people have been asking us all the time how the mozambique trip went... and one of my "short answers" is that it has changed the way i see everything. about 5 minutes ago i found a good example of that.
i was reading matthew 6:9-13 (the lord's prayer)... first in the new international version:
"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'"
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'"
but then i read it in the message (which i often like to do in order to get a different "feel" for the text):
"Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes."
and now i'm angry. at what point did we as americans develop such an ethno-centric rendering of God's Word that we move the concept of "daily bread" to "3 square meals"?!?!?! truth be told...a lot of us americans (myself included) would do well to have a few less square meals every day so that we come to the realization that we actually can still survive, like many around the world. i mean, wow... does this mean that if i only get 2 full meals today that God's somehow not meeting my needs?!?!?!
i understand the need to contextualize the Bible into each specific culture and language - i'm a fan of Bible translation...but i guess my question is: have we gone too far with this phrase in the english... so much so that we actually have removed ourselves to a place that the MAJORITY of the world simply can't comprehend?
1 comment:
Amen Cory! We really have no idea, what it's like to pray to God for our daily bread! Let alone be thankful, truly thankful for it! Everyone should come to Mozambique and see what true need and true thankfulness looks like!
Thanks for your words, may God continue to bless you.
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