June 12, 2014
Scratching the Itch
The
text for my cross-cultural evangelism class is a scholarly body of work and
as a student I’m conflicted about who the book was written for. The text says it is meant for missionaries on the
field. However, the vocabulary is lofty and rather than focusing on missionaries, it spends a great deal of time referencing
other professionals in the field of study. Unfortunately
even we believers are not immune from losing sight of the objective in order to impress one another. “For the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their
own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim 4:3
NIV).
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Gail;
-----You’re always so aware of who something’s written for. This kind of annoys me. Unfortunately, so does a lot of other right stuff. Oh well. I guess that’s a part of being broken and frail. I love the way you zeroed in on the vocabulary and referencing professionals. But I suppose many folks might point their fingers at some nit picking here. I don’t want to sound judgmental, and I assure you that I am not passing sentence, or even suggesting it, but they are wrong. The Devil actually is in the detail. Or if you’re more inclined towards a positive frame of mind than am I: the truth is in the detail.
-----I’ve been charged with over-analyzing things most of my life. Frankly, I should have been charged with it more, because I analyzed not enough. Think about all of the things which make our lives comfortable, safe, healthy, and well fed. We have it because people analyzed. When riding that 90-ton 747 towards the landing strip, you’re hoping the pilot is analytical. You think the brain surgeon might analyze while doing his job? I’ve had a pistol pulled on me twice, once by a bartender and once by a policeman. I’m glad they both analyzed and re-holstered. (I’m neither a criminal nor a bar-fly. I’m just off the wall.)
-----The author should be forgiven somewhat for referencing professionals. Citing authority is a logical device for establishing the validity of facts and points. That’s well and good. However, communication involves two people’s frames of reference. The professional in the field of study is an element of the author’s frame of reference. But this arrow completely misses its target when professionals in the field of study mean only half a bean to a sincere missionary. Like a rope-bridge, the author’s communication is securely tied to his side of the chasm. But the other end barely rests upon the missionary’s side. No intelligence is going to step on that, let alone cross it. If he had referenced well known and revered missionaries, his bridge would have attached securely to the other side, and his communication would flood over.
-----I’ve always bristled at folks who despise a piece of writing for it’s little known words. What? Are we no longer people of growth? Is vocabulary expansion mold proliferation? Do we fear catching a finger in the dictionary? One can never have too many useful words. And I appreciate authors who present to us the dictionary's beauty. The problem is, lofty words are no useful words. They are emotive when non-technical and highbrowed when technical. Either way, their actual communication is ulterior, having maybe more to do with some aspect of the author than of his subject. I know this personally, because I am it. I’m retraining focus, though.
-----So let me guess up a conclusion (I must guess since I know little here.) College tenure requires written books. Maybe needing tenure, said author writes a missionary textbook knowing within himself that the people he really needs to impress are those dishing out tenure. So, he aims at missionaries only for tying his bridge to college regents.
-----One of my good friend’s favorite expressions is, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” From that I’ve pondered, “If you can imagine something happened a certain way, it probably didn’t.” We probably ought to let your author go now.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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