On contextualization

I don't often find this a suitable medium to discuss theology directly, but contextualization has been on my mind recently. In short, contextualization considers translation of the gospel message across cultural boundaries; assuming that my understanding the gospel of Jesus is naturally skewed my Western context then I must understand the appropriate context in which someone from another culture and native worldview must learn to understand Jesus the Christ. [random context article 1, 2]

This is all very interesting, and not unlike what must happen when you learn a new language, but one problem persists: if I must learn less and less of my culture (and be freer and freer of it's ways) to become more like the Jesus of the gospel I wish to communicate, then it follows logically that I learn less and less of my culture to understand the Jesus of the gospel, who is the Christ. (Or vice-versa, whichever you prefer.)

And if that's true then it seems that my mission awareness should not only include a cautiousness at conveying my native culture's worldview with the gospel but also an amazement that the Jesus of the gospel transcends our inability to comprehend him. So I wonder then how much context is too much for missions if Christ wants less and less from us in personal devotion. Not that context is bad, but let us learn in our ministry to be more aware of Christ, of ourselves, of others, and, mostly, of Christ, so that others may know more of him as well.