Asia-Africa Journal of Mission and Ministry

Vol. 22, pp. 81–105, Aug. 31, 2020

ⓒ 2020 Mission and Society Research Institute
https://doi.org/10.21806/aamm.2020.22.06

Awareness, Perceptions and Challenges of

Contextualization among Adventist Graduate
Seminary Students in Africa

Sampson M. Nwaomah 7

ABSTRACTChristian mission mandate is evidently linked to God’s

fundamental initiative and commitment to reconcile sinful humanity to
himself. Thus, the church today only continues in the mission of
reconciling lost humanity to God. In doing mission, however, a
continuing challenge has been on how best to communicate and facilitate
the acceptance of the gospel while remaining biblically faithful. This has
led to the somewhat contentious practice of contextualization. Within the
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa, the quest for contextualization
seems to have sustained discussions on its concept/description, whether
and how to contextualize the gospel and the challenges to such practice.
Therefore, this study investigated the awareness, perceptions and
challenges of contextualization among Graduate Seminary Students who
are Seventh-day Adventist pastors in Africa. The study adopted a
descriptive survey design. A purposive sampling method was used to
select two hundred (200) Graduate Seminary students from the four
masters and two doctoral programmes offered by the Adventist
University of Africa, Nairobi. Ninety-two (92) of respondents participated
in the survey. The data gathered from the survey were presented and
discussed using frequency distribution tables. The study discovered that
the pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Africa claimed to be
sufficiently aware of contextualization. However, some perceived it to be
the same as inculturation and indigenization. The study further revealed
that while the respondents agreed that contextualization could enhance
mission and faith practices, there seemed to be some challenges on the
spheres that contextualization could occur. Finally, the study identified

Manuscript received June 21, 2020; revised July 15, 2020; accepted Aug. 10, 2020.
Sampson M. Nwaomah ([email protected]) is with the Theological Seminary,
Adventist University of Africa, Ongata Rongai, Kenya. He is a Nigerian by nationality.
some challenges to contextualization. Therefore, relevant recommendations
were made based on the findings of the study
Keywords: Awareness, Perceptions, Challenges, Contextualization,
Graduate Seminary students, Mission, Biblical, Adventist Church.

I. Introduction

Christian mission is evidently linked to God’s fundamental initiative

and commitment to reconcile sinful humanity to himself (Gen 3:8–15;
6:5–6, 11–13). Scripture also indicates this divine task is entrusted to
those who have responded to the gospel to extend the same call to others
(2 Cor 5:18–20). Although the details and process of this task in the Old
Testament (OT) were not very explicit in some cases, it seems
unquestionable that God was committed to this task and assigns the same
to his covenant people in every generation. Hence, according to Wright
(2006, pp. 99–100) “the mission of God is to bless all nations on
earth…Israel in the Old Testament was not chosen over against the rest of
the nations, but for the sake of the rest of the nations.” Similarly, it has
been argued that mission in the OT had both an inward and outward
focus. The former was centered on generational commitment to pass on
and sustain the faith while the latter was focused on enlightening the
Gentile world of the grace of God and entreating them to embrace the
same. Consequently, from the call of Abraham (Gen 12:3; cf. Gal 3:8)
through the election of Israel (Exod 19:5–5, Isa 42:6) and ministries of
the prophets, the resolved agenda of God for his people and through his
people has been the salvation of humanity (Moskala, 2013, pp. 64–76).
The mission focus of God and his church is continued in the New
Testament (NT). Perhaps no event illustrates this more than the
incarnation of Jesus whose task is summed as seeking and saving the lost
(Luke 19:10). In this regard, Clowney (1995, p. 161) asserts, “mission
expresses the purpose for which Christ came into the world, and the
purpose for which he sends us into the world. His purpose is the purpose
of the Father. We are called to mission….” Likewise, it is observed “the
essential work of the church is to continue the work of Christ himself.
The ministry of Jesus did not end with his earthly life; it really just began.
It continues in the community which he established” (Rice, 1985, 210).
Thus, when Christ called his disciples, their principal assignment was to
engage in this divine task of saving humanity (Mark 1:17 cf. Luke 5:7; cf.
Matt 28:16–20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47–48; Acts 1:8). Consequently,
the narratives of the Gospels, the encounters in Acts, the chronicles and

82 Sampson M. Nwaomah
exhortations in the Epistles all describe in different forms and contexts
the divine commission and engagements, human involvements and
divine empowerment towards the fulfillment of this mission mandate
(Wahlen, 2013, 81–104).
The universal character of the mission and identity of the covenant
community is certainly why the first angel in Revelation 14 declares the
gospel is to be proclaimed “to those who dwell on the earth—to every
nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Rev 14:6). Thus, biblical and
contemporary history indicate that the church, as the custodian of truth (1
Tim 3:15), has endeavoured to respond to this command to proclaim and
demonstrate the good news of salvation in Christ in the propagation,
acceptance and demonstration of the grace of God which has been given
for the benefit of all humanity (Titus 2:11).
However, the grace of God demands allegiance to the God of
salvation by those who respond (Rev 14:6–12). Hence, Christianity
continues to be challenged by the question of balance between
faithfulness to biblical identity and doing mission in context. Therefore,
how does the church proclaim the truth in context and embrace its
recipients’ experiences and cultural expressions that conform to the
gospel as it seeks to propagate this good news of salvation. It is this quest
for cultural consciousness and appropriate adaptation in communicating
and living according to the principles of the gospel that has been referred
to as contextualization.
In mission discourses, various appellations such as inculturation,
indigenization, incarnation or contextualization of the gospel have been
used in reference to the modern attempts at reflecting the principles of
contextualization (Bevans, 2002, p. 26). There are, however, very varied
understandings of these concepts in mission practices. For instance, some
consider inculturation as:

the integration of the Christian experience of a local church into

the culture of its people in such a way that the experience not
only express itself in elements of this culture, but becomes a
force that animates, orients and innovates this culture so as to
create a new unity and communion not only within the culture
in question, but also as an enrichment of the church universal
(Crollius 1986, p. 43).

Similarly, in Africa, it is contended that:

because traditional religions occupy the whole person and the

AAMM, Vol. 22, 83

 whole of his life, conversion to a new religion like Christianity
must embrace language, thought patterns, fears, social
relationships, attitudes, and philosophical disposition if that
conversion is to make a lasting impact upon the individual and
community (Nche, Okwuosa & Nwaoga, 2016, p. 1).

Therefore, according the perspective of its proponents, it seems

inculturation is shaping the gospel by the culture of its recipients.
Relatedly, indigenization is viewed as the response of traditional cultures
to the gospel (Muchee, 2004, p. 113). The challenge for many here is that
the gospel may be shaped by the culture which may impinge on
fundamental biblical truths and principles. This challenge arises because
in some circles of African theological and mission discourse, the quest
for inculturation and indigenization arose as a protest against the negative
notions of African cultural values by the early Western missionaries and
their missiological paradigm.
On the other hand, Wogu (2018, p. 3) considers contextualization as:

The attempt to communicate the message of the person, works,

Word, and will of God in a way that is faithful to God’s
revelation, especially as it is put forth in the teachings of Holy
Scripture, and that is meaningful to respondents in their
respective cultural and existential contexts.

It could be inferred from this definition that the essential content of

the gospel is the same but the approaches of the communication of the
gospel message may adjust to a particular audience and culture. Hence,
contextualizing the message and mission of the church seems adopting
appropriate elements of a people’s culture in the transmission of the
gospel to facilitate responses to the gospel and nurture of the faith of the
recipients in their expression of worship and Christian living.
Writing on Christian numerical growth of Christian mission in Africa,
Kanu (2012, p. 236) claims “there is an evident lack of depth in the faith
and commitment of converts; there is also an increasing proliferation of
Afro-Christian Indigenous churches.” This is argued to be caused by the
intolerance to the cultural elements of receipts of the gospel. Therefore,
within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa, the context of this
study, this dilemma seems to have sustained discussions on the concept,
perception, relevance and what could be the challenges of
contextualization of certain elements of the gospel. Therefore, this study
is guided by three objectives which are to:

84 Sampson M. Nwaomah
 a. Determine the level of awareness of the concept of
contextualization by the Seventh-day Adventist Church pastors
and whether they consider this the same or distinct from
inculturation and indigenization;
b. Ascertain the perception of the pastors on the prospects and
relevance of contextualization of church life, ethics, and theology;
c. Identify what could be the perceived challenges towards the
practice of contextualization in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
mission.

II. Survey of Contextualization in the Scriptures

It seems contextualization is evident in the Scriptures as could be

observed in God’s encounter with his people by employing appropriate
cultural and contextual media in communicating the gospel. In this vein,
Athyal (2020, para. 3) observes:

God’s self-revelation was uniquely linked to actual history, the

history of a chosen nation that belonged to a particular culture,
time and geographical region. It was in history and through
history that God showed himself. It was the history of God’s
patient dealings with them for over a period of some thousand
years. God had to work with their capacity to understand their
language and their cultural background. This is
contextualisation in the true sense. Contextualisation of the
gospel is all about both the convergence of, and the encounters
between, the story of God’s present deeds among all peoples,
the biblical history of God’s redemptive work in Christ, the
story of the evangelist, and the story of those being evangelised
(Athyal, 2020, para. 3).

Therefore, there are elements of contextualization in both the Old and

New Testaments. The OT indicates God communicated through the
prophets to his people using symbolic actions. In different settings, God
employed cultural and historic experiences, similes, metaphors and
pictorial images. The figures of speech the prophets used in different
contexts were taken from the life of real people and understandable to the
people. These forms of communication were not alien to the culture and
worldview of the people but the realities, experiences and the locations of
the recipients necessitated different approaches of communication of the
gospel as he sought to reveal himself to them. Thus, it is contended that

AAMM, Vol. 22, 85

the pictorial images of circumcision, covenant, and the numerous
imageries that God spoke to his people in the OT seem to illustrate his
commitment in using cultural and familiar symbols to communicate the
gospel to his people and the Gentile world (Gilliland, 2002).
In the New Testament, and in fact in all of Scripture, the grandest
example of contextualization is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God so
loved the world (John 3:16) that He shared His very nature with
humanity and invites all into a life-giving relationship with the Godhead.
To facilitate this, God chose the means of communication that human
beings could fully grasp, a way that expressed the reality of what this
invitation into friendship and relationship was all about. Thus, God
became flesh (John 1:14; cf. Gal 4:4; Phil 2:5–8). God in the Person of
Jesus Christ, became a human being, a Jew. Consequently, incarnation is
the process of God becoming particular and identifying so that the gospel
can become graspable and intelligible. Incarnation clarifies God’s
approach to his revelation because he was not distant from humanity.
Accordingly, the gospel is a message that was contextualized in culture
(Bevans, 2002, pp. 11–15). One may then reason that if the gospel is to
continue to be intelligible to people, a form of incarnation in mission
seems a necessity and legitimate. In other words, it seems if Christianity
is to be faithful to its deepest roots and to its most basic insight, it needs
to continue God’s incarnation in Jesus by becoming contextual and
willing to assume cultural forms appropriate to the different peoples of
the world (Rice, 1985, p. 217).
Later in the NT, the decision of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:28–
29) illustrates the necessity and commitment of the Early Church to
contextualize. Similarly, Paul’s approach to ministry, although
misunderstood, and in conflict with early church leadership, indicated
contextualization. For instance, Galatians 2:1–10 suggest that Paul’s
approach to communication of the Gospel to the Gentiles was deemed a
compromise and thus questioned by the church leaders in Jerusalem.
Nevertheless, Paul identified with his audience and adapted approaches
of communicating the gospel to specific audiences to enable them
consent to it and gradually grow and mature in their relationship with
Christ. He affirms this contextualized approach in his first epistle to the
Corinthian congregation (1 Cor 9:19–23).
Therefore, it seems that Paul was conscious of the cultural peculiarities,
worldview and limitations of his audience such that while holding the
boundaries, he did not hesitate to adapt to people and cultures in his
proclamation of the gospel. For instance, while the Scriptures do not
provide the details of his contextualization practices in his ministry

86 Sampson M. Nwaomah
locations, it seems that Paul (i) in speaking to a Jewish audience appeals
to Israel's history, the Scriptures, and the Messianic hope (see Acts
9:19b–20, 22; 13:14–31), (ii) employed Gentiles’ worldview as a vehicle
to present the gospel to them (Acts 14:11–18; 14:16–34; 17:16–34), and
(iii) adapted to cultural demands such as circumcision (Acts 16:1–5; Gal
2:3–5), the Nazarene vow (Acts 18:18) and the purification rituals in the
Temple (Acts 21:20–24, 26). However, Paul vehemently refrained from
contextualizing where it seemed to compromise the core of the gospel
(Gal 5:2–12 cf. 1 Cor 10:14–22). Consequently, it might be appropriate
to argue that these patterns of context in ministry which might not
compromise the gospel and the fidelity of the church to God could still be
relevant in the contemporary church’s message and mission.

III. Seventh-day Adventist Church Mission and Contextualization

Since the principal goal of this study is to investigate matters of

contextualization within the Seventh-day Adventist Church message and
mission in Africa, it might be necessary to survey the theological
framework and mission identity of the Adventists. The Adventist Church
was one of the Christian denominations that arose from the consequence
of the great Second Advent awakening in the middle of the nineteenth
century in Europe and America. Specifically, the roots of the Church are
established with the Millerite Movement of one William Miller, who
after about two years of intensive Bible study, concluded in 1818 that
Christ would return to earth about the year 1843 (Maxwell, 1977, p.13).
However, the Second Advent of Christ on October 22, 1844, did not
occur as expected. Subsequently, the name “Seventh-day Adventist” was
adopted on October 1, 1860 following a meeting of twenty delegates.
Commenting on the name, White (1868, p. 224) states, “the name
Seventh-day Adventist carries the true features of our faith in front, and
will convict the inquiring mind. Like an arrow from the Lord’s quiver, it
will wound the transgressors of God’s law, and will lead toward
repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Conceivably, to clarify
and affirm its biblical character and fidelity, the Adventist Church has
presently systemized its doctrinal beliefs into twenty-eight articles of
faith commonly called Fundamental beliefs. The core of these beliefs is
its affirmation that salvation is by grace through faith in the redemptive
and substitutionary death of Christ at Calvary. The Church also believes
in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit which enables every believer

AAMM, Vol. 22, 87

to respond in obedience to the Ten Commandments of God in Exodus
20:1–17.
Following its organization in 1863, the Church believed she was
awakened to the challenges of preaching “the present truth” of warning
the world concerning the imminence of the “hour of judgment”
(Devereauk, 1988, p. 67). Thus, its mission is to “make disciples of Jesus
Christ who live as His loving witnesses and proclaim to all people the
everlasting gospel of the Three Angels’ Messages in preparation for His
soon return (Matt 28:18–20, Acts 1:8, Rev 14:6–12)” (General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2020).
Alalade (1981, pp. 31–33) identifies three factors that initially
influenced the SDA theology of mission as (i) the affirmation of the
validity of the Advents experience of 1844, (ii) the necessity of a
restoration of certain neglected Bible doctrines, particularly the Sabbath
before the occurrence of the Parousia, and (iii) health reform.
Commenting on the restoration aspect, Damsteegt (1977, p. 295)
writes,

“it was especially this aspect of restoration which came to play

an increasingly important role in the self-understanding of the
Seventh-day Adventists. The three angels’ messages of
Revelation 14, which were frequently designated as the third
angel’s message, form the basic structure of the Seventh-day
Adventist theology of mission.

Arising from this, Adventists believe one of the functions of the third
angel’s message (Rev 14:8), is to inform people about the fallen condition
of contemporary Christianity and point them to biblical truth. This
passage shapes Adventists’ theology of mission, and considerably
influences its’ self-image and attitude to contemporary Christianity.
Therefore, Seventh-day Adventists’ unique experience, theological
framework and theology of mission may have influenced its hesitancy to
contextualize in its mission in some places like Africa.
However, the subject of contextualization is not new in the discourse
on Adventists’ message and mission. Many Adventist scholars such as
Dybdahl (1992, pp. 14–17), Bruinsma (1997, pp. 14–16), McIntyre,
(1999, pp. 125–134), Christo, (2002, pp. 1–14), Bauer, (2005), Luna
(2010, pp. 139–151), Campbell (2015, pp. 195–204), Doss, (2015, 6–9),
and Wogu, (2018, pp. 1–13) have written on this subject such as its history,
methods, prospects and challenges in Adventist message and mission in
various parts of the world. Similarly, church guidelines on this subject

88 Sampson M. Nwaomah
were issued in 2009 and published along with other statements and
guidelines in 2010 (Rajmund, 2010, pp. 147–150). This guideline defines
contextualization “as the intentional and discriminating attempt to
communicate the gospel message in a culturally meaningful way”
(Rajmund, 2010, p. 149). It could also be inferred from this document
that the Adventist Church is cautious in the practice of contextualization,
counseling it be biblically faithful. Nonetheless, it acknowledges that
contextualization could be legitimate and necessary and thus supports the
communication of biblical truth in a culturally-relevant way that is
meaningful to the host culture yet faithful to the Scripture (Ibid).
One may then argue that the Adventist Church does acknowledge that
there may exist positive cultural elements in a given location. Such
positive cultural elements could serve as effective vehicles to
communicate the gospel, provide valid expressions of worship as human
response to God’s salvific act in history and affirm the church as God's
movement. Perhaps it could be in this regard that over two decades ago it
was suggested contextualization of the gospel can occur in three major
spheres—church life, ethics, and theology. Church life includes the
realms of hymnody, architecture, worship style, ecclesiastical structure,
methods of governance, decision-making, etc. Ethics involves the
standards and moral life of the church. Theology includes doctrinal beliefs,
statements of faith, and explanations about God. (Dybdahl, 1992, pp. 14–
17). However, perhaps for fear of compromising its biblical identity,
theological framework and mission identity, there is a reluctance in even
engaging in critical or intentional contextualization. Hence, this research,
as earlier indicated, was engaged to establish the level of awareness,
perception and challenges of contextualization among Seventh-day
Adventist gospel ministers in Africa.

IV. Methodology of the Empirical Study

A. Population, Sampling Techniques and Methods of Data

Collection

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa is organized into three

regional divisions. These are the East-Central Africa Division, Southern
Africa-Indian Ocean Division and the West-Central Africa Division. Each
division is further divided into unions which supervise the work of the
church in countries or geographical regions within a country. The Unions
are also organized into administrative units called Conferences/Fields

AAMM, Vol. 22, 89

which have local churches as their subordinate units. The church also
operates educational and health institutions. The population of this study
consisted of church workers who were enrolled in graduate ministerial
and theological studies at the Adventist University of Africa in Kenya.
The programmes at the Seminary covered in this study were the Master
of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies, Master of Divinity, Master of
Arts in Pastoral Theology, Master of Arts in Missiology, Doctor of
Ministry and Doctor of Philosophy in Religion. The sample population
was limited to some students who had active enrollment. A purposive
sampling method was used to obtain a good representation of the
population from the three divisions. The sampled population were about
200 Graduate Seminary students from the three Divisions of the church
on the continent. A questionnaire of four sections, using Google’s
electronic survey platform, was distributed in May and early June 2020.
The questionnaire collected data to determine the level of awareness,
perception and challenges of contextualization in the population. Section
one (1) was to obtain demographic data of the respondents. Sections two
to four sought data on the level of awareness, perceptions and challenges
respectively. The questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale, namely: (i)
strongly agree (SA) (2), agree (A), (3) neutral (N) (4) disagree (D) and
(5) strongly disagree (SD) in sections 2–4, to categorize the data obtained.
A total of 92 respondents returned the questionnaire. The questionnaires
were ascertained for completeness. The data gathered from the survey are
presented and discussed using frequency distribution tables for each
section. The tables show the number of counts and percentage for each
value of the variables.

B. Presentation of the Data and Discussion of the Findings

Table 1: Demographic Information of the Respondents
Number Statement Response Values Number Percentage

1 Bachelor’s 55 59.8
Educational
Attainment
2 Master’s 37 40.2

Master of Arts in Bibl.

14 15.2
Theo Studies
Current
3 Programme of Master of Divinity 28 30.4
Study at AUA
Master of Arts in
4 4.3
Missiology

90 Sampson M. Nwaomah
 Master of Arts in Pastoral
11 12
Ministry

Doctor of Ministry 22 23.9

Doctor of Philosophy 13 14.1

1–5 years 9 9.78

6–10 19 20.65

11–15 21 22.82
Length of
Years of
4 16–20 21 22.82
Service as
SDA Pastor
21–25 12 13.03

26–30 7 7.6

30 + 3 3.3

Church Pastor 60 64.1

Institutional Chaplain 10 11.2

Current Conference
5 Ministerial 10 11.2
Assignment Administrator

Union Administrator 11 12.4

Division Administrator 1 1.1

East-Central Africa
28 30.43
Division
Division of Sothern-Africa Indian
6
Ministry 37 40.21
Ocean

West-Central Africa 27 29.34

Anglican Communion 6 6.52

Catholic 14 15.21
Previous
7 Religious Pentecostal 11 11.95
Affiliation
African Independent
2 2.1
Churches

AAMM, Vol. 22, 91

 Seventh-day Adventist
59 64.13
Heritage

The demographic data as shown in Table 1 above from the respondents

indicated that 55 (59.8 %) of the respondents had a Bachelor’s degree
while 37 (40.2 %) had obtained a master’s degree. Further, the data
showed that 57 (61.9%) of the respondents were enrolled in four master’s
degree programmes while 22 (23.9 %) and 13 (14.1 %) were enrolled in
the Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Philosophy Programmes in Biblical
and Theological Studies respectively. These indicated that some of those
who were enrolled in the Master’s or doctoral degree may already have
had either of these degrees in different fields of study but desired higher
degrees in Religion and Theology for enhanced ministerial/theological
services.
On the length of ministerial service of the respondents the data
obtained revealed that 9 (9.78%) had spent 1–5 years, 19 (20.65%) had
put in 6–10 years in service, and 21 (22.82 %) had worked between 11–
16 years. Further, another 21 (22.82%) had 16–20 years denominational
work experience and 12 (13.03) had worked 21–25 years. Further, 7
(7.6%) reported to have worked between 26–30 years. The remaining 3
(3.3%) of the respondents indicated they had 30 and more years of
denominational service. Further analysis of the data indicated that 61
(66.29%) of the respondents had between 6 to 20 years’ work experience.
The implication is that the respondents might have served and engaged in
mission in multiple locations which could give them some significant
insights into the challenges of doing mission in context and at the same
time being faithful to biblical truths and teachings.
On the nature of current ministerial assignment, the data revealed that
church pastors constituted the larger percentage of the respondents at 60
(64.1%). The others were institutional chaplains 10 (11.2%), Conference/
Field administrators 10 (11.2%), Union and Division administrators 11
(12.4%) and 1 (1.1%) respectively. One may also imply from the large
percentage of frontline pastors who participated in this study that they
might have grappled with challenges of balancing biblical fidelity with
contextualization in their various locations of ministry.
On responses according to divisions, 28 (30.43%) were from the East-
Central Africa Division, Sothern-Africa Indian Ocean had 37 (40.21%) and
West-Central Africa had 27 (29.34%). These figures somewhat represented
the proportion of the number of enrollments from the divisions. Thus, it

92 Sampson M. Nwaomah
provided the researcher an opportunity to determine that the issue of
contextualization cut across the continent of Africa.
The survey also sought to find out the previous faith heritage of the
respondents. However, it was evident from the respondents that a
significant number of them, 59 (64.13%) claimed Seventh-day Adventists
heritage. This implied that majority of those who currently serve in
Adventist gospel ministry on the continent at all the levels had Adventism
as their parental linage. However, it was also observed that 6 (6.52%) had
Anglican Communion background, and 14 (15.2%) had Catholic heritage.
Those with Pentecostal heritage were 11 (11.59%), while 2 (2.1%)
indicated they had African Independent Churches faith background. It
might then be concluded that there may not be significant influence of
non-Adventist faith heritage on what could be the majority of the
respondents’ opinions on the subject of contextualization.

Objective 1: Determine the level of awareness of the concept of

contextualization by the Seventh-day Adventist pastors and their
understanding of its sameness or distinction from inculturation and
indigenization

Table 2 Level of awareness of the concept of contextualization by the Seventh-

day Adventist pastors and their understanding of its sameness or distinction from
inculturation and indigenization
No. Statement Response Values

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree

No
No. % No. % No. % % No.. %
.

1 I am familiar with
the concept of 47.
45 48.9 44 3 3.3 0 0 0 0
contextualiza-tion 8

2 Inculturation of
biblical teachings
and practices is
the same as 33. 20.
22 23.9 31 9 9.8 19 11 12
contextualiz- 7 7
ation

AAMM, Vol. 22, 93

3 Contextuali-
zation may also
be regarded as
the indigenize- 30. 43. 8. 14. 3.2
28 40 8 13 3
tion of biblical 43 47 69 13 6
teachings and
practices

4 The concept and

practice of
contextualization 42.
46 50 39 1 1.1 4 4.3 2 2.2
does seem to be 4
biblical

5 Appropriate
contextualization
is presenting
God's Word and
will in the Holy
Scripture faithful
to God’s 29. 1.
revelation but 61 66.3 27 1 3 3.3 0 0
3 13
meaningful to
respondents in
their respective
cultural and
existential
contexts

This study found that the pastors of the Adventist Church in Africa
asserted they were very aware of contextualisation as indicated by the
number of strongly agreed 45 (48.9%) and those who agreed 44 (47.8%)
to question one in the Table 2. They also reckoned the subject biblical as
indicated by 46 (50%) and 39 (42.4%) of the respondents to question
number 4 who strongly agreed and greed respectively as showed in the
table above. There was also an affirmation that appropriate
contextualization needs to be faithful to the biblical teaching on faith and
practice as indicated by 88 (95.6%), the cumulative number of positive
affirmations to statement number 5 in the table above. This indeed is the
goal of appropriate contextualization as observed by Wogu (2018).
However, from the findings more about half of the respondents— 22
(23.9%) who strongly agreed and 31(33.7%) who agreed to statement
number 2—concluded that contextualization is the same as inculturation.
Similarly, the majority of the respondents—strongly agree (28=30.43%)

94 Sampson M. Nwaomah
and agree (40=43.47%) to statement number 3—concluded that
contextualization is the same as indigenization. This might not be the
case if one fully comprehends the intent of inculturation or indigenization,
especially as understood and propagated by certain Christian persuasions
in Africa who view them as a response to earlier Western missionaries’
evaluation of African culture. Hence, there is need for an adequate
understanding of these concepts, noting the points of similarities (if any)
and distinctions in the quest for meaningful contextualization.

Objective 2 Ascertain the perception of the pastors on the prospects

and relevance of contextualization of church life, ethics, and theology;

Table 3 Perception of the pastors’ contextualization on church life, ethics, and

theology of the church
No. Statement Response Values

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree

No. % No. % No. % No. % No.. %

1 Contextualiz
a-tion could
negatively
impact on 5 5.4 14 15.2 7 7.6 44 47.8 22 23.9
biblical faith
and practices

2 Contextualiz
a-tion may
enhance the 66 71.7 25 27.2 1 1.1 0 0 0 0
mission of
the church

3 Contextuali-
zing worship
style in my
area of
ministry
does not 24 26.1 41 44.6 15 16.3 11 12 1 1.1
conflict with
biblical
principles of
worship

AAMM, Vol. 22, 95

4 Contextualiz
a-tion of
hymnody
may not
conform 19. 38.
with biblical 8 8.69 23 25 18 35 8 8.69
56 04
principles on
the function
of music in
worship

5 Church
architecture
could be
contextua- 20 21.7 51 55.4 14 15.2 5 5.4 2 2.2
lized in my
region of
ministry

6 Ecclesiastica
l structure
could be
contextua- 30. 43. 10. 13.
lized to 28 40 10 12 2 2.2
43 47 86 04
enhance
church
governance

7 Ecclesiastica
l decision-
making
processes 26 28.3 42 45.7 10 10.9 11 12 3 3.3
could be
contextua-
lized

8 Contextuali-
zing biblical
ethical
standards
according to
local ethical 28 30.4 38 41.3 9 9.8 11 12 6 6.5
values may
promote
church
growth

96 Sampson M. Nwaomah
9 Church
discipline
may not be
compromise
d if biblical
ethical
standards are 22 23.9 29 31.5 9 9.8 26 28.3 6 6.5
contextualize
d according
to local
ethical
values

10 There seems
to be nothing
wrong in
contextuali-
zing the
doctrinal 21 22.8 26 28.3 12 13 23 25 10 10.9
beliefs of the
Seventh-day
Church in
Africa

11 Contextuali-
zing
explanations
about God
and His
Message 47 51.1 39 42.4 1 1.1 4 4.3 1 1.1
could
enhance
mission and
faith

There was a positive perception of contextualization amongst the

respondents. The respondents seemed to agree that contextualization may
not negatively impact biblical faith and practices. This is indicated by 66
(71.7%), a combination of the responses of disagree and strongly
disagree to statement number 1 in the table above. On the three spheres
of contextualization, namely, church life, ethics, and theology, proposed
by Dybdahl (1992, pp. 14–17), the responses in Table 2 also implied that
the pastors of the Adventist church in Africa agreed that contextualization
may enhance the mission of the church as indicated by 66 (71.7%) and
another 25 (27. 2%) of the respondents to statement number 2. Further, it

AAMM, Vol. 22, 97

seemed that 65 (70.7 %), a combination of the positive responses to
statement number 3 did not perceive any conflict between
contextualization and biblical principles of worship.
However, the data from the responses revealed a hesitancy in the
contextualization of hymnody since about half the respondents (43=
46.73%), to question number four disagreed and 18 (19.56%) were not
sure of what to do on this subject. This, nonetheless does not reflect the
practice in many Adventist Churches in of numerous communities in
Africa where church music is appropriately contextualized. Also, it does
not appear there is a biblical objection to the contextualization of
hymnody if part of worship is to communicate with God meaningfully in
response of reverence, praise, joy and thanksgiving.
Further, on the sphere of church life, the majority of the respondents,
71 (77.1%), a combination of positive responses to question 5, also
indicated that church architecture could be contextualized in their region
of ministry. One may argue that contextualizing church architecture could
facilitate construction of church buildings and minimize cost, enhance
completion and vastly reduce the number of uncompleted church
structures that are found in most rural communities in Africa. This also
may provide more funds for mission rather than having some churches
with limited funds spend decades in constructing church structures.
On the area of decision making, the majority of the positive
responses 68 (74%), also agreed that this could facilitate decision
making. However, contextualizing ecclesiastical structure for purposeful
church governance as advocated by 68 (71%), the majority of the
respondents, must consider biblical qualities of church leadership. This
caution is because some local ethical values and qualities of leadership
might not cohere with biblical principles on church leadership and
governance (1 Tim 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9).
According to the majority of the respondents, 86 (93%), to question
11 in the able above, mission and faith of the adherents could be enhanced
if the church contextualizes explanations about God and his message.
This does not seem to conflict with biblical examples since examples
abound in the Bible of both God and his messengers employing
appropriate cultural worldviews to communicate the gospel and intensify
the demand of discipleship. In fact, it seems for many in Africa, if the
gospel is well-presented, using familiar and appropriate worldview values
and symbols, it might enhance reception of the gospel and commitment
to the obligations of discipleship.
However, it is unbiblical contextualizing moral values and ethical
standards, seemingly supported by 66 (71.7%), a summation of affirmative

98 Sampson M. Nwaomah
responses in statement number 8 and 60 (65%), a summation of
affirmative and neutral responses in statement number 9, who supposed it
may promote church growth and not compromise discipline, respectively.
Further, it is also very challenging to contextualize statements of faith,
dogma, and doctrinal beliefs apparently endorsed by a summation of
strongly agree, agree and neutral responses 59 (64.1%) to statement
number 10 on table above. As it could be observed in some incidents in
biblical history, the church could run the risk of gravely compromising
the gospel by pursuing cultural relevance without fidelity to God and
biblical truth. Some events such as Aaron’s erection of the Golden Calf
(Exod 32) and Jeroboam’s institution of an alternative worship system by
the erection and worship of calves in Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:25–
13:3) are negative implications of quests for inappropriate contextualization.
Further, in the NT Paul’s caution on the dangers of idolatrous culture and
its impact on the faith of a Christian (1 Cor 10:14–22) is also worth
mentioning.
Nevertheless, it seems, the Adventist Church in Africa needs to
distinguish a Western worldview in its acceptance of the culture of
missionaries and assessment of the cultures of the recipients of gospel.
Both worldviews need to be evaluated by biblical teachings and values
because not all expressions of culture cohere with biblical teachings and
preserve the biblical character of the church. This task is needful for the
Adventist church in Africa as a safeguard from dual allegiance in its
mission task (Nwaomah, 2017, pp. 65–81). Further, as Athyal, (2020,
para. 15) cautions:

When we allow our cultural context to shape our understanding

of the gospel without ourselves becoming subjected to the
power and challenge of the gospel, we end up with a distorted
gospel. In contextualisation we should guard against any
cultural captivity or cultural distortion of the gospel while we
seek to culturally understand, express and live the gospel.

Objective 3: Identify what could be the perceived challenges towards

the practice of contextualization in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
ministry in the population of study

AAMM, Vol. 22, 99

Table 4 Challenges to Contextualization
N Statement Response Values
o.
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

1 The
Seventh-day
Adventist
Church 5.4 14.1 17.3 44.5 18.4
5 13 16 41 17
theology is 3 3 9 6 7
averse to
contextuali-
zation

2 The
Seventh-day
Adventist
Church faith
1 1.1 12 13 9 9.8 43 46.7 27 29.3
practices do
not support
contextuali-
zation

3 The
Seventh-day
Adventist
Church does
not have a 23 25 21 22.8 14 15.2 30 32.6 4 4.3
clear
guideline on
contextuali-
zation

4 Church
leadership
rather than
the biblical
teachings
and 30.
28 38 41.3 10 10.9 11 12 5 5.4
practices is 4
the major
challenge to
contextuali-
zation in my
locality

100 Sampson M. Nwaomah

 5 My
theological
training thus
far has
35.
included 33 43 46.7 4 4.3 11 12 1 1.1
9
education
on
contextuali-
zation

On the challenges to contextualization, 58 (63%), a summation of

responses of disagree and strongly disagree to statement number 1, and
70 (76%), also a summation of responses of disagree and strongly
disagree to statement number 2 in the table above, acknowledged that the
Adventist Church theology and faith practices do not disapprove of
contextualization. However, close to half of the respondents, 44 (47.8%)
contended that the church does not have clear guidelines on
contextualization as indicated in the responses to statement number 3.
Nevertheless, this is not the case, since such responses may have arisen
from the respondent’s ignorance of the existence of the guidelines on
this subject. The guidelines can be found in the document Statements,
Guidelines, and Other Documents: A 2010 Compilation by the
Communication Department of the General Conference published by the
General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Rajmund,
2010). The document provides the church philosophy of contextualization
and suggest how it can be done in local settings. It seems also that the
seemingly reluctance of church leadership in Africa to contextualization
as indicated by 66 (71.7 %) of the respondents may also be attributed to
either inadequate biblical understanding of the subject and/or ignorance
of the church’s counsel on the subject. Thus, it might be necessary to
provide appropriate education in this respect. Finally, a preponderance of
the respondents 76 (82.6 %) indicated their theological training thus far
has included education on contextualization. However, this did not
seem to reflect in the response to the spheres of ethics and theology in
the practice of contextualization. One may then conclude that some of
the respondents may be very passionate about mission and have not
considered how inappropriate contextualization may significantly affect
the ethics and theology of the church.

AAMM, Vol. 22, 101

 V. Conclusion and Recommendations

This study has contended that the church is an earthly movement of

the people of God with distinct characteristics. It consists of people who
have responded to his call over time but live in faithfulness to him and
fellowship here in preparation for his coming. This same people are
engaged in the mission to reconcile lost humanity to God. In this task of
mission, it seems the communication of the message has always taken
cognizance of context. Since God’s revelation is not static, there is
progression in his self-revelation and understanding by humanity. He
communicated in new ways due to differences and changes in contexts.
He adopted new forms to convey the meanings of the gospel to lead
people to the fulness of the revelation in Christ. His messengers hence
contextualized according to eras, audiences and locations as biblical
history indicated. However, while the gospel may be offensive the pursuit
to make it meaningful to people does not mean it should be domesticated
to minimize its rebuke and/or transformation of cultural elements that
contradict the church’s biblical identity and its core teachings.
However, the Adventist Church while remaining theocentric in its
theology and message needs to also be salvific in its mission. Accordingly,
it seems, as the church does mission today in Africa with diversity of
culture, it is imperative to obtain an adequate knowledge of their audience
worldview, contents and meanings of their culture. This process could
enhance the mission commission of the church and yet protect its biblical
identify. Consequently, there is need to actively identify what in a particular
culture conforms to the gospel and the fundamental teachings of the
Adventist church. In view of the foregoing, the following recommendations
are made:
First, there should be adequate and continuous emphasis on
contextualization in theological and ministerial education curriculum of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa. Therefore, it is necessary to
correctly educate on contextualization and its distinctions in comparison
to inculturation and indigenization.
Secondly, the church, in collaboration with its graduate theological
Seminary and other allied institutions in Africa, could delineate the
spheres where contextualization could occur in its theology, faith
practices and mission. This may be accomplished by the provision of
guidelines cognizance of biblical imperatives that might assist in
identifying, critiquing and redeeming worldviews that are appropriate
and significantly enhance communicating the message of the church in
its mission in Africa.

102 Sampson M. Nwaomah

 Finally, the highest and regional administrative units of the church in
Africa, in collaboration with the subsidiary units, also need to educate the
membership on the appropriateness and significance of contextualization
in mission and Christian faith and practices.

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