INT-525 topic 4

4. Incarnational Ministry and
Majority Worldviews
Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Transformation of Worldview
The World Turned Upside Down
Acts 17

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a
synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his
custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with
them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it
was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead, and saying, “This Yeshua, whom I proclaim to you,
is the Messiah.”

(Acts 17:1–3 ESV)

Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of
the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking
some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set
the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason,
seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

(Acts 17:4–5 ESV)

When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and
some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting,
“These men who have turned the world upside down have
come here also, and Jason has received them, and they
are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that
there is another king, Yeshua.

(Acts 17:6–7 ESV)

And the people and the city authorities were disturbed
when they heard these things. And when they had taken
money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them
go. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by
night.

(Acts 17:8–10 ESV)

London, 1643
If buttercups buzz'd after the bee,

If boats were on land, churches on sea,

If ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows,

And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse,

If the mamas sold their babies

To the gypsies for half a crown;

If summer were spring and the other way round,

Then all the world would be upside down.

Acts 17:1-13
1. Paul went to the people-group

Paul taught in the synagogue
Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to su
ff
er and to
rise from the dead, and saying, “This Yeshua, whom I
proclaim to you, is the Messiah.”

(Acts 17:2–3 ESV)

Paul taught in the synagogue
a. Paul went to the Jews
fi
rst (Romans 1:16)

b. Paul explained gospel in terms audience understand

Acts 17:1-13

2. Paul exposited Scripture

Acts 17:1-13


3. Paul used Reason

Acts 17:1-13


3. Paul used Reason

4. Paul experienced Newton’s Third Law of Missions

Newton’s Third Law of Missions
For every action there is an opposite & equal reaction

Newton’s Third Law of Missions
1. For ever action: Proclamation of Gospel

2. There is an equal: Some will respond

3. And opposition: Some will oppose

2. Equal
response
a. Some will always respond

b. But it is not always those we expect

Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of
the leading women.

(Acts 17:4–5 ESV)

3. Opposite
Some will oppose

“These men have turned the world upside down”

But the [other] Jews were jealous, and taking some
wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city
in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to
bring them out to the crowd.

(Acts 17:4–5 ESV)

There will always be opposition to the gospel

How do we respond to opposition?

Paul in Athens
Acts 17:16-18:1

Philippi
Troas
Thessalonica
Jerusalem
Athens

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was
provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of
idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and
the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with
those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean
and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And
some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others
said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—
because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

(Acts 17:16–18 ESV)

They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying,
“May we know what this new teaching is that you are
presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears.
We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now
all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would
spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing
something new.

(Acts 17:19–21 ESV)

Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of
Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
For as I passed along and observed the objects of your
worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the
unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown,
this I proclaim to you.

(Acts 17:22–23 ESV)

The God who made the world and everything in it, being
Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made
by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he
needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life
and breath and everything. And he made from one man
every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of
their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and
perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

(Acts 17:24–27 ESV)

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him
we live and move and have our being’; as even some of
your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his
offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to
think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an
image formed by the art and imagination of man.

(Acts 17:27–30 ESV)

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he
commands all people everywhere to repent, because he
has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of
this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the
dead.”

(Acts 17:30–31 ESV)

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some
mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about
this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men
joined him and believed, among whom also were
Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris
and others with them. After this Paul left Athens and went
to Corinth

(Acts 17:32–18:1 ESV)

Tim Hyslip
Jewish Voice Ministries
African Missions

Majority Worldview:

Congolese Society

Majority Worldview:

Haitian & Voodoo Culture

Animism, belief in innumerable spiritual beings
concerned with human affairs and capable of
helping or harming human interests.
Park, G. Kerlin (2020, October 29). Animism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism

Humans
Shamans
Priests
Healers
Witches
Gods Spirits
Ancestors Animal
Spirits
Physical
World
Spiritual World
Rituals
Rituals
Rituals
R
i
t
u
a
l
s
Spiritual World

Themes in Animism
• Dreams - people dream of dead relatives & believe they’re still alive,
and believe that the dream state is a spiritual realm & their dead relatives
are trying to communicate with them.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds - A spiritual world intersects the physical
world in which spirits, ancestors, and gods live.

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animated things have souls - Things that move (rivers, animals, wind)
have souls and are imbued with humanlike qualities.

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Animate things possess souls
• Animal Spirits - Animal spirits display their personalities according to
how they act toward humans (ex. A deer gives itself up to be hunted).

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces - Places where the spiritual world intersects the physical
and special people can communicate or interact with it.

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred People (Shamans) - Humans with the ability to interact with the
spiritual world and communicate with spirits.

Themes in Animism
• Dreams
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred People (Shamans)
• Ancestors - Departed family members still part of the community.

Witch / Healer
May or may not be a Shaman.
Specialist who is able to heal and
control spiritual powers
Eliade, M. and Diószegi, . Vilmos (2020, May 12). Shamanism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/shamanism

Shaman
Originally described the practice
of the Tungus in Siberia.
Specialists who communicate
with spirits and may be inhabited
by them.

Shaman
Spirit possession

Ecstatic dance

Mask represents the spirits

Often a supernatural practice
(example sitting in a
fi
re)

Fetish
A religious object such as an
animal or
fi
gurine believed
inhabited by a spirit and having
spiritual power
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fetish

Zouli de Man
fl
a in Cote d’Loire (Ivory Coast)

The Worldview Families
Evolution of Worldviews in the West
• Premodern - Catholic, Traditional Judaism, Islam, animist

• Modern - Rationalism, Naturalism, Deist, Empericist

• Postmodern - Relativist, Spiritualit, Constructivist

• Critical Theory

Pre-Modern Worldviews
1. Divine Revelation is the primary source of knowledge

2. Divine Revelation is NOT subject to inquiry or critique

3. Divine Revelation is mediated

4. Human authority has divine origins

5. All law has divine origin but is relative (ex. Sefardic v Ashkenaz, Western v. Byzantine)

6. No di
ff
erentiation between Secular & Sacred

7. Super Natural Experience is Taken for granted

Pre-Modern Worldviews
Jewish Oral Torah • Roman Catholic Church Tradition
• Jewish Oral Torah passed down from Moses

• Catholic Church Tradition passed down from Peter

• Islamic Oral Tradition passed down from Muhammad

Model of Bible Interpretation
Text Reader
Writer Language Translation
Copyist
Errors
Writer’s
Cultural
Milieu
Reader’s
Cultural
Milieu

God
Inspiration

Model of Bible Interpretation
Text Reader
Writer Language Translation
Copyist
Errors
Writer’s
Cultural
Milieu
Historical
Events
Writer
Describes
Audience
Exegete
is
Addressing
Premodern: Meaning mediated by Authority
Religiou
s

Authority
Meaning
God
Rabbinic authority Oral Tradition Papal Authority

Jesus’ Incarnational Ministry
•Jesus was born into Jewish world

•Jesus learned Jewish culture & literature

•Jesus was a citizen of ancient Israel

•Jesus communicated to Jews as a Jew

•Jesus engaged with Jews as a Jew

Paul’s Incarnational Ministry
•Paul was born into the Greco Roman world

•Paul learned Greek culture & literature

•Paul was a citizen of Rome

•Paul spoke Latin, Greek, and Hebrew

•Paul socialized with Greeks as a Hellenist

Incarnational Ministry
Acts 17
1. Being a student of culture

2. Immersing oneself in culture

3. Intentionally strategizing to engage culture

• Paul spoke Greek

• Paul read Greek literature

• Paul used Greek Bible

• Paul knew social &
business norms

1. What should you do to become a
student of the culture you are reaching?

2. Immersing oneself in culture

• Paul surveyed Athens

• Paul Roman citizen

• Paul traveled

2. How can you practice cultural immersion?

3. Strategizing how to engage
the culture

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews…To
those outside the law I became as one outside the law
(not being outside the law of God but under the law of
Messiah) that I might win those outside the law…I have
become all things to all people, that by all means I might
save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may
share with them in its blessings.

(1 Cor 9:20–23 ESV)

How did Paul Present the gospel

a. Paul affirmed his audience
Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very
religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects
of your worship

b. Paul identified a connection
As I passed along and observed the objects of your
worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the
unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown,
this I proclaim to you.

c. Paul explored with shared beliefs
The God who made the world and everything in it, being
Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made
by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he
needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind
life and breath and everything.

d. Paul appealed to their literature
Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him
we live and move and have our being’; as even some of
your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his
offspring.’ (Acts 17:27–28 ESV)

e. Paul explained ALL the gospel
He has
fi
xed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of
this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the
dead. (Acts 17:31 ESV)

f. Paul avoided offense (except gospel)
• Paul did NOT talk about the Jewishness of Jesus

• Paul did NOT highlight his own Jewishness

• Paul did NOT insult Greek religion

f. Paul avoided things that alienate
What are ways Christians offend & alienate seeker?

Gosple should be
our only offense

So What?
1. Our message must be the entire gospel

2. Our ministry must begin with personal connections

3. Our method must be incarnational

Discussion:

What does an incarnation ministry look like?

I have seen the business that God has
given to the children of man to be busy with.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,
(Eccl 3:10–11 ESV)

Redemptive Analogies
God, grants general revelation to every man & woman. He
imprinted individual human cultures in a variety of ways. A
missionary can discover how to explain the gospel to members of
a culture if they discover the particular way God imprinted that
culture.

Richardson, Don. (2006). Eternity in Their Hearts. p. 190

Eternity in Their Hearts
Don Richardson (1986/2006)

Examples of Redemptive Analogies

Case 2: The Passover Afikommen

Case 3: Karens & the Lost Book of Ya’

Karen Tribe & the Golden Book
Burma, 1830
•Legend of a Gold & Silver Book

•Story of the God Y’wa

•Book was lost

Burma, 1830
• Y’wa created the world

• He gave people food & drink

• Created the prohibited “fruit of trial”

• Mu-kaw-lee deceived man & woman to eat it

• They became sick, death came to world

Burma, 1830
• Sau-qua-la came to British Governor

• Knew white people have the Golden Book

• Asked British to send teachers with the book

Red Banners & the Legend of Nian

Chinese Lunar New Year (February)

Biblical

Writer Minister Recipient
Ancient Culture Minister’s Culture Recipient’s Culture
Cross-cultural Communication

Biblical

Biblical

Text

Biblical

Biblical

Text
Encoding Decoding

Biblical

Biblical

Text
Message
Encoding Decoding
Encoding

Biblical

Biblical

Text
Message
Encoding Decoding
Encoding
Decoding

Biblical

Biblical

Text
Message
Feedback
Encoding Decoding
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Encoding
Decoding

Biblical

Biblical

Text
Message
Feedback
Encoding Decoding
Encoding
Encoding
Decoding
Decoding

Minister Recipient
Minister’s Culture
Recipient’s Culture
Message
Feedback
Encoding
Encoding
Decoding
Decoding

Figure 13.1 The Missional Helix
Van Rheenen 2014, 309

INT-525 topic 4

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