How we present the Gospel in a culturally appropriate way is an incredibly important issue, not only to missionaries but to anyone who wants to be effective in communicating the Gospel. All to often, we communicate in ways that make sense to us, but are confusing to our audience. We look through our eyes rather than through their eyes. The Bible is a book that transcends all cultures, and is infinitely relevant to any people of any time in any culture. So if we are biblically grounded, we can communicate authentically the message of the Gospel from the Bible in different ways to different people. These are issues I’m exploring in a course I’m taking on “Honor and Shame,” although the course covers many other issues as well. Honor and shame are not subjects we in the West think of much, but rather we focus on Justice and Guilt, based on a Greek understanding of law, court systems and (in the case of the Gospel) penal substitution. While these are true, many people from non-western cultures understand far better the Gospel when it is communicated biblically in terms of honor and shame than guilt and justice. All these issues must be included, but being sensitive to the understanding of our hearers will only help in an authentic presentation of the Gospel.

To that end, I’ve been reading a book by David deSilva (who is a professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, and who has written a number of other books on this subject) called Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity (IVP, 2000). It is very biblically grounded, and although I would like to dissect the entire book, I will only touch on some thoughts from a couple of the chapters on Purity and Pollution.

The author’s big idea is that we should read the New Testament in view of the sociocultural categories of honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity and grace, kinship (and the household of God), and purity and pollution. We must pay careful attention to the Jewish and Greco-Roman background in which context the New Testament was written, and this will help to unlock some of the significant meanings of the text. The author works through many New Testament passages in the various areas, showing how to properly interpret the New Testament passages in light on the context in which they were written and prevailing themes the original readers would have understood. DeSilva says that the ultimate result is “a recovery of the ideology of the early Christians as this is inscribed in the inspired texts themselves – their vision for the community, their portrayal of relationship with God and each other, and the strategies of early Christian leaders for directing and enabling discipleship and the formation of vital communities of faith.” (21) While investigating the past, the author’s desire is to recover the resources of the early church for strengthening commitment to Jesus and how His people function in community in the local church and globally.

The issue of purity and pollution is not about the toxins that are floating in the air and water and on land in much of the majority world. Rather, as one reads through the Old Testament in particular, you find much time spent on what sorts of things defile a person, and how he/she can be purified. These “ceremonial” or ritual laws (although the segregation between ceremonial, civil and moral law is never given in Scripture – 255) show how to properly dwell in community and come into the presence of a holy, pure God. DeSilva says, “Purity codes are a way of talking about what is proper for a certain place and a certain time. Pollution is a label attached to whatever is out of place with regard to the society’s view of an orderly and safe world.” (243) Even as the book of Leviticus, for example, is filled with purity codes, so we in our society have a complex code of what is pure and what is polluted. Purity codes include where “dirt” is appropriate and inappropriate, how people handle food (dietary regulations), bodily discharges, times and seasons (sabbath, work times vs. holidays or family time), racial and social economic classes (such as homeless in our society). Purity is a way that our world is ordered so we can make sense of what and who belong when and where. (246) The concept of holiness is closely related to purity, something that is set apart from the ordinary, that is complete and perfect, sacred and powerful, and must be approached with extreme caution, for it holds potential danger and potential blessing, and is usually associated with the divine. Any pollution must be removed before entering the presence of the pure/holy. Profaning holy things brought disaster in the Old Testament, even upon the entire community (cf. Achan’s sin in Joshua 7; Moses removes sandals before burning bush – Ex.3).

“The central rationale for observing purity regulations and controlling and containing pollution is given in Lev. 11:44-45 and 19:2, “Be holy, for I am holy…. You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Israel was chosen by God’s grace to be His special people, set apart for Himself, and this is communicated clearly in Lev.20:22-26. We are now God’s people by faith in Christ (Galatians 3), and so must live out our calling as we walk with a holy God. Therefore, a clean heart (internal) is even more important than clean hands (external). The New Testament (from Jesus’ own mouth) helps clarify what the boundaries are between Christians and the non-Christian world. For example, Mark 7 (Matt.15) move the focus from pure vs. defiling food to speech and that which comes out of a man, this is what defiles him. Jesus reached across borders to bring the “unclean” back into purity in the community. In this way, “the command to ‘be holy, for I am holy’ (Lev.11:45) is fulfilled not in the protection of purity (“separate yourselves from uncleanness,” Lev.15:31), but in the action of extending wholeness to the unclean (“be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” Lk.6:36).” (284) As Jesus encounters “unclean” people, instead of he becoming defiled, his holiness purifies them, integrating them back into the community as the people of God. (Matt.8-9, Lk.7) Jesus taught that in contrast to some days being holy and some common, every day is appropriate to do good and not harm. (Matt.12, Lk.13, Lk.6:9) Sacred space is no longer defined in terms of the temple, but now is located in the individual believer, the community of Christians and the unseen realm of God. (Matt.23:16-21, 21:12-13, Jn.4:21-23, 2:19-22; Acts 7)

In an important statement moving from Old Covenant to New Covenant, DeSilva says, “The process of being set apart for God (made holy) is now an ethical rather than a ritual one.” (295) In other words, as we obey God, love Him and follow Him in our choices and heart’s desires, instead of focusing on the external practices that comprised much of Israelite life, this is how we are set apart for God. A central thought is shared in this statement, “The combination of Jesus’ death, the rite of baptism and the reception of the Word moves the believers from a state of defilement and blemish to a state of cleanness and wholeness, thus rendering them suitable for presentation to the holy One.” (307) It is the blood of Jesus that removes the pollution of sin, a sacrifice acceptable to God so that true worshippers may approach God in ways Israelites never could. (308) Jesus shows us that for the sake of the mission of the church, the lines separating believers from unbelievers remain permeable, that we may reach out and share Christ’s purity with others, by the grace of God through faith in Christ. To God be the glory, honor and praise now and forevermore! Amen!

Pressing on in a passion for God’s purity, Eric