{"id":306,"date":"2019-10-01T21:21:38","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T02:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/?p=306"},"modified":"2019-10-01T21:21:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T02:21:40","slug":"through-a-new-window-a-new-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/2019\/10\/01\/through-a-new-window-a-new-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Through a new window, a new perspective."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After many years\nof serving the Guahibo church, we have been learning many things. In recent\nmonths, we have been working together with some of the tribal church leaders to\nrevise the teaching materials for their churches. Virgilio, one of the key\nleaders, has grown a great deal personally and in his influence on the church,\nthe leaders and the others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have found that\nthere have been some changes, and not just in terminology. In working in cultures\nin which shame is a major theme, we have had to be more attentive to the\nperspective and worldview of the people who are receiving the teaching. We\u2019re taking\ninto account how they read the Scriptures through the eyes of their own cultural\nfocus, what they are hearing in their own minds. In the Word itself, they will\nbe able to find the answer to many of their questions and needs in the context\nof their culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have worked\non the direct application of the Word to Guahibo life and thought, and we will\ncontinue doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we got into\nthe story of Adam and Eve, we were left speechless as we were impacted by the\nway that God, using few words, conferred on them the honor of being created by\nHim. Every lesson has become an even more real experience in the life of the\nnew believers as they see themselves through the eyes of God with this new\nlens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that\nhas been helping the believers is to focus on stories that tell about how\nordinary people have struggled in their own context or cultural setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, with some of the church leaders, we\u2019re studying the history of the church in New Testament times, taking into consideration the context of Mediterranean culture. We\u2019ve been able to discover and explore those environments as scenarios that help explain the cultural values of the era of the initial development of the church. This has been a new window through which we have been able to discover and observe how God worked through His servants in rather complex cultural contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are some\nrelevant quotes from some of the books that we\u2019ve been studying on this topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Culture\nis the prerequisite to communication<\/em>” David A de Silva, Hope of Glory.\n\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\neasily forget that\u2026 reading the Bible is a cross-cultural experience<\/em>\u201d\n(2012:75). Misreading scripture with western eyes.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than a\nsimple theological controversy, this conflict has a social background. This is\nmade clear when we relate their social condition to theological issues.\u201d<\/em> (Notes from the book: \u201cCommunity,\nconflict and eucharist in Roman Corinth\u201d the social context of Paul\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The false honor\nsought by men and that which is given by God. Commentary on 1 Corinthians by\nSimon J. Kistemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaul\nredefines honor, giving prominence to the characteristics that promote social\ncohesion and mutual edification.\u201d<\/em> In the cited passage, Paul helps the people to choose that which\nis valued by the entire community\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b“The\nGod spoken about in Romans is worthy of honor, glory, and praise (1:25;\n15:8-12); he is the honorable Creator to be exalted (Rom. 11:36; 16:27).\n All the events of salvation-history magnify God\u2019s name and extol his\nhonor.  God is the ultimate honorable Being because of his life-giving\npower (1:3, 4:21ff, ch. 8) and great faithfulness. God is not a liar reneging\non promises to Israel, but he is persistently committed to the salvation\nof Israel and the world (chaps. 2-3).  Jesus \u2013 the honored agent of\nGod\u2019s benefaction \u2013 established and mediated God\u2019s honor.  Romans 1:3-4, a\ntheological foreshadow, establishes Jesus\u2019 honorable and exalted status as Son\nof God, Son of David, Messiah, and Lord, even despite his shameful death”.\n<\/em>Jayson Georges, \u201cFrom Shame to Honor: A Theological Reading\u201d Missiology\n(2010) 38: 295 Robert Jewett, \u201cHonor and Shame in the Argument of Romans,\u201d in\nPutting Body and Soul Together, pp. 25772.  \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God, by inviting\nus to consider entering through this window, has allowed us to discover some identity\nvalues and recognize the value that they represent to Him, according to His own\npurposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur common\nlife, in the opinion of Christ, is the most powerful force that He is willing\nto exert in order to attract other people to Himself\u2026 If the strategy of God\nrequires that people\u2019s common life reflect His kingdom, any other strategy is\nan apostasy and any other doctrine that competes with it is a heresy.\u201d John\nNugent, from his book Endangered Gospel (<\/em>back-translated to English from the Spanish translation<\/em>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guahibo\nchurch still has many truths to discover but taking into account the lens of\nhonor and shame has highlighted in color and intensity, through the reading of\nthe Word, a personal message of relationships and environments in which more of\nGod can be experienced. We ourselves have been blessed as we\u2019ve sought to look\nthrough this new window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a\nmutual joy to consider this new form of presenting and perceiving God and our\ndesire is that many more people can experience this very necessary honor\nconceded to each one of us through Him. To Him be the glory!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After many years of serving the Guahibo church, we have been learning many things. In recent months, we have been working together with some of the tribal church leaders to revise the teaching materials for their churches. Virgilio, one of the key leaders, has grown a great deal personally and in his influence on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1123,"featured_media":307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/alberto-gonzalez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}