Found in Translation

"Blessed is the one
 who does not walk in step with the wicked
 or stand in the way that sinners take
 or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
 and who meditates on his law day and night.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
 which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers." -Psalm 1:1-3

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." -Romans 15:4

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16-17

Yesterday in YBF we tackled a pretty big topic - the Bible. I know, I know, we talk about this book every week. Shouldn't be that surprising in something called "Youth Bible Fellowship." But rather than simply talk about certain sections of scripture, we took some time to step back and ask some bigger questions: What is the Bible and how did we get the bibles we read today?

When I was in high school, I remember having my non-Christian and/or agnostic friends ask me how I could believe in a book that had been translated so many times. Obviously there must be tons of errors. It couldn't be holy, divinely inspired, and inerrant - that doesn't make any sense! At the time I did not have many great answers for them - just some experiences of this good God that I could not shake that kept me from abandoning faith. Yes, there are many questions...but how can I just dismiss the very real experiences I'd had with Jesus?

Fortunately, God had given me the gift of a wonderful community that helped to nurture me through doubt and encourage good questions. Over the years, I have learned to hold faith and doubt in balance, offering my big questions to God while trusting God to provide the answers as well. In all of this, there's one grand lesson I have learned: The Bible is weird, the Bible is wonderful, and the Bible is the Word of God.

The incredibly unique thing about the Bible is that, unlike scriptures of some other religious traditions, it is of both divine and human origin. Like Jesus, it embodies the beautiful paradox of being both 100% divine and 100% human. People throughout history in different cultures, writing for different purposes, wrote stories inspired by their very real relationships with the Living God. These books, songs, and letters were not dropped from the heavens but instead broke into our reality on earth. And as time marched on, spiritual leaders recognized the need to translate the words of these texts in fresh ways and in language that could be understood by the common people even as languages transformed and changed. These scholars throughout history have taken on the task of faithfully translating the words of the Bible into new languages while doing their best to maintain the truth of the original text. (For more on the history of translation and canonization, see the ppt from Sunday Morning).

I am constantly amazed that Jesus did not spend his 33 years on earth meticulously writing down everything he wanted us to know. Instead, Jesus spent his time and energy pouring into people, ministering to the poor, and making disciples. The Bible is vitally important to us a Christians, but it is not God's preferred medium to spread the good news.

God's preferred medium is us. 

Since the earliest days of the Christian movement, disciples and missionaries have been spreading the message of God's redemptive work with humanity to new cultures and contexts. What is this but the act of translation? The beautiful consequence is that as the Gospel is brought to each new culture, the process of translation reveals new and unique facets of God's image reflected in the people hearing God's Word. God's truth is not lost in translation; it's found in translation. God trusts us and enables us to act as bearers of this weird and wonderful story. Isn't that amazing? So, as we continue to delve into this book week after week, may we recognize our role in the ongoing task of reading, interpreting, and sharing the Word of God. May we continue to engage in the task of asking good questions and not settling for easy answers. May we recognize that it is our responsibility to do for future generations what has been done for us. May we understand so that we may never let these precious words be lost in translation.

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