Part 1: New Translations

It had to be a surreal experience, to say the least. All of the disciples were together in that house, without their master who had led them for three years. Who knows what they would have been doing…sharing their experiences, talking about what they want to do next, wondering what the future holds? Then suddenly they hear a sound like the wind blowing violently, and it looks like there are tongues of flame coming to each of them, resting on them. Before they knew it, they were speaking in different languages. Now they could share the experiences they had with Jesus with those around them, with the people who were in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday.

We as Christians have received that same spirit. As Lutherans, we know that we received that same Holy Spirit in our baptism. It’s interesting that the first gift of the Spirit that the disciples received was the gift of translation, to be able to bring Christ to people in a way that they understood. And so now, even though we may not know foreign languages, we each speak a language that reflects our own experiences, our culture, our traditions. And it is crucial that in order to reach those like us, those around us, we must translate God’s words for our culture around us.

I need to make it clear that I am not calling for a new translation of the Bible. God knows that the last thing we need is another marketing blitz for the latest, greatest edition. I am calling for a new translation of our faith. It’s our calling as baptized, Holy Spirit-filled Christians, to bring this faith that we have made our own to the world. We assimilate this ancient faith into our own personal stories, let it pervade us and shape us and mold us into followers of Christ, and then bring that message to the world. We then take the languages of our culture, whether it be through reinterpretation of advertising clichés, visual arts, authentic personal stories or multimedia experiences and captivate them, making them obedient to Christ.