“In focus groups, online polling, and one-on-one discussion, Extreme for Jesus has found that the number one reason teens don‘t read the Bible is that it is ‘too big and freaky looking.’ This fashion-magazine format for the New Testament is the perfect solution to that problem. Teen girls feel comfortable exploring the Scriptures and over 500 further-study notes because of the relevant format!”
God forgive us.
I’d love to see the “techie” New Testament — websites that Jesus would approve of, Biblical technological advances, how to upgrade your computer the Biblical way; or maybe the Martha Stewart New Testament — Godly color palettes, dishes that Jesus would use, why love seats are of Satan, and painting techniques to get that old world charm. Why does the Bible have to be dumbed down? Is the work of the Holy Spirit not enough to create meaning to those who believe? Perhaps that’s it; people are “hearing and not understanding” (Mark 4:12).
Truly, not everyone that attends church, that claims Christ is truly saved. So, rather than make others in a sense, catch up, we downgrade. Do the rules of baseball change just so newcomers can understand it better; make it easier? We’re just so stupid as a nation, as a culture. Things that do not meet us at our level, we are unwilling to step beyond — things must conform to us, or be disregarded as “too big and freaky”.
Relevance is relative. A constant flux. The very definition just begs the question, What is the matter at hand? My personal matter at hand is being a father, parent, working enough to be get paid and still be “around”. That’s not relevant to teens, not relevant to Grandparents, or people who work in offices and have steady paychecks. Relevance is a convenient way to segment beliefs and truths into boxes and toss them over your shoulder and sink them; the Christian form of relativism. That might be “relevant to you, but it’s not to me”.
I’m often frustrated at the means in which “Christian” culture will adapt historical beliefs into a secular format; so we can fit in better, and avoid persecution. If it seems like everything else, then we’ll not have to think too hard, we’ll not stand out too much, and then we’ll be able to “witness” to others more effectively. If we are not different, save for substituting words and symbols; we are just plagiarists, and offer nothing.
I’m working with no shirt on. Elliott asked me for my shirt (off my back, the irony) and I of course gave it to him. It is a bit warm up here anyway, so it works itself out.