When was the last time you heard someone use the term "text" to indicate words? How often do you hear someone say that they feel quite gay today to say they are in a good mood? Chances are, you haven't heard either of these words used in these ways for a long period of time or maybe you have never heard them used in these manners. Had you tried to use them in their commonly accepted definitions even twenty years ago, you may have received a confused response. The speed of which words change meaning is a challenge that Christians must face as the language of the Bible grows more and more outdated.
In the days the King James translation of the Bible, it worked as much as a shaper of the language as a reflection of it. Today, though, translations of the Bible find themselves on a responsive and not formative basis with language. Thus, there is a good reason translations of the Bible are continually being made. They seek to reach out to the next generation of believers or potential believers in the language that they know and use every day. But as a Biblical translation takes several years to make and it takes only a matter of months for language to change in, sometimes, huge ways, no translation will ever truly be contemporary for its time. Thus it falls on those who believe in the Bible to teach the lessons of the Bible in the language that those around them speak.
The personal basis that the Gospel must be preached on is not entirely a curse, however. In celebrating, suffering, and persevering on in life along with those we minister to, we develop their language. I'll give an example from my life: on my hall we have lived in such close proximity for almost three years now (mostly). Over our time together, we have compiled a lengthy list of inside jokes. The mention of words as mundane as "peaches" or "storage" hold an entirely different connotation than they would within the realm of common acceptance. As this is with groups that hold a close relationship. We have a general knowledge of what each other is trying to say and can explain things in terms that mean something to all of us through our shared experiences.
The language we speak is unique to us. The meanings of words will be different for each, an the more we can be aware of the similarities and differences of our language, the more we can really begin to reach out to each other. It might be some thing as stupid as this: every year, around the month of March, the word "shake" takes on a exciting new meaning--Shamrock Shakes! Or, it could be as volatile as "gun." In any case, we all need to work hard to understand the meaning behind each others' words so that we can come closer to understanding who God is.
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