As a youngster in a Southern Baptist Church, I attended Vacation Bible School. We had memory cards and were required to memorize verses for each day. I hated memorization! All the verses that I memorized were from the King James Version of the Bible-- with all the "Thee's" and "Thou's."
This year, the year of our Lord 2011, marks the 400th year since the publication of the King James Version. We certainly are not required to use the KJV only. (After all, the church made it approximately 1600 years without this version!) However, the KJV does deserve respect for its impact on language, literature, and faith. It has been said that without the prose of the King James Version there would be no PARADISE LOST by John Milton, no PILGRIM'S PROGRESS by John Bunyan, no Negro spirituals, and no Gettysburg Address.
On this birthday year it is a good time for us to appreciate what a version of scripture means. A "version" is essentially a group project in which several scholars get together and translate the Old Testament from Herbrew and the New Tesstament from Greek. In 1611, 54 scholars were commmissioned for the project of translating the Bible into the English of that time. "Versions" are usually regarded as more accurate and as better study Bibles because they are from a "group." In other words, "many heads are better than one." More contemporary versions are the New International Version (NIV), the American Standard Version (ASV), the New English Bible (NEB), and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
The word "translation" is perhaps better applied to single person efforts to translate the scxriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Engllish. Some of these include: the Beck translation, the J. B. Philips Translation, or the Williams Translation. Efforts to put the scripture in easy to read, almost like newspaper language have been called "paraphrases" of the Bible. They have the advantage of being very readable but are not considered the more accurate for study or proclamation. Paraphrases have been the Today's English Version (TEV) and more recently The Message.
On this birthday year it is also a time for us to understand the historical signficance of the KJV. Unlike today when one can walk into a bookstore and find various versions, translations, and paraphrases of the Bible that was not true before 1611. John Wycliff, who lived in the latter part of the 14th century, believed scripture should be translated into the vernacular of the common people. Wycliffe died before completing a translation and after he died, he was deemed a heretic. William Tyndale completed a translation of the scriptures into English and for doing that he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. Tyndale's dying prayer was, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." In 1611 his prayer was answered when King James commissioned 54 scholars to complete a translation.
It is hard for us to understand how the Bible was quarantined from commoners! We can now access the Bible by computer. However on this 400th birthyear it gives us pause to appreciate the accessibility we have to Holy Scripture, for us to read and study the Bible and to reaffirm the Bible as our authority for both faith and practice. Happy 400th Birthday, King James Version!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
IS CHANGE WORTH IT?
Just recently I was speaking with a pastor in another region and we were talking shop. Among the subjects mentioned was offering different experiences of worship to reach people. In their church they have one fairly formal and tradional worship service although they are adding some choruses. However, it is a far cry from worship experiences with some of the latest Christian music.
Although some members are speaking up about another worship experience, he mentioned he has told the people that he does not want to go in that direction. He said, "The contemporary worship services will grow and the more traditional services will not grow as much. You won't like it. And some of you will be upset." I thought, "My, how right he is at least in terms of how a contemporary experience will grow and how some people will not like it." Our staff has read the book, "Who Stole My Church?", by Gordon McDonald. The book is about how loyal and long-standing members can feel pushed aside by the new demands of reaching people in the twenty-first century. I have seen both happen at FBC, Nevada, MO. Much outreach has happend and lives have been changed through new worship experience. Also, people have been upset about the change.
But I raise the question-- is change worth it? Our church has grown over the past several years in many ways. We have at times been recognized for the number of baptisms by the Missouri Baptist Convention. We have added ministries such as Celebrate Recovery and Alpha that have touched the lives of many people. The numbers that have attended worship have dramatically increased from previous years. But there are disadvantages to change. Like the pastor mentioned, it is predictably that in reaching new people some people will no longer feel the church is the same. It is a grief experience for some.
But is change worth it? The Apostle Paul must have thought so: "To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews...To those outside the law I became as one outside the law so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some." (Read the entire passage I Corinthians 9:19-23). I have sometimes told our staff that every pastor and every church experiences grief. There is the grief that comes with decline or plateaus. There is also the grief that comes with growth and change. Both are painful, but I think change is worth it!
Although some members are speaking up about another worship experience, he mentioned he has told the people that he does not want to go in that direction. He said, "The contemporary worship services will grow and the more traditional services will not grow as much. You won't like it. And some of you will be upset." I thought, "My, how right he is at least in terms of how a contemporary experience will grow and how some people will not like it." Our staff has read the book, "Who Stole My Church?", by Gordon McDonald. The book is about how loyal and long-standing members can feel pushed aside by the new demands of reaching people in the twenty-first century. I have seen both happen at FBC, Nevada, MO. Much outreach has happend and lives have been changed through new worship experience. Also, people have been upset about the change.
But I raise the question-- is change worth it? Our church has grown over the past several years in many ways. We have at times been recognized for the number of baptisms by the Missouri Baptist Convention. We have added ministries such as Celebrate Recovery and Alpha that have touched the lives of many people. The numbers that have attended worship have dramatically increased from previous years. But there are disadvantages to change. Like the pastor mentioned, it is predictably that in reaching new people some people will no longer feel the church is the same. It is a grief experience for some.
But is change worth it? The Apostle Paul must have thought so: "To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews...To those outside the law I became as one outside the law so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some." (Read the entire passage I Corinthians 9:19-23). I have sometimes told our staff that every pastor and every church experiences grief. There is the grief that comes with decline or plateaus. There is also the grief that comes with growth and change. Both are painful, but I think change is worth it!
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