How do experiential truth and the bondage-breaking power of the Spirit support every believer to have a right relationship with God?

Given the fact that the Bible’s primary concern is our relationship to God, a relationship that starts with commitment or allegiance to Him, where are the contextualization studies dealing with relationship? What are the culturally appropriate varieties of commitment and relationship to God through Jesus Christ? And, since spiritual power is high on the list of concerns for both biblical peoples as well as for most of the peoples of the present world, where are the contextualization studies dealing with spiritual power? Doesn’t the Bible have a lot to say about this subject? And might there not be culturally appropriate differences in the ways God’s authority and power are to be exercised from society to society?

Charles Kraft asks: Where are treatments of the more experiential side of Christian life and practice—theology as it is lived, not just as it is thought about?

In 1991 and 1992¹ I published articles dealing with three encounters that are crucial to the experience and communication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I labeled these encounters: Allegiance (or Commitment), Truth and Power. As I have pondered these encounters, I have come to the conclusion that these areas are even more important than I had realized.

In my articles, I pointed out that each of these encounters leads to a specific very important dimension of Christian experience: allegiance leads to relationship, truth leads to understanding and spiritual power leads to freedom. Each of these areas is a crucial dimension of the God-connected life. I now believe the areas of encounter are pointing to the three crucial dimensions of Christian experience and witness. If so, we need to theorize concerning contextualization in each of these areas, rather than simply dealing with the truth (knowledge) area.

What I Mean By Dimensions

A dimension is an aspect of Christianity that, though closely interrelated with the other dimensions, is quite distinct in its content and, therefore, needs to be defined and treated as a distinct entity. We can focus on this distinctness in several ways. One way is to look at the distinctness of the human problems in view under each category.

There are those in the evangelical community who are cult watchers. Though they know a lot about cults and biblical truth, they seem to poorly understand spiritual power. They, therefore, are very good at exposing the errors of the cults, but can do nothing with their power. In fact, some of them in their lack of understanding of power, actively condemn legitimate Christian power ministries along with the cult groups.

The Power of the Cross: The Biblical Place of Healing and Gift-Based Ministry in Proclaiming the Gospel

There are consequences to a powerless Gospel, yet there is a way forward.

Communicating and Ministering the Power of the Gospel Cross-culturally: The Power of God for Christians Who Ride Two Horses

By Charles and Marguerite Kraft

“Man of God, we will beat you,” the demon said, “because your people ride two horses.” This statement was made to Tanzanian Christian priest Felician Nkwere as he was breaking the power of a demon. The two horses referred to are the “horse” of allegiance to Jesus and the “horse” of a continued dependence on the power of Satan to fill in gaps not provided for by the Christianity brought to Tanzania by western missionaries.

What these Tanzanians had experienced was a Christianity without the Bible’s full vision of God’s power working in and through His people, strong on the need for a commitment to Christ for salvation and strong on truth as understood intellectually. That Christianity was and is weak, however, in the area of greatest concern to peoples like these—the ability to deal with the evil powers that are continually pummeling them with misfortune, disease, infertility and other ills. Since no answers are provided in these areas by most of the traditional brands of western Christianity, Tanzanians and a majority of the rest of the peoples of the world who have been converted to such powerless Christianity continue to make use of their traditional power sources. In doing so, they inadvertently are trying to ride a second “horse,” a satanic horse, at the same time that they seek to follow Christ.

The Scriptures are clear that we are not to worship any God but the true God for, God says, “I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals” (Exo. 20:3, 5 GNB). For most of the world, however, including the western world, traditional Christianity has presented an incomplete God, a God who created and redeemed but whose current activity is difficult to validate. We have a Christianity with a wonderful past and an exciting future, but the present is for many very disappointing. Though large numbers of westerners seem relatively satisfied with this God, who is less than the God we see in Scripture, most of the rest of the world is not. They, like biblical peoples, expect God to be a God of the here and now, a God who provides enough spiritual power for daily living, power to ward off the evil powers that torment them.