. . . More of us than you might think,
Gandalf.
are finished?
He gives us the message.
The impulse emerges out of good
motives. Growing up in evangelical
culture, I’ve always been taught
that my most important job as an
evangelist is keeping the gospel pure.
What this means is, without a doubt,
protecting the message. And if our job
is protecting the message, the “safest”
way to share that message is through
quoting Scripture. I need to make sure
the gospel meets a rigorous theological
test, that people are hearing it correctly.
But what this means in practice is that
I am going to spend my time focused
on the message, not the translation.
Because I’ve decided that my job is
primarily to protect the message, I’m
going to trust the Holy Spirit to do all
the translation. With this perspective,
it doesn’t matter if there’s noise. It
doesn’t matter if the signal is weak.
It doesn’t matter if I do a terrible job
translating the message or say things
in a confusing way. The Holy Spirit will
take the magic Bible verses and make
the message clear regardless, right?
He tells us to share the message.
Does he not want us to participate in
translating the message and making it
understandable?
If we can trust God to translate the
message, can we not also trust him to
keep the message pure?
Leaving a tract on a table may be
sufficient for someone to come to
Jesus. But what if God wants us to be
more involved?
Reflection Questions
1. Have you ever had a mis-
communication with someone?
What was the core issue in the
misunderstanding? How did you
eventually come to understand each
other?
This kind of thinking leads to
conclusions like “My job is to share
the gospel, nothing more” or “I posted
a Bi-ble verse on social media; now it’s
all up to God.” 2. When someone shared the good
news with you, did they help with
the “translation,” or were you left on
your own? (For instance, did they
use easy-to-understand terminology?
Did someone explain complicated or
unfamiliar words to you? Or did you
have to figure it out on your own?)
But I have to wonder: If God wants us
to be his coworkers, do you think he
wants us to stop working before things 3. Can you think of a time when you
saw, heard, or participated in a “gospel
presentation” that left people confused
46 • Solutions