Review of Saving God's Face (by EMQ)

He has worked as a church planter and now teaches theology and missiology for Chinese pastors. He maintains a blog at jacksonwu.org. Abstract Wu's work offers a unique model of contextualization that helps mission practitioners and missiologists avoid reading their own cultural values and worldview into Biblical interpretation. The model allows culture to lead the conversation in a process, so that contextualization is not merely a matter of communication or application, but of interpretation. In Wu's work, the interpretation is through "Chinese eyes" but his model is promising for contextualization in any culture. Two FIGURES provide illustration. Wu explicates themes of honor and shame in Scripture that are usually under-emphasized in Western theology, and finds them prevalent. He demonstrates how these themes can elucidate Biblical truth in new ways.

Mission Frontiers, 2014

Missiology, 2016

Honor and shame are critical aspects of a biblical soteriology. In order to demonstrate the point, this article surveys three key doctrines-sin, atonement, and justification by faith. Shame is a subjective and objective reality. It is both the consequence and defining feature of sin. Within the context of a collectivistic covenant relationship, Christ pays the honor-debt owed by those who give their loyalty to him. In so doing, Christ not only glorifies his people; more importantly, he saves God's face.

Global Missiology, 2013

Although there is only one gospel (Gal 1:6-8), evangelicals find it difficult both to answer the question, "What is the gospel?" and thus to contextualize it. Many people concur with the idea that Scripture must be central and decisive in contextualization. Moving beyond this basic principle has proven more difficult. Hundreds of books, articles, essays, and blog posts mull over the relationship between the Bible and culture. Despite such labor, evangelicals struggle to develop methods of contextualization that both recognize the Bible as supremely authoritative and reveal God's truth in ways that make sense in diverse settings, not importing a foreign culture under the guise of the "gospel."

Mission Frontiers, 2015

Orality Journal, 2014

In recent years, evangelicals have gained greater appreciation for the needs of oral learners. In particular, people increasingly realize the importance storying in theological instruction. This contrasts traditional, reading intensive methods. In effect, evangelical ministries, such as the International Orality Network (ION), shift our focus from the “what” question to the “how” question. Rather than debating the content of our message (“what”), we now consider the way (“how”) we convey the truth. Although communication and application are critical, they are not most fundamental to contextualization. As I have argued elsewhere, contextualization begins at the level of interpretation, which is dependent on worldview. How often do we overlook the cultural lens through which we reach our theological conclusions? We desperately need humility to acknowledge how denominational and organizational subcultures can mislead us into “theological syncretism,” whereby we confuse the gospel with our theological tradition. We address worldviews by asking “why” questions. Worldview questions involve our rationale (Why do we believe this?) and heart (Why is this important?). We need to consider a number of more basic issues before asking, “What stories should we tell?” (information) or “How do we tell them?” (technique). “Why” concerns understanding; thus, it determines and shapes application (i.e. what? how?). Oral cultures tend to share certain characteristics. For instance, many oral learners have an “honor-shame” worldview. By contrast, western missionaries are likely to emphasize themes like law and guilt. Even if the latter have good doctrine (“what” should we believe?) and strong communication skills (“how” to tell a story), a more basic problem remains. They do not speak the same “worldview language.” Therefore, missionaries may not answer the key “why” questions that matter most to oral learners. Worse still is that the missionaries potentially convey the notion that the Bible mainly speaks about Western concerns. In this paper, I will briefly answer two important “why” questions. First, why do oral learners think the way they do? Second, why are honor and shame important for gospel ministry? I will conclude by suggesting a few applications for theological education.

Global Missiology, 2013

29. To oversimplify a bit the distinction between "systematic theology," and "biblical theology," one might say that systematic theology begins with the reader's questions on a topic (i.e. Church, end times, Holy Spirit, etc.). By contrast, biblical theology begins with the authors' own questions, seeking to find some unity to the biblical authors' perspective as conveyed by his language within his original context. The two cannot be separated so neatly in actual practice. Theoretically, biblical theology should form the basis for sound systematic theology. 4 To make this assumption would equally discredit traditional western theology since western theologians have used a "Western" lens to exegete Scripture.

The grand tour question for this paper is, why is it important to view Scripture as a grand narrative? Sub-questions include: Why do we assume that the Bible is a grab bag of stories? Characters? Symbols? Rituals? Themes? Why is the grand narrative of Scripture given so little attention? Why does the West (and those who have studied under her) have such a fragmented understanding of Scripture? How did we manage to untell two-thirds of the Bible? Why does the New Testament receive most favored nation status in the West? Why does the North American church tend to understand the usefulness of the Old Testament solely for children? Was the New Testament ever intended to introduce Jesus to the world? Why do all four Gospels reference Israel before telling the Jesus story? Does the grand narrative of Scripture have anything to say about evangelism? Discipleship? What necessary parts of the gospel story have been left on the cutting room floor?

Global Missiology, 2013

Southeastern Theological Review , 2016