If we were planning to bring the gospel to a faraway village that never heard anything about Jesus, our first concern would be to learn their language, customs, and culture so we could translate the message of the Bible for them in a way that would be understandable. Everyone understands this principle. It’s common sense. But oftentimes we forget to apply this principle to our gospel efforts at home.
Many years ago someone told me that they wrote a letter to all their family members in hopes that some would respond and become Christians. He added, “That’s all I can do. Their blood is not on my hands.” In other words, he felt he had done his job. He gave them the message and had done what Jesus called him to do. But did he? I don’t doubt that the letters he sent out were potent gospel messages, but here’s the important question—did anyone understand the letter he wrote?
Our mission is to go into all the world and communicate the gospel. We are messengers with a message. Half of our work is to make sure that we understand the message ourselves so our message is accurate. So important! The other half, however, is to communicate the message in a way that is clear, relevant, and beautiful.
Christian ghetto
Many Christians live in a kind of faith ghetto. Their circles of friends are Christian. Their social media feed is mostly Christian. Their social life is Christian. The books and movies they feed on—you guessed it—Christian. They spend lots of time in the world of the Bible. As a result, they start speaking a unique Christian language that sounds like a foreign language to people outside the church.
There’s a place for “insider language.” These mission letters I write each week, for example, are written for an explicitly Christian audience. I’m writing to insiders who speak Christian fluently. But, we cannot set aside the hard work of translating the gospel to the people around us. This concern about communication touches not only how we speak but our writing, art, music, social media posts, and so on. Does the content we put out to the world make sense to them?
You’re dumb!
The need to communicate in a way that’s clear, relevant, and beautiful is also important because when we fail to do this we make people feel dumb. Have you ever been with a group of people who told a really funny inside joke that you didn’t get? It’s painful and embarrassing. We’ve all had school teachers who were brilliant in math or physics or literature—but who were terrible communicators. They would lecture on and on in a way that made everyone quite sure that they had a tremendous grasp of the subject they were teaching. The problem, however, was that no one in the class—except one or two exceptional kids—could understand what was being taught. It was an unknown language to them. Oh, there were familiar words like “the” and “if”—but most of the vocabulary words used were not in their common language. We resented these teachers, especially if they graded us ruthlessly.
Artful communicators
It’s interesting that most of the Christians throughout history who had a profound impact on the world were clear, relevant, and compelling communicators. I want to be careful here that we don’t just brush this aside by saying they were uniquely gifted. When you read their stories you often find men and women who labored incessantly to figure out ways to make the message clear to the people they felt called to serve.
I think of William Booth using marching band instruments and uniforms to capture attention, and then addressing even the most uneducated street people in ways that hit home. I think of C.S. Lewis who used the craft of writing to take deep theological concepts and make them clear for ordinary folks—including children! I think of the impact of Handel’s Messiah, the preaching of MLK, and films like The Hidden Life and Chariots of Fire. These are, of course, a few of the more obvious examples, but they make the case that the world pays attention when Christian ideas are communicated in a thoughtful, artful manner.
Everyday content
We may not be working on a major motion picture or a literary trilogy that will be put out to millions, but we do write emails to people. We have conversations with people. We may find ourselves giving a toast at a wedding or sharing a story at a funeral. We may send out a Christmas newsletter to all our friends and family members. We may be asked to write a song and perform at a fundraiser. The person sitting next to us on an airplane might ask us, “What is the Christian faith about?” Here’s what I’m saying: It’s not enough that we understand the gospel message for ourselves. We must bring it into the language of the person or audience we are communicating to. Even as parents, we need to find ways to make the lofty doctrines of orthodox Christianity clear and attractive to our own children at each stage of their lives.
In the world
I’ve been a Christian heavily immersed in the world of the Bible and the Church for over three decades. I sympathize with the intense struggle of staying fluent in the language of unchurched people. It takes intentionality. But, in order to learn a language, or stay fluent in a language we once knew, we need to work at it. This work is essential in order to fulfill our mission.
I feel at this point I need to preface what I’m about to say so I’m not misunderstood. It is essential as followers of Jesus, if we are to be effective witnesses, to immerse ourselves in the Word, in prayer, and in the local church. We cannot be spiritually salty unless we have a strong relationship with God. In fact, if we attempt to learn the language and culture of secular people around us without having a solid foundation in Christ—we will be influenced away from Christ. This is no joke what I’m saying here. Please take me seriously.
And yet—here’s what I want to emphasize—we are called by Jesus to be in the world but not of the world. We aren’t called to be separatist monks or heavenly minded hermits that are completely ignorant of the world around them. We aren’t to have our heads so deep in theological sand that we aren’t aware of what’s happening on the beach. We must be in tune with what secular people are interested in—and not just secular people in general but the particular ones in our circles. What influences them? Who influences them? What ideas are trending? What questions are people asking? What is important to them? Why do they push away the Christian faith? What is their perception of Christianity? And, what are the words they use to communicate ideas? What do the words that they use mean to them?
Posture toward culture
If we are so steeped in Christian culture that these questions are beyond us, we need to rethink how we relate to culture. Because we know that “the whole world lies under the control of the evil one” and the books, art, movies, shows, events … created by people without the Spirit are essentially carnal (sinful)—we are tempted to reject it all. We can become consumers of not only narrowly Christian content but of Christian content of our favorite flavor. We are afraid of being contaminated. While this desire to keep ourselves from evil is good, we can take it to such an extreme that we become out of touch with the people we are called to reach. We also aren’t very much fun to be around :/
That said, I think it’s helpful to watch movies and shows created by non-Christians. It’s important to follow people on social media who are cultural influencers and maybe even outspoken against the Christian faith. It’s important to read books and articles from a broad range of perspectives. It’s helpful to listen to and dissect the lyrics of pop songs. Just being around people and listening to them will help us to understand their language, but it’s good to be acquainted with what influences have shaped their language and views.
This must all be done carefully and thoughtfully. I’m not suggesting that you dive headlong into the ocean of content out there. Much of it is not appropriate for followers of Jesus to participate in. Just be cautious and discerning. My wife and I, for example, will read the parental reviews before watching a movie to decide if it’s something we feel okay watching.
We don’t need to be aware of everything. Excessive consumption of godless content will negatively impact us over time. The point isn’t to become a pop culture expert, but to just get a feel for the ways people are thinking. Consuming a measure of secular content is critical in order to speak the gospel to secular people in a way that resonates with them. Just be sure to guard your heart at all times. Know what you can and cannot handle. Let your intake be modest.
Gee, Beave
I confess that for many years I was way too extreme in my separation from the world. I threw out my whole CD collection in 1989 when I came to Christ. I didn’t own a tv for years. We never went to a movie. I went to Bible college and was completely submerged in a subculture that had its own language and customs. I carried a briefcase and wore a suit and tie daily—at 23 years old! I spent my days with Christians talking about Christian stuff. As a result, when I started my first ministry assignment in Boston after graduation I quickly realized that I had to learn the language of the Northeastern, MassART, MIT, and Boston College students I was called to reach. I was like a character from the show Leave It To Beaver making a guest appearance on Friends. I was from another planet.