The Call to Contextualize

Equip Your Church to Reach Today's Generations

Are your church's outreach efforts feeling stalled? Do you sense a growing disconnect between traditional evangelism methods and the people you long to reach?

If you've felt that familiar methods are failing and trust has been lost, you are not alone. The Call to Contextualize offers a practical path forward for ministry leaders seeking to address this crisis of evangelism.

Drawing on insights from twenty-three years of effective ministry, pastor Jae Hoon Lee uses biblical examples, theological principles, and practical case studies to present an incarnational model for evangelism called accommodation evangelism that adapts the gospel message and methods to the audience's needs and cultural context while preserving the gospel's integrity.

In The Call to Contextualize, you will find:



- A theology of contextualization and accommodation evangelism. Discover how to effectively communicate the gospel in a way that is recipient centered, adapting the message to the audience's language and cultural context.

- Practical ministry application. Learn from biblical examples such as Jesus and Paul, alongside the extensive experience of Onnuri Church, to implement contextualized evangelism in your ministry.

- Biblical, theological, and missional foundations. Explore the scriptural underpinnings of a recipient-centered approach to the gospel, focusing on principles of divine communication and the theological concept of incarnation.

- Gospel and culture. Study how the gospel is conveyed through cultural forms, necessitating the church's adaptation of its methods to resonate with contemporary society while being faithful to the original message.

- Missional communities. Embrace the call for your church to become a missional community that prioritizes relationships as the foundation of evangelism and values reconciliation as a core expression of God's love for humanity.



This book offers encouragement and practical guidance to churches seeking to reach the lost with wisdom, creativity, and love. It's time to reimagine what evangelism can look like in your context. Equip yourself and your church to engage people with the gospel in ways that truly resonate with The Call to Contextualize.



Jae Hoon Lee (DMin, Gordon-Conwell) is the senior pastor at Onnuri Church and chair of The Gospel Coalition Korea and Handong Global University. He is chair of the Korea Lausanne Committee and served as cochair of the host committee for the Seoul 2024 Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. His books include Great to Good, and he and his family live in Seoul, Korea.

Prologue
Part I: Understanding Accommodation Evangelism


1. Evangelism in Crisis–Why Has It Become Uncomfortable?


2. Defining Accommodation Evangelism–Communicating the Gospel in the Recipient's Language


3. The Biblical Foundation–Speaking so the Recipient Understands


4. The Theological Foundation–The Principle of Divine Communication


5. The Missional Foundation–The Incarnation and the Call to Contextualize
Part II: Practicing Accommodation Evangelism: Onnuri Church's Approach


6. Preparing and Implementing Accommodation Evangelism Events


7. Segmenting Guests for Accommodation Evangelism Events: Why and How


8. Practicing the Model–Events from 2001 to Today


Epilogue


Bibliography