The Missions Podcast The Transcultural Gospel With E.D. Burns
How does the gospel transcend cultural understandings like guilt/innocence, honor/shame?
In this episode, Alex is joined by longtime friend of the show, Dr. E.D. Burns, a missionary, author, and ABWE’s Executive Director for Training & Development. E.D. argues that many modern missionary methods fall into error by beginning with culture rather than Scripture. When missionaries adapt the message to perceived cultural needs: fear of spirits, desire for honor, community belonging, they risk redefining the gospel according to those felt needs instead of the Bible's central categories of sin, wrath, substitutionary atonement, and the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Dr. Burns illustrates how hyper-contextualized approaches can subtly blend works and faith, especially in cultures comfortable with karmic or performance-based religion. True gospel communication, he argues, must highlight penal substitution, justification by faith alone, and the supernatural transformation of the heart.
Key Topics
- The danger of culture-first vs. Bible-first missionary methods
- How methodology reveals underlying theology on the mission field
- The insufficiency of presenting the gospel only through honor/shame or fear/power lenses
- The centrality of penal substitutionary atonement and imputed righteousness
- The perennial battle to preserve faith alone in cultures predisposed to works-based religion
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Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.