Over on my personal blog, I posted today about a decision which has taken months to foment, research, and finalize: the decision to transition to a different Bible translation for my primary preaching and teaching text. You can check out the post here: http://wp.me/pdRNN-ag. Really, though, the bulk of the discussion boils down to the fact that Zondervan is retiring the 1984 revision of the New International Version (NIV1984) which thousands of churches and millions of believers – including our church and me – have used for thirty years and replacing it with a updated version (NIV2011). Zondervan has announced that they will no longer be printing the NIV1984 or the various resources (e.g., study Bibles) which utilize it and that any future editions of those products will be updated to the NIV2011 in the coming months and years.
Zondervan’s announcement was shocking to me because it meant that, all of a sudden, the translation I had relied on for better than half of my life was obsolete.
Now, it is not my intent to open a debate on the merits of the NIV2011. Please understand that. But I wonder how many other pastors and churches are also in the same situation. Maybe not because the Bible translation they rely on has been discontinued, but because their methods and style for communicating the unchanging message of Scripture has been outmoded and ineffective, quite possibly for some time.
As the pastor of a small church, I am keenly aware that we are very susceptible to such a situation. For example, in the 1950′s, our church was on the forefront of the bus ministry movement. As one of the larger churches in town at the time, the congregation purchased two large buses and saw many people brought to the Lord over the course of 25 years. Yes, we ran our bus ministry that long. But eventually, rising costs of maintenance and fuel, coupled with a couple of church splits and declining use of the buses, compelled the congregation to sell the things. Years after the bus ministry heyday had passed.
Why did we hang onto those buses so long after they had grown largely ineffective? And why, some 25 years after that, was at least one faithful saint in the congregation so insistent that the key to growing our church was restarting the bus ministry?
The answer is that we, especially in smaller, older churches, have a very real tendency to look back on the heyday of the past and think that, if we can just resurrect the methods and models – and even the language – we were using back then, God will bless again.
The only problem is, in more cases than not, it’s not true.
Granted, there are occasions when we must have a Revelation 2:5 – “Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first” – moment, but I think that, more often than not, what we really need are modern men (and women) of Issachar, who understand the times and know what the church should do (1 Chronicles 12:32), and ministers like Paul, resolved to become all things to all people, so that they may by every possible means save some (1 Corinthians 9:22).
So, here’s the challenge for today. Consider everything that you and your church are doing to minister. Never change the good news of Jesus Christ itself, but find a new and fresh way to present it to the world in which we live. Don’t let the Bible which you present – which may be the only Bible some ever see or hear – be obsolete!
Very, very thoughtful. Good insights. Thanks, Jeremy.