AS IF!

A Lesson Learned: by Robin Thomas

You know one phrase that really bugs me is “My bad.” Why? Because it just sounds wrong on the lips of old guys. There are other words that mean the same thing, sorry, pardon me, my mistake, but the popular culture of today has coined this phrase, however ridiculous it may sound spoken by the Baby Boomers.

I started to think about how many words have come and gone. Nobody uses the words “groovy” and “far out” anymore, except maybe Cheech and Chong.

“As if” means “I doubt it,” or “I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that,” made popular by the movie “Clueless” is a phrase of the past.

“Let me put my mask on,” said no one ever before they went into a bank prior to Covid. And no self-respecting Gen X, Millenial, or Gen Z would ever refer to kissing as “necking.”

The word for woman in pop culture has a vast vocabulary: Broad, Lady, Skirt, Senorita, Lass, Gal, Consort, Dame, Chick, Mistress, Maiden.

Each generation seems to put its own mark on society. Words are connected to feelings, they are an expression of each individual and generation. The words change but the meaning and feelings behind them don’t.

What has made Shakespeare so popular for the past 400+ years?

Google says, “Shakespeare's works have strong themes that run through each piece…these themes are still relevant today – love, death, ambition, power, fate, free will, just to name a few. So Shakespeare's works are timeless and universal. That also makes them relatable.”

Why are Jane Austen novels so popular and have inspired so many movies?

Google says, “Jane Austen continues to be relevant in our subcontinent because no matter how much we evolve, we still retain social norms and niceties and hypocrisies prevalent from Jane's era two centuries ago.”

Jane Austen is over 200 years old, Shakespeare over 450 years old, and Jesus?

Given our ever-changing and expanding culture, it is comforting to know that God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And for the past 2000+ years since Jesus died on the cross, the gospel has not changed and is still in print today with reprint after reprint. It is as relevant today as it was in the early church.

The oldest surviving manuscript of the Bible was discovered at St Catherine monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai, Egypt in 1844. It dates back to around 325-360 A.D. and is called the Codex Sinaiticus. It is a beautifully intact, leather-bound book.

The Dead Sea scrolls that were discovered in Khirbet, Qumran in eleven caves between 1947 and 1956, date back 2000 years and document the historical proof of Jesus' life and ministry.

In 1535, Tyndale translated the Bible into English. In 1611, the King James Version was published and became the most common and enduring translation throughout most of history. The Living Bible 1971, was published as a paraphrase with updated language, followed by the New Living Translation 1996, which was translated directly from Greek and Hebrew in updated language. There is a continuity from 325 A.D. to 2022. The point is that the Bible has been in constant circulation for over 2000 years and is the BEST SELLING BOOK OF ALL TIME. The language has changed but the meaning and content are the same.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NASB

What kind of words have the ability to survive culture, context, and continent?

What makes the words in a book so transcendent that they can endure over 2000 years of language and culture without losing relevance?

Google says, “Because the Bible continues to answer life’s most important questions. It solves the most pressing problem we face as humans; a problem we simply can’t resolve on our own. (J. Warner Wallace, Sept 11, 2017 Cold Case Christianity).

Through all the shifting sands of culture, the Word of God remains the same.

I love the words of the song, King of Kings, by Hillsong Worship,

And the church of Christ was born

And the Spirit lit the flame,

Now this gospel truth of old

Shall not kneel and shall not faint…

Since Jesus died on the cross and fulfilled the WORD OF GOD, the Holy Spirit lit an unquenchable flame inside the disciples that spread like wildfire from person to person regardless of age, race, gender, or intellect and has continually burned from generation to generation.

Words change, but THE WORD doesn’t.