A mystical kind of healing

Larry the Cable Guy tells a story of a horse he owned: He was out riding in the back fourty one day when his horse tripped and broke it's leg. He called up the vet and asked what could be done for it. The vet told him, "You'll have to shoot it." Larry went and got his gun and did as the doctor ordered. A couple of days later the horse was worse than he was to begin with and Larry said, "If he doesn't get better soon, I'm gonna shoot him again!"

People love mystery and magic. No doubt there is a supernatual power out there that is beyond our comprehension. But, I think that we often read passages in the Bible and want to believe in a mystical power that can be called upon like something out of Harry Potter. I never understood peoples obsession with the King James Version as a teenager. Don't get me wrong. It served English speaking people for years and was a blessing strait from God when it was published. It brought the Word of God to the common man. But now it is full of ancient words and out dated phases. Swearing by it is the same as praying in latin. It doesn't accomplish any more because it sounds sacred. And I have heard those who say, "It's the only accurate one." How would you know? Do you speak Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek? The King James is as flawed as the NIV in this way: It cannot say what the original text says because it has words in it that we do not. English has one word for love, the original text use four. And they are very different kinds of love. Grammer, syntax, spelling. No of these translate directly. But we love the mystery of it all. As the old saying says, "Don't miss the woods, for the trees!"

If you will be honest with yourself, if you had never read the Bible before and been schooled to some degree in its wording and meaning, half the time you wouldn't even know what the heck the author was talking about and the other half you would probably miss the real meaning. When the Bible was written it was written in the coloquial language of that day. And all that means is it was written so that the people could understand. The epistles were especially in a conversational tone. The translations used by most Christians today are anywhere from almost 500 years out of date to 30 years out of date. There is a fear of updating the translation as much as we update our clothes, cars, and hobbies. And there is a certain amount of righteous fear of God in that. But leaving people in confusion because of our affection for the religious traditions we have know is as much a sin as not telling them anything in the first place. When we tell people about the message of the Kingdom, do we relay what God really intended or do we show people how wise and learned we are for our comprehesion of these mystical words, how nobel our traditions are? Or do we bring it down to it's intended words? Spelling it out plainly like the Lord did for us?  It is a matter of life and death you know.

I leave you with this passage from James from The Message translation, "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like." James 1:22-24

Feel free to comment or ask questions!