:
I sought to find my way between the
problem of human life on the one hand and the content of
the Bible on the other. As a minister I wanted to speak
to the people in the infinite contradiction of their
life but to speak the no less infinite message of the
Bible, which was as much of and riddle as life. Often
enough these two magnitudes, life and the Bible, have
risen before me (still rise) like Scylla and Charybdis…(Barth
1957).
The difference between contextualization
and assimilation can be explained in this metaphor of Scylla
and Charybdis. If the preacher only speaks about the problem
of human life, or if the point of view determines entirely
the way that the message is received, it is assimilation.
Contextualization maintains a tension between Scylla and
Charybdis. Contextualization of preaching maintains a
balance between "speaking to the people in the infinite
contradiction of their life" and speak the no less infinite
message of the Bible, between the two magnitudes, life and
the Bible. Lesslie Newbigin put it:
“There is the Scylla and Charybdis
between which one must steer.” On the one side there is the
danger that one finds no point of contact for the message as
the missionary preaches it, to the people of local culture
the message appears irrelevant and meaningless. On the other
side is the danger that the point of view determines
entirely the way that the message is received, and the
result is syncretism (1994). On one side, uncontextualized
message may result in irrelevance, that is, ineffective
communication. Christian message sounds foreign to the
audience of the local culture. On the other side there is
the danger of unbiblical contextualization, whose result is
syncretism.
How can a preacher get close enough to
life of the audience, and yet get equally close to the
biblical text? This is the question a preacher has to face
because there is an ongoing tension between closeness to
life and closeness to the text (1991). The message of the
text must be the Word of God for the audience in their
contemporary context. The task of a preacher is to bring the
gospel message to audience in their unique situation, in
their particular place and in their particulate time.
With Barth, contextualization of
preaching is "adapting the message to the congregation,”
“Adapt the message to the congregation,” says Barth.
Contextualization of preaching is more than contextualizing
to a context. It is "adapting the message to the
congregation.” Context is impersonal, but congregation is
personal. With Barth the goal of contextualization is
primarily for personal communication.
This is why the contextualization of
preaching has incarnational nature. Contextualization aims
at incarnated communication of God's love and message
through the medium of the preacher to the audience. With
Barth, contextualization is not an abstract notion, but a
concrete experience. Barth does not talk about contextual
theology for a nation or for a country. Rather,
contextualization is a personal experience with specific
people group or with a specific faith community in a
specific ministry context.
As Barth says, the preacher needs to
genuinely love the congregation – with a love that expresses
itself in an incarnational life style. One way for
incarnational love is identification. The preacher—whether
he or she is a missionary or a pastor—is not an outsider for
his or her audience as a congregation. There should be no
intercultural barrier between the clergy culture and that of
the laity.
The preacher will love his congregation
and feel that he is one with them. His or her constant
thought will be: “These are my people and I long to share
with them what God has given to me” (Barth 1963). In this
case, terms such as adaptation, incarnational life style,
incarnational love, and the principle of identification
serve as alternative words for contextualization. These
terms that appear in Barth's theology of preaching also
clarify the meaning of contextualization.
 ©
This article was written on February 23, 2005. Posted on this site on
Wednesday, June 24, 2009.
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