Translating Jesus

Summary

Jesus spent time at three places: the gate, the cross, and the table. The gate represents communal places, which represents today’s culture; the cross represents sacred places; and the table represents, meeting place of cross and the gate. We become bilingual at the table speaking the language of cross and culture. We are called to live an overlapping, non-linear life. Some of our friends could be at the gate or at the table. Limits of our language is limits of our world.

The Gate

The gate is where people experiment with everything. At the gate, our definitions divide us. At the gate, we may not agree with other’s political views, parenting style, and many other differences exists. Media is a gate to culture, not the table to community. Goto the gate with curiosity. Don’t go there to build a name for yourself. Language of the cross is prayer and the language of the culture is attention. While at the gate, speak the language of the culture—pay attention and observe how people act and react. What are they discussing, what are the anxious about, and so on.

We can’t get a complete perspective from afar or from online. We have to come close. God came close to us so we could experience and more easily grasp. We need to see the world through His eyes, not see Him through the world’s eyes. We are citizens of both the kingdoms; we are in this world but citizens of another world. How can we be in the world but not of the world? By not getting caught in the comparison conversations or any other metric that the world uses to measure. Take discovery trips and observe the culture. Seek out ways to be a blessing to the local church. Ours is a high call: To live a godly life among people who have yet to follow Jesus. Do this and people will see Jesus.

Highlights from the book

Introduction

I'm not great at sharing my faith. Sharing other things? No problem. What I like to do on vacation. etc
Oxford professor and theologian Alister McGrath wrote,
- Christianity needs to be explained. The Bible needs to be interpreted and applied. And both involve us, as active agents, doing our best to translate the realities of the gospel into the categories of the contemporary not to reduce the gospel to contemporary ideas but to allow it to gain access to people's minds and lives, so that it can begin its work of transformation and renewal.
This is how Christ taught us—speaking to His culture in ways they could relate to yet speaking the truth in love. As disciples of Jesus, we are to become bilingual.
The language of Christ is prayer. In this book I’ll talk about how to speak to Him, speak on behalf of others, pray on the spot, and teach this language to others. The language of culture is attention. This is the way every piece of society relates, sees the world, and talks with one another.
We’re going to three places where Christ spent time: the gate, the cross, and the table.
gate represents today’s communal spaces. It is everywhere we go when we are out and about. It’s where we learn the language of culture
cross represents today’s sacred spaces. When we are at the cross, we are at church, in Christian community, and having our personal time with Christ. It’s where we engage in the language of Christ.
table represents a collective of those we meet at the gate and the cross. We are in common places having intentional conversations with believers and non-believers. The table is where we become bilingual as we practice the language of Christ and the
If we calculate the hours of His life on earth, Jesus spent the least amount of time at the cross, but our time at the gate and the table are powerless without the cross
Jesus-disciple life is an active life
We were never intended to live only at one and not be attentive to the others
following Jesus into an overlapping, nonlinear life
don’t just go from one stage to another in a single series of steps. While one of our friends is at the gate, another could be at the cross or the table. We meet them where they are. We might not be comfortable or fluent with the dominant language at that place, but we can be open-minded and openhanded at each stop.
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “The limits of language means the limits of my world.”

The Gate

Learn the language

We are at the gate, the cultural hub, where the language of culture is spoken around us. The gate is where people experiment with everything, where our self-inflicted definitions divide us. Where we go into situations in which we don’t agree with one another’s political views, parenting style, or poignant remarks, and then we share our unfiltered opinions.
in an effort to make a name for themselves, people came together to build something better and higher and greater than God.
Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t have to be scattered. God says, Scatter and make My name famous
Towers are still being constructed by us today. A famous one is the tower of social media. This is where personal towers get built. Rent is cheap. Megaphones are free. You can buy friends and followers. Post anything without a filter or accountability. Pick and choose from all religious and political views. Scroll and compare your world to others' worlds and expect the same results with apparent ease. When it falls flat, we wonder why it works there but not here. Hint: it's not the language of the people around you.
The moment anyone thinks they’ve made it to the top of the tower of consumerism, the style changes.
Media is a gate to culture but not the table to community.
how do we approach those at the gate without succumbing to the great tower-building activity present there?
come with our curiosity instead of our building tools. We’re not here to build. We don’t need a strong tower to draw people to us. We’re here to live life at the gate, and also at the cross, and also at the table. Our curiosity helps us learn the language of culture right where we are
The humans around us created by God need the gospel and want to experience the love of Christ, so we need to know how to best share it with them. As we become bilingual in the language of Christ, which is prayer, and the language of culture, by paying attention, we can converse successfully about God’s love in our present-day contexts.
Put down the phone that supports the towers
What are people doing around you? What do you think is being discussed? How do you perceive they’re doing emotionally? Let’s learn culture with the mindset of Christ. When we participate in culture with Christ, we do so without the pressure to alter our standards just because culture does.
We pay attention to what is being said (culture) but pay even closer attention to what’s already been said (God’s Word). Jesus loves you. That’s a truth to rest in, not a task to accomplish.

Know the Landscape

apply Paul’s words here: “Live wisely among those who are not believers"
We can’t get a complete perspective from afar or from online. We have to come close.
if God chose to do all He needed to do for us from heaven. How could we relate to such a distant God? How could we expect Him to understand what we go through? Instead, He chose to come down to us and give us Himself in ways we could experience and more easily grasp.
we’ve come to accept that the world gets to determine how it is ordered and dictated and experienced. That’s far, far from the truth. The world is God’s idea. His creation. We are a piece of it. We need to see the world through His eyes, not see Him through the world's eyes. A worldview led by the world will leave us highly disappointed and uninterested. We are to be citizens of both kingdoms to be in this world but of another world
do you know when you’re in it and when you’re of it? You can be in a work conversation but not take part in the negative talk and gossip. You can be on a sports team but not take the things other teammates are taking. You can be at a party but not be caught up in the comparison conversations.
It’s not that we hate the world. We love the world. But the world will hate us (John 3:16–20). Christians are called to shine a light on darkness, and it’s too much for people to grasp
having been at church from birth to this very day, I’m most confident and comfortable with the Christian language. The more time I spend with people in my community, however, the more I learn of its cultural language. When I practice both, I am becoming bilingual.
While Christ followers are to live, walk, and speak differently, we are also to be in touch, love, go, and be with the culture in our context
seek to take discovery trips—to go and observe the culture and seek out ways to be a blessing to the local church in whatever ways are best
When you’re on mission, you get levels of focus, determination, resilience, and passion that grow with practice
When we pay attention to the circumstances we are in, we have greater potential to be on mission
Weird happens when we try too hard to fit in with culture or when we are insensitive about what we bring to culture concerning Christianity
This is the high call of Christ: to live a godly life among people who have yet to follow Jesus. Do this and people will see Jesus. Scripture does tell us to avoid certain people, but I believe we’re to avoid their influence, not avoid them altogether

Meet the People

Jesus said, “And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?” (Matt. 5:47 NIV). He told us to go and make disciples. You have permission to be among culture even if your Christian friends question you. You need non-Christian friends question you. You need non-Christian friends in your life.
The language of Jesus is the language of love. The devil’s language is lies
Do you love people? I’m not talking about tolerating them. When you stop and think about it, do you truly love others, and when you push everything that’s different about them aside, do you long for them to know and experience the love of Jesus that has c

When have you seen a fisherman sitting on the shore just waiting for fish to jump out of the water and land next to him? When Jesus called His followers to be “fishers of men,” that came with an obvious expectation that we would seek people out. He said,

If you only see people like you, you’ll miss out on the diversity of the kingdom of God, and heaven will be culture shock

Let love be our motivation. We don’t get prizes or eternal wealth if someone comes to trust in Jesus. We get more. He has changed my life, and He’s still changing my life! We get freedom, and we can share it

Listen to Stories

Observation gets you far; conversation will get you further

Practice by listening to a song, all of it. We hear lots of things. The question for us at the gate: Are we listening to what culture is telling us, or just hearing

Unless we listen attentively to the voices of secular society, struggle to understand them, and feel with people in their frustration, anger, bewilderment and despair, weeping with those who weep, we will lack authenticity as the disciples of Jesus of Naz

when we hear something contrary to what we believe, a mental rebuttal forms in our minds. When this happens, we stop listening to understand and start listening to fire away. We miss half of the conversation because as the other person is talking, we are

Understanding one another doesn’t mean we see things the same way

Let’s not listen to convert but listen unconditionally, expecting not to say a thing. The genuine love of Jesus is best visible in us, His followers, when we listen to people’s stories. Everyone wants to be loved and cared for, and that takes our time. Sh

As disciples of Jesus, we must have time to listen, to reflect, to ask questions

Why do you believe what you believe? What were you taught as a child? When tragedy or trials come, how do you cope? What motivates you and inspires you? What’s behind that motivation inspiration? What’s the basis for your decision-making? Why do you t

Practice the Language

Talking to strangers is like exercise. If you don’t do it enough, you fall out of practice. Smartphones and the formative effects of the COVID global pandemic have also caused us not to have in-person conversations

If the shepherds had been told to go to a hotel or castle, they would have second-guessed it, but a stable was their turf. God’s messenger was speaking their language! God used the familiar landscape, yet He also ushered in the supernatural that wowed the

Let us learn to be patient with continuing stories and trust that God will bring people to carry on what we get to be a part of

The more we create spaces for people who don’t look like us, think like us, or believe like us, the more we will be able to introduce them to Jesus

Read the Scriptures

Stephen was of the serving category, but notice this didn’t keep him from preaching. You might be in corporate work, but God wants to speak through you as you serve. You might be in full-time ministry, but God wants to serve through your hands and not jus

Think of a matter that can make you mad merely upon hearing the subject. An elected official’s views. An issue on an upcoming ballot. A neighbor’s habits. How an organization handled a situation. A coworker’s sly skills. A mandate enforced at work

Stephen went to the Old Testament to draw a parallel with the moment at hand

No one argued that Moses was a hero, a saint of his time. Stephen recounted how Moses tried a ministry of reconciliation with two people at his gate, but they shamed and questioned him, so Moses ran far away, lived as an exile, and started a family (vv. 2

The same Moses they had rejected. God wants to use the same us too. Not a different us

He didn’t just quote Scripture; he translated the biblical text to the people to whom he was speaking. He made it personal. He used contrast and comparison to paint a relevant picture

We don’t know if Stephen and Saul knew each other. They certainly weren’t friends, but Saul was present and witnessed Stephen’s wisdom and love for Jesus Christ.

Connect with Christ and Culture

go narrow. Go through. Then go wide. Going narrow is Christ’s plan to set boundaries we can live and thrive in for our good and the good of humanity. Going through is our agreement to the invisible reality of one way through Jesus Christ. Going wide is en

Greed is a worldly trait, and perhaps the world with its many options is at fault for making the narrow gate look uninviting. Yet Jesus has always been minimal, direct, and clear

How do you act toward boundaries

Imagine a world where the ocean has no bounds. Imagine a city with no park rules or regulations. Imagine a transportation hub with no requirements for tickets or times. Imagine your work environment with no schedules. It is because of boundaries that you

Protocol is in place for doing the job a certain way in your context and work environment. Your work culture has a rule book, style guide, or order of operations that gives order and clarity to the organization

Narrow, yes. But not exclusive. I believe it’s a narrow gate because it helps us leave everything else, to set it all down. All of us can enter—one by one—because it’s an individual decision

Faith in God, though invisible, requires intention and decision

Your testimony might cause them to question their lack of trust in God. Such people will seek you out if how you live proves their reasons lacking

How much reason and logic do you need to know you’re loved by your spouse, parent, child, or best friend

Go to the end of your life and work backward.

Receiv- ing Jesus is not receiving all the answers. Receiving Jesus is being free from having all the answers, for He is the answer and we live in Him

German theologian Karl Rahner wrote, “The nar- row passes which you enter soon open out into broad liberty.”

Learn the Language

the language in three forms— prayer, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit

We read about His forgiveness in Scripture. We pray for His forgiveness. We personally expe- rience His forgiveness that empowers us to for- give others by the Holy Spirit. •We bring our cares and worries to God in prayer. We believe His scriptural p

Prayer is not restricted to a place or occasion. I can pray on the bus and in the dental chair. I can pray at the kitchen sink and backstage. I can talk to God before I talk to a client, and I can close my eyes and listen to His voice in the stillness

Prayer is being quiet and letting God speak to us. To hear Him, we need to turn all the other voices off. That can take a minute, but you’ll seemingly gain those minutes back when it’s just you and Him. Imagine all the lights being on in your home and, in

Bible will not allow us to retreat from these practical responsibilities into mystical seclusion or into a socalled Christian fellowship that tries to insulate itself from the world

Basic Christianity, John Stott

The balanced Christian who takes the Bible as their guide will seek to live equally and simultaneously “in Christ” and “in the world.” We cannot opt out of either

Have you experienced God at work in a way that defies logic and reason and explanation

The Bible is intellectually stimulating, historical and artistic, practical and persuasive, and still the bestselling book of all time

Salvation happens once, yet we spend our lifetimes experiencing the ongoing rescue from ourselves and our sins through the restorative work of the Holy Spirit

How do we love Jesus back? We die for Him as He died for us

The Christian faith is rarely linear. We are called to be the persistent widow before the judge. To pray without ceasing. To keep knocking, seeking, asking. To come in and out of the gate, meeting people in the marketplace and introducing them to Jesus. T

This happens when “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus on the cross looks at us with love. Jesus in His dying did so in love. The same happens as we die to our old self, our own pat

Repentant people are receptive people

look for a unicorn to lead us down a cheerful, lighthearted path. But followers of Jesus who find Him ravishing refuse to water Him down

To teach life is not meant to be this way, with self-reliance, workaholism, shame, being driven by guilt, isolation, dependence on unhealthy relationships

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods

Oswald Chambers insists we are to attend our own funeral if we are to be found alive in Christ

Meet the People

If we do not bear the cross of the Master, we will have to bear the cross of the world, with all its earthly goods. Which cross have you taken up? Pause and consider

Curious people ask questions. They search the internet for spiritual answers. Curious people come to church. Curious people, like Zacchaeus, climb trees. They get to a place where they can figure things out and learn. And as a result, curious people who f

veryone comes to the cross differently, yet Christ did one act of love

Kierkegaard confronts us again: “What dreadful untruth it is to admire the truth instead of following it

When Jesus said “Follow Me,” it’s because He’s going places. Are you going places with your faith? Or has faith become something you collect?

Jesus doesn’t say “Figure Me out,” “Be My admirer,” “Join My fan club,” or “You’ve got options here.

Every person took a side: curious, admirer, or follower. Sides are still taken today

Thomas à Kempis, a German Christ follower in the 1400s, who penned this: There will always be many who love Christ’s heavenly kingdom, but few who will bear his cross. . . . He finds many to share his table, but few who will join him in fasting. Many a

Step into Stories

Regarding the Holy Spirit, we want the filling without the yielding. We often want an increase of the Holy Spirit in our lives—an outpouring of miracles, healings, spiritual awakenings, eyes to see, ears to hearbut when He asks us to do the smallest thing

Help people see Jesus around them. When you listen to their stories, invite them to consider God’s presence

We tell what we know and what we’ve personally experienced with Jesus. No one can argue with our stories

We have not because we ask not

Jesus knows this season better than anyone. He stepped into a world with high tensions, political unrest, scarce finances, low trust, and dwindling expectations for the coming Messiah

I clean my face like I watched my mom clean her face when I was a little girl. I pack our van the way I’ve watched my dad pack our van since childhood. I even wear red lipstick occasionally because of my friend Bea. So much of life is put into practice by

Holy Spirit takes you to places you can’t believe

I’ve seen how He loves me and forgives me and still loves me. I’ve experienced His peace in hard times. Jesus has helped me find joy when my circumstances have been anything but joyful

Stanley points out that the very Roman Empire that crucified Jesus was the same empire that financed the assembly of the first Bibles

Our minds are at war with what we actually believe. Why am I on this earth? Am I even making a difference? Where is God, and why is there so much evil? Does God still care? Can I trust Him? Even Christians who have followed Jesus for many years still ask

Either Christ’s coming has meaning for us now, or else it means nothing at all

The Bible keeps us hydrated. The challenge is that Christians are dehydrated and don’t know it. They are grabbing intoxicating drinks at the cultural counter. Their lips are chapped. Their souls are having to pull from bodily reserves to keep alive (Isa.

Reading Scripture with the Holy Spirit is like having the Author read His own audiobook with commentary

To be a current follower of Jesus is to be reading the Bible on a regular basis. To be an out-of-date follower is to have to remember something you’ve read a while back

Culture makes us think that if we can’t keep up with its constantly shifting viewpoints and thoughts, then we’re behind

Life with Christ is anything but dull. If we find it dull, we’ve not truly explored the Christian faith

Christianity is an outlier

Prayer walk around places of influence. You want the evil plans disrupted in town? Go prayer walk places of resistance. You want truth to be taught and encouragement given at school? Prayer walk around the schools.

Pray for signs and look for signs. “God, give me eyes to see and ears to hear.”

The world asks Christians questions to figure out what we believe. Do we ask the world questions to figure out what they believe?How did Christ speak? He asked questions

Asking questions confirms we’re students, learners, and followers

What are you looking for? (John 1:38) Who do you think Jesus is? (Mark 8:27) What do you want Him to do for you? (Matt. 20:32) Why are you so afraid? (Mark 4:40) Since Jesus speaks truth, why don’t you believe Him? (John 8:46) Why do you worry? (Matt

Perhaps people aren’t attracted to Jesus or don’t think they need Him because, as Christians, we don’t seem to need Him ourselves

If you want people to know Jesus, you must be open for them to know youAs they learn about you, let them hear stories about God

You can ask, “How did you get the job? Where did you get your gifts, talents, and education?” Helping others trace their gifts, privileges, and very lives back to God gets them thinking outside of themselves

Yes, this is submission—something we do all the time. We submit to street signs, airport protocol, shopping lines, and work guidelines.

I’m not great at sharing my faith. Sharing other things? No problem

when God is in the midst of our communication, communion takes place—the exchange is deeper, more intimate. Languages are to serve God

MacDonald wrote in an essay, “The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing his conscience, is not to give him things to think about, but to wake things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for himself

Becoming bilingual requires faith—faith that God is still using people like us to give His message of hope and love. Faith that God is working in people’s lives, revealing Himself, softening hearts, using circumstances, orchestrating you and me to be here

Christianity doesn’t exist

His commands and teachings require us to be present in a hostile culture

The table will be confrontational and might be controversial. This is why we want to borrow Jesus’s confidence and certainty. He will be a calm and curious presence that helps our winsome witness

Jesus knew the cross was ahead of Him, but so was the resurrection. We know suffering is ahead of us, but so is His resurrection power. Because of this truth, we can relax even at a table with conflict. Confidence and certainty grow in His presence. They

If you can recline, you are trusting. If you’re trusting, reclining will be your posture

Are you eating at the table with tax collectors and sinners

We don’t love in order to convert. We love because we’ve encountered Jesus

Translating Jesus is a shared experience that is less scripted and more Spiritfilled. Everyone involved is mindfully present that something big is taking place here

Peloton is part of a much bigger trend he calls “unbundling.” Within that, people are now browsing in a variety of places for things they once got all at a congregation: worship, scripture, life transitions and social justice among them

This man still had to live with people who didn’t understand Jesus and were afraid of him

As He said to this man, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you”

It’s easier to stick to the people who are like you, but if that hasn’t gotten boring yet, give it time

Matthew left his job and his lifestyle but didn’t leave his people. If Jesus could call him, Matthew knew Jesus could also call his kind of people. Matthew demonstrated a tangible truth for us: repentant people are receptive people

Leave it up to Jesus to once again show us that it’s not about being popular, influential, or knowing the right people for our stories to matter. This list is full of outsiders and outcasts, and all are a part of the lineage of Christ. Matthew also includ

God is a connecting God

The lie we believe is that our story must be a viral, blockbuster, New York Times bestseller to have any shareable worth. However, the best stories are those that connect us and change us

Jesus told stories that were translatable and teachable

practice makes permanent.” Perfection is not the goal but rather we strive to learn a skill and a language so it sticks and can be put into permanent practice.

Greg McKeown’s book Effortless. His Spanish professor friend emphasizes that practice will most definitely include mistakes. These mistakes lead to accelerated learning. “The faster they make those mistakes, the faster they will progress. . . . There is n

If every human is a unique creation of God, then every moment with every human is significant. What you say or don’t say, what you do or don’t do, what truth you confirm or neglect is crucial to the human heart. Are you talking to parents at the park? A

The most opportune moments of your day are when you are in your sweet spot of your unique calling, because your God-given gifts and abilities are just naturally flowing

On many occasions, He said, “You’ve heard it said, but I say . . .” to show people what is important and right

I once heard Steve Cuss, who has written on leadership anxiety, share how Jesus stood for truth, and if it offended someone He didn’t run after that person to soften it or change it up

Peter and John were at the gate and translated Jesus to the man, and others got space to wonder. Remember that what happens at the gate doesn’t stay at the gate! Peter and John had reclined at many tables with Jesus and picked up His confidence and ce

Create space for wonder

Let the story speak for itself! Remember, Sun- days are for swapping stories. Mondays through Saturdays are for stepping into stories. Peter and John went back to their own people and shared their story, and everyone praised God together. Our sto- ri

Has your spirit ever been provoked? This is the term other translations use to describe what was happening to Paul as he moved around Athens

Fear is an idol

Politics is an idol

When people don’t follow Jesus, they have infinite options for what or who they can put in that first-place position. “Any- thing goes” can go there. “What works for you” can take that place

all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new

As we speak the language of Christ, we do so with mindfulness of culture. Many people have left Christianity because they didn’t feel heard or seen by Christ followers. In Athens, Paul used their language, their poets, their statues, and their gods t

in Jerusalem, Paul told his story in Hebrew (21:40–22:21). The people became more quiet and atten- tive because he spoke in their dialect and in ways they could identify. He recalled being present when Stephen was stoned

With Christ comes freedom for all who decide to follow His ways. Without Christ remains an alter- native culture with far more limitations and ever- changing regulations. Nothing on earth is without re- striction

The elephant in the room is the search for something that is vague with a sprinkle of value that sparks a bit of conviction with- out complicating one’s life

Paul was about twenty-seven years old at Stephen’s stoning; Paul was about fifty-five years old when he wrote from Rome

Paul studied Scripture. Paul studied culture. This is why he could communicate so well.

Evangelism is not just for a special class of Christians. It’s what Jesus com- missioned all of His disciples to do

Here are their responses:
•Tell me your story.
•Explain the facts.
•Invite me to what you’re a part of.