Dr. Outlaw spoke on Christopher Wright’s missional hermeneutic, and he addressed the question: “How can systematic theology be used to reach people cross culturally?” Despite language barriers, different cultures communicate in different ways. Therefore, complexities will obviously arise from ministering in a cross cultural context. The proposed “solution” for this issue is an adjustment from focusing on a systematic theology to biblical theology as a point of view that focuses on the narrative of Christ and God’s mission to redeem the world. He briefly overviewed Wright’s definition of a missional hermeneutic beginning his with negation of the misconceptions that: a missional hermeneutic is not based solely on the great commission, it is a mere proof of texting (i.e. ratifying preconceptions, picking pieces of the Bible that people want to follow and leaving other parts of it behind), it is simply a cultural perspective (arguing that there are many perspectives needing to be tethered into this process, and the plurality of perspectives does not imply relativism), and that this is a post-modern hermeneutic (because the Bible, being God’s word and one with God is eternal just as the story of God’s mission is an eternal, universal narrative that gives purpose to humanity and is the cohesive substance for all historical events and stories).
