Now I don’t know ancient Greek but…
How would reword Luke 12:34 so a middle schooler would be clear about what Jesus was referring to in metaphor?
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
My crack at it was, “What you value most is what you are.”
Filed under: Jesus Stuff, Youth Ministry
Now why the heck would you want to change the words of Jesus?
I think that a reasonably educated middle schooler should be able to grasp that passage.
I really didn’t want to change his words, just make them more understandable to my audience.
I think we changed them when we translated them from the original language
I don’t really care for Eugene Peterson and “The Message”, his interpretation, for it dilutes truth until it is tasteless. But you deal with middle schoolers, so he may be appropriate.
(Caution: do not undernourish these kids with a steady diet of this poor food in “The Message”.
Pastors who do so, lose their audience fast)
“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being”
~~~The Message, Eugene Peterson
Another take for relevance:
“You children are growing in wisdom and stature.
You are growing physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Your childhood friends sometimes cause your heart to flutter. Things invisible before, are becoming visible with all this growth and understanding.
Therefore, LISTEN UP!
An entire universe of invisible is available to those who look and seek. And in that universe are the greatest treasures of life. Genuine love; hopes fulfilled; wishes that came true,… for you helped another without being told to do so, for it is right and just.
Do not squander your life with imitation.
Deal only with genuine.
You know what is right in your heart, and it multiplies true love for everyone. Expand your heart, and fill it full of these things!”
~~~Danny Lucas
I like some stuff that Peterson did with the Message. It’s helpful. I’ve got my own personal Message basher in the office next to me
It’s tough. I’m not an expert in ancient greek, hebrew, or aramaic so I’m always at the mercy of the translators.
Give thanks this day that you have a personal “Message” basher nearby.
God has gone to the trouble to craft His word of truth, from Alpha to Omega.
His son made the Word become flesh.
But Christ advised, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the COUNSELOR would follow after he left and it would be BETTER.
The Holy Spirit can take the Word of God and present the entire beginning to end (logos) and make it known to anyone. He can also personalize a word to a heart, in an “ah HA” moment of understanding in their life (rhema). You do not need to know Greek, Hebrew, etc. Just need to know the Word of God. That is what the Holy Spirit uses.
He does not use the word of Danny Lucas, Eugene Patterson, or Jason Pauli. Those who bash the “Message” are correct. While it transports us to modern lingo, it is a paraphase and not related to the original manuscripts you seem to favor. Therefore, it misleads as often as inspires.
I would not one day wish to be held acountable for declining use of the Word of God to children, while employing the word of Eugene Peterson. It is as if you ask the Holy Spirit to “step aside, thank you very much”.
Yikes!
http://www.navpress.com/landing/bibles.aspx
You may not like it, but it is a translation.
No me. I love the Message.
Oh I think we both know who I’m referring to…
He’s across this little hallway
I feel like some of these comments are pretty harsh… Yes the bible is the word of God, but isn’t much of it inspired text anyways? From the minute the “pen hit the paper” God had to dumb it down so we would understand. I feel like the bible is the way an almighty God connects with an undeserving world. If modernizing ancient hebrew and greek words makes it a little easier for me, a 24 yr old, or a middle schooler understand Gods message, then I for one am all for it.
And I may be misunderstanding this comment but I feel like you a being pretty harsh here. Jesus loved children, children understand the concept of innocence and faith the best
“I don’t really care for Eugene Peterson and “The Message”, his interpretation, for it dilutes truth until it is tasteless. But you deal with middle schoolers, so he may be appropriate.”
(Caution: do not undernourish these kids with a steady diet of this poor food in “The Message”.
John Piper has some podcasts up on iTunes where he deals with some random questions about Christianity. One is “What do you think about paraphrased Bible translations?”
Turns out he loves them!
He makes this great point, “Everything is a translation.”
He also brings up the point, “All translation is paraphrase” because you can’t find exact equivalents for the original texts in English or other languages.
He disagrees with that point a bit but the podcast is cool. It’s only about 3 minutes long an it’s free.