Lost in Translation

1 John 4:6
6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Exactly one year ago yesterday, my cousin was married in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. After the wedding, Leslie and I found a cheap hotel on South Beach in Miami to vacation at for a couple of days. At first it was overwhelming. The neon lights, people everywhere, and the fast past lifestyle were not things we were used to. On top of that, it seemed like everywhere we went English was not the primary language. It was amazing. Kind of like an international trip without the airfare or jet lag.

We had to rely some on our high school and college Spanish training. But we mostly kept to ourselves. My guess is that this felt natural for us because we both spoke the same language, had the same background, and were there together. But it says something about knowing people.

We run into folks who are strangers and neighbors, friends and foes. How we treat them depends upon our first impressions. In the early church, Christians would draw fish in the sand to identify other Christians (the greek word ichthus--IXOYE--is an acronym for "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior). In church today, we confess and affirm our faith in the apostles creed.

The point is this: as a universal church, we may be divided, but we have ways of communicating and knowing each other. As Christians, they may not always know us by our bumper stickers. They may not always know us by our T-shirts. They may not always know us by our language. But as Christians, they will know us by our obedience to God and our love of neighbor.

Prayer: God, give me the ability to speak your language of love to a world with a broken heart. AMEN.

G. Thomas Martin