Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Of Language and Registry

Going out for breakfast is always an adventure; yesterday was no exception. Linda and I went to one of my favorite places - Knead the Dough. For reasons of God's design I have the gift of going somewhere and attracting people.

One of the people that was snared in this net was a gentleman whom we first made contact with two years ago while Christmas caroling in the neighborhood. He and his family had just moved here and we were the first people to stop at his new home and make them feel a part of a larger community. My guest is a band teacher at a school in Buffalo.

In the course of our conversation he shared that much of his wife's family are latino and speak mostly spainish. We shared with him that during the summer we had several Mexican migrants who came to worship and that we had someone in the church who would translate my messages into espanol. The extent of my spainish is non-existent. I don't know the language, and when I do hear it spoken, I feel left out and confused, which quickly turns to frustration and me just shutting it out.

In the hispanic community there are some unique language and cultural issues. First generation immigrants hispanics are mostly spainsih speaking only and maintain the traditions of the previous country. Second generation hispanics, for the most part desire to be assimilated into American culture, and their primary language is english and in a lot of cases they have rejected the tradition and language of their parents country. Third generation hispanics seem to have an identity crisis. They try to rediscover their roots, but reject both of the previous generations cultures and have developed their own language - spanglish - a combination of both languages which is deeply rooted in a slang. This this generation is no longer interested in assimilation, but is about latino pride and domination.

My friend shared with me that he attended a seminar where the speaker presented the concept of slang, informal, and formal registries. He noted that all of us sitting at the table could easily switch from our formal registry, using proper grammar and syntax, and yet also be able to use slang and informal registry - knowing when it was appropriate to use which and be able to effectively move between them. It seems that in this current generation of texting and instant messages, there is the inability to grasp the formal registry and therefore has prohibited this generation in its ability to communicate effectively.

As I have been thinking about this - there is a point here - the Scripture occured to me...

In 2nd Corinthians it reads:

14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things,

Before Christ we are only able to understand and hear one language. When we came into contact with Spirit-filled people we weren't able to understand. Only as the Holy Spirit opened our eyes and hearts to the things of the Spirit were we able to know and understand this language. Knowing this language of the Spirit also puts in the unique place of being able to understand both worlds and become bi-lingual so to speak.

Are you able to discern the things of the Spirit? Are you able to speak from your spiritual registry and communicate to others? Who today will you "speak their language" with so that they might hear words of life transforming Hope and Good News?

I now believe I'm bi-lingual - who knew?! LOL

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Samaria Is My World

In Jesus' instructions to His disciples, and to the church, He said: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

In a recent article by Tim Stafford, he writes, "Christians often act like they live in Jerusalem". That statement caught my attention. What does he mean Jerusalem? And the more I thought about it, I think he means we are expecting everyone in our world to think, act, and live, as if they are Christians. The fact is we often are expecting non-believers to act like believers.

The reality is that we live in Babylon - we are aleins and strangers; isn't that what the Word says? So why are we surprised when we see a movie that offends our values? Babylonian movies reflect Babylonian values.

The more I thought about it though, I no longer think we live in Babylon -- we live in Samaria. Babylon is far from Jerusalem, and what you believe or how you worship is of little significance as long as you keep the peace and contribute to civic life. Remember Daniel and the boys? They were fine until they were thought to undermine the government and got caught up in the politics of the day.

Samaria is different from Babylon. In Samaria the people knew a lot about the religion of Jerusalem, and they had a definite bias against it. They knew each other and the fued between them was being fueled from both sides -- each thinking they were right and the other wrong.

More and more I am convinced that we don't have unchurched people around us -- people from Babylon. People whom are just dying to hear the good news and will immediately respond to this message of hope. You and I, however, live in Samaria, a land that is full of cynics and skeptics. The people in our land are not ignorant of the church, in fact they are very aware of it, and they have had some contact with it, and it has most likely been bad. The people you and I work and play with each day, are people who look at the church and see only its hypocracy.

How do we share our faith with cynics and skeptics? By being authentic and real people of faith, who live their lives transparently before a world looking for the authentic. This type of witness is not going to be accomplished with a chic track or the four spirutal laws. An authentic witness must be lived out day by day, moment by moment. An authentic witness may take years to substantiate. We are trying to overcome the broken bond of trust.

What are you going to do today that will show the people of Samaria that live around you that the grace of God is real and can transform their lives? Is there an area of your life where you need to build greater integrity, that you might live authentically?

It's Head, Heart, Feet!

For a long time there has been a dynamic at play in the Christian world. There are those Christians who believe that it is imperative to have a cognitive recognition of our faith. They would say it is about the head, and they would disparage other brothers and sisters in Christ who respond to the Gospel call with their hearts. These heart Christians believed that to engage the mind was to somehow minimize the experience of their faith.

In the middle of this debate, there are some who have ventured to believe that it is both - head and heart. Neither head nor heart need be checked at the door as we take the next steps in our journey of faith. To deny either is to somehow minimize the Faith.

Lately I have come to realize that I am a 3-D Christian. I am of the mindset that it is head and heart, but that they only have relevance and authenticity, when coupled with feet! If all i am is head, or heart, but have not feet, I am nothing. Our Christian faith is not something that is only thought about and dialogued, nor is it something that just gives us warm fuzzies and emotional highs. Head and heart only have true perspective when we put feet to our Christian experience and walk our talk.

How can you today put feet to your Christian experience and realize a 3-D faith?