On the Edges
Read John 6:53-71.
It's not hard to figure out why some people stopped following Jesus. He said some pretty strange things—like in this passage. You must eat my flesh and drink my blood? If you don't do that, you won't have eternal life? What's up with that? As believers on the other side of the events of Holy Week, we understand the language; we know it's symbolic, and that Jesus is referring (as he often does in John) to what we call Holy Communion. The bread is his body; the wine is his blood—and so on. By taking those tokens, we share in communion with him.
But imagine hearing those words as a bystander in the crowd, someone who is only tangentially following Jesus (and before Jesus actually shares that meal with his disciples). You're interested, but not really "in" yet. What does he mean? Eat his flesh? Drink his blood? That sounds gross. It's no wonder some people accused the early Christians of being cannibals. Jesus is, quite obviously, using "insider language" here, and because he does nothing that is not on purpose, it appears he's intentionally separating out those who want to go deep and stick with him from those who don't. The "only mildly interested" drift off after this point because what is to come is going to test the faith of even the most committed.
We live in a world today where fewer and fewer are even in the "mildly interested" category; we have a whole generation (and maybe more) of people who have had little to no contact with the Christian faith or the Jesus we stand for. They stand on the proverbial edge of the crowd, or they're not even in the crowd. And often, as Christians, we do not help the situation when we use "insider language." We have a lot of words that simply don't communicate to the world around us. Now, in fairness, so does every field. Medicine has words that non-medical people struggle to understand. So does education, or politics, or economics...and so on. But, as people who wish to share the faith and communicate the Gospel, we need to be aware of the language we use. Does it communicate to those who are standing on the edges of faith? Do people not see Jesus because they can't understand us?
It boils down to a basic communication principle: know your audience. Jesus knew his, and as I said, I think he's using the language he is in this story for a purpose. Other times, we know, Jesus (and Paul after him) was very clear in using daily figures of speech and even illustrations from current events to reach those around him. We should as well. This week, especially, at a time when people are (whether they know it or not) more open to the Gospel than at any other time, let's be conscious about the ways we communicate and share the faith effectively.
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| Synagogue (3rd century) at Capernaum - built on the foundation of the 1st century synagogue Jesus would have known - 2017 |
But imagine hearing those words as a bystander in the crowd, someone who is only tangentially following Jesus (and before Jesus actually shares that meal with his disciples). You're interested, but not really "in" yet. What does he mean? Eat his flesh? Drink his blood? That sounds gross. It's no wonder some people accused the early Christians of being cannibals. Jesus is, quite obviously, using "insider language" here, and because he does nothing that is not on purpose, it appears he's intentionally separating out those who want to go deep and stick with him from those who don't. The "only mildly interested" drift off after this point because what is to come is going to test the faith of even the most committed.
We live in a world today where fewer and fewer are even in the "mildly interested" category; we have a whole generation (and maybe more) of people who have had little to no contact with the Christian faith or the Jesus we stand for. They stand on the proverbial edge of the crowd, or they're not even in the crowd. And often, as Christians, we do not help the situation when we use "insider language." We have a lot of words that simply don't communicate to the world around us. Now, in fairness, so does every field. Medicine has words that non-medical people struggle to understand. So does education, or politics, or economics...and so on. But, as people who wish to share the faith and communicate the Gospel, we need to be aware of the language we use. Does it communicate to those who are standing on the edges of faith? Do people not see Jesus because they can't understand us?
It boils down to a basic communication principle: know your audience. Jesus knew his, and as I said, I think he's using the language he is in this story for a purpose. Other times, we know, Jesus (and Paul after him) was very clear in using daily figures of speech and even illustrations from current events to reach those around him. We should as well. This week, especially, at a time when people are (whether they know it or not) more open to the Gospel than at any other time, let's be conscious about the ways we communicate and share the faith effectively.
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