~ The Message in the Medium

Have you ever been put off by the way that someone presents their message? It doesn’t have to be anything in particular; just something that makes you have to think as you hear what is being said. To take a few issues I have heard of, this would include the way in which the words are formed, an accent perhaps, or formulated, words out of order. Maybe a speech impediment or simply changing the subject unexpectedly, something I am told I do all the time. And then there is that “old male” standby the “watchemecallit thingymegig”.
It can be humorous when thought of that way but wait a minute. How often do we use verses unthinkingly when conversing to a person who is not the of the faith, or worse new to it? Take for instance the following:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Or would the following be more appropriate?
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
Both are the same verse John 3:16, in the first instance from the King James Version, and the second is from The Message. The first verse, or variants, we have heard from pulpits and Sunday School Classes since, well King James. Part of the reason that we know the words so well is simply because of the archaic formulation makes it rememberable, the contrary part of the statement is that for those who have not grown up with a church background it can sound like some sort of code.
Now if we are intent on making a difference for Christ in a person’s life I would suggest that it is imperative that we use the most friendly means at our disposal. This may mean finding versions of verses, even if we think in the old language but use a conversational form of the verse to make contact.
I am not suggesting that this is easy; in fact my computer screen is glaring at me because I used “most friendly” and it wants me to use “friendliest” instead. It takes thoughtful preparation or inspiration to be ready “in season and out” to answer the cares and hurts of the people we are given to minister to. The great news is that we have Holy Spirit living within us to provide us, not only the words to say but also the wisdom as to when to say them.
Now there is a third party presentation that we have available to some/most of us called Facebook et al. Social Media is the generic name for anything using technology in other ways of getting the message out. So many times I have seen verses plucked straight out of a Bible where another version of the same verse would have been more readable for Joe or Jo Average. This is not meant as criticism, even though it is a bit, but it is meant as an inspiration that we can do so much better with a little fore thought. By the same token, I am happy to acknowledge that I am not in possession of all the facts; sometimes Holy Spirit may have a particular person in mind when we publish verses.
This is an area of conscience to quote the Political system. Our job is to present Jesus to an unbelieving world and the best way to do this is to use our best endeavours to present a clear message, as we are directed.