Globalization and contextualization: Reframing the task of contextualization in the twenty-first century

Abstract

In the face of globalization, approaches to contextualization developed in the late 20th century must be expanded upon. Two main developments of globalization are examined and implications for contextualization are drawn. First, the increased interconnectivity of the global church and the McDonaldization of ministry imply that the focus of contextualization must be increasingly upon processing, evaluating, and rejecting or assimilating these global Christian influences. Second, globalization had led to the hybridization of cultures from which four implications are drawn. Contextualization must be focused more on understanding and responding appropriately to rapid social change now, and less on preserving or transforming the “traditional culture” of the past. Contextualization must be more radically rooted in biblical truth and identity. Contextualization must reevaluate the place of the catholicity of the church in relation to theological and ecclesial traditions. Finally, contextualization might be reconceived as a process of hybridization as opposed to homogenization or fragmentation.

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