translatability of God
I was thinking, (dangerous I know) and I found out that I believe the primary work of ministry is the translatability of God. Or perhaps a better way to say it is that our work is to plant a seed of Faith in every segment of culture and society. Of course we immediately think of politics and schools, but I actually think those are two areas we need invest ourselves in as people of character, but leave the religious rhetoric behind. (Don’t even get me started on the Republicanization of Evangelicalism!)
I was especially thinking about the translatability of God to the homosexual community (or tribe), the postmodern tribe, the post - postmodern tribe (yes it is already here and no you will not hear about it in your church or local Christian bookstore - I was going to write a book about it, but by the time I published it, there would already be a post-post-postmodern tribe).
I realized today that people talk in movies. What I mean by that is every third sentence goes, “oh, do you remember in the film . . . where they . . . and then the . . . came in and then . . .” etc, etc. Postmoderns and others on the edge talk in movies. While I have studied the culture and can speak to it intelligently in some ways, I haven’t watched a movie since the first week in July . . . and now it is the last week in October. In fact I do not believe that I have actually turned the TV on since the last game of the World Cup (not to be confused with the World Series), except to show some American visitors what Serbian Turbo Folk looks like.
Clearly I don’t talk in movies. The last movie I watched was a pirated version of Pirates of the Caribbean (no pun intended) at the local theater. I tend to talk in ideas and structures. Can I be a tool of the translatabiling of God to these other groups? And there are thousands of niches that have not had God translated to them yet: bikers (ricers and HD boys), NASCAR, quilting, cooking, antique car buffs, hunters, fishermen, hikers, mountain climbers, secretaries, Ambassadors, government, engineers (and thousands more) who all have their own language, codes, patterns, outlooks and points of view.
I guess the next question is which of these tribes is God calling me toward, and which are within my purview? . . . right after I figure out if the translatability of God reaches that far or not.
I was especially thinking about the translatability of God to the homosexual community (or tribe), the postmodern tribe, the post - postmodern tribe (yes it is already here and no you will not hear about it in your church or local Christian bookstore - I was going to write a book about it, but by the time I published it, there would already be a post-post-postmodern tribe).
I realized today that people talk in movies. What I mean by that is every third sentence goes, “oh, do you remember in the film . . . where they . . . and then the . . . came in and then . . .” etc, etc. Postmoderns and others on the edge talk in movies. While I have studied the culture and can speak to it intelligently in some ways, I haven’t watched a movie since the first week in July . . . and now it is the last week in October. In fact I do not believe that I have actually turned the TV on since the last game of the World Cup (not to be confused with the World Series), except to show some American visitors what Serbian Turbo Folk looks like.
Clearly I don’t talk in movies. The last movie I watched was a pirated version of Pirates of the Caribbean (no pun intended) at the local theater. I tend to talk in ideas and structures. Can I be a tool of the translatabiling of God to these other groups? And there are thousands of niches that have not had God translated to them yet: bikers (ricers and HD boys), NASCAR, quilting, cooking, antique car buffs, hunters, fishermen, hikers, mountain climbers, secretaries, Ambassadors, government, engineers (and thousands more) who all have their own language, codes, patterns, outlooks and points of view.
I guess the next question is which of these tribes is God calling me toward, and which are within my purview? . . . right after I figure out if the translatability of God reaches that far or not.