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Is Our Goal Translation of the Holy Scriptures?

I feel a rant coming on, so beware...

Is our goal the translation of the Holy Scriptures? Most of us would instinctively say, 'Yes!' But I have a question. If our actual goal is transformation of the lives of people in a community's through their engagement with Scripture a) how is it best to achieve that and b) what do we mean by Scripture?

How to Achieve the Goal

The best way of achieving the goal is for the community themselves to be in charge of their own transformation. Now, this means they are in charge of what format, what language, the scope of the work, and who carries it out. It might be that they need input from an external (from the same country, or region) consultant (or consultants), but the community can carry out their own work.

If they're in an area that isn't predominantly Christian, then there are some additional challenges. How can people best be reached? How are they going to be discipled into salvation? Who can the team work with i.e. who is going to be sympathetic to the goals of the team, to see the Kingdom of God established amongst that community?

Usually the best way to start is to study the culture and worldview of the community:

  • What are their art forms?
  • What are their beliefs and practices?
  • Do they believe in a high God, even if they are polytheists or pantheists i.e. is there an 'unknown God' that we can talk about?
  • What kind of technology and media do they use in both their local language and the LWC - the  language of wider communication (or lingua franca)?
  • What are the domains of use of these languages (local and LWC)?
  • How do people communicate? 
  • How are people trained and educated?
  • If there is a church, what languages are used for a) worship b) preaching c) notices d) small group fellowships?
  • etc.
Once we have some answers to these questions we can begin to think of a good way forward, in terms of achieving transformation.

What do we Mean by Scripture?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Scripture is defined as:

'1. The sacred writings of Christianity contained in the Bible.

1.1 The sacred writings of a religion other than Christianity.' (emphasis mine)

'Of course!' we all say. Yet often we talk about translation of Scripture before we talk about Scripture engagement. That means that we are talking about a print product before we even start! It might, therefore, to be better to talk about the message communicated in Scripture. God's plan of salvation. Missio Dei (the mission of God).

Since, of course, this means talking about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses and so on it's best to begin by telling stories based on Old Testament narrative. They need to know about the LORD, called 'Yahweh', who Israel worshipped. They also need to hear about the exile and partial restoration of the people of Judah to Jerusalem and it's surrounding region, and the expectation of a Messiah (anointed, chosen one) who will bring in the nations. Once people have grasped these stories, perhaps orally, they are ready to hear the message about Jesus the Messiah. So we tell them the evangel, the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once they have a good grasp of who Jesus is, and have, hopefully, come to faith and trust in him as Saviour, and made him their Lord, we would hope to see a church established, if there isn't one already. If there is a church, then the question would be how can people be discipled to maturity in Christ? What Scripture engagement needs to take place for this to happen, and in what language(s). How much local language Scripture do they need, and in what format? i.e. it still may not be print.

So, rant over, we can go back to our jobs. Or can we? If you're involved in Bible translation, take a minute to think and pray about how much of the above needs to happen where you are. Who do you need to talk to and partner with? The job is too huge for just one organisation to be involved in. We need multiple partners working together to achieve the end of transformation of communities, and the growth of God's Kingdom round the world. 

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