Reinterpreting Reality During my doctoral studies, I was the senior Teaching Assistant for a large first year class on Cults & New Religions at McMaster University. It was plain that every group from Ron Hubbard’s Scientology to Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, is presenting its own vision of reality.  The fact is that the secular media, the advertising industry, politicians and religious leaders are all attempting to interpret reality for us.  This is important to recognize in a generation that believes very strongly that their choices are free from outside influence.

Interpreting reality for others is important work, bad examples notwithstanding. When a child is frightened by a bump in the night, the soothing words of a parent enable the child to reinterpret the sound. When a traumatized victim sees a counselor, the sessions help the client to reinterpret the trauma in the light of other realities.  A pastor, speaking the words of Jesus at a funeral, “Let not your heart be troubled… I go to prepare a place for you,” is comforting the bereaved with a different interpretation of reality.

We who are followers of Jesus, have embraced His vision of reality, His way of treating people, and we are convinced that there is no truer way to look at the world we live in. As Paul states in Colossians 1:17, in Christ ‘all things cohere.’  Christ provides the ‘unified field theory’ that ‘makes sense of everything’!

As parents, church leaders and community members, we have many opportunities to help people interpret their reality – a huge challenge in a world with so many competing voices. Our theme for Regional Gatherings 2012 is Transmission: Interpreting Reality for Our World. Our keynote speakers will lead us in considering this tremendously important interpretive task, particularly for our children, our congregations, and our neighbors.

As you begin another year, consider these questions:
1. What will I do that will make the reality of life in Jesus more transparent in my home?  2. What will I do to enlarge the contact patch with friends and neighbours that don’t know Jesus and so much need Him to make sense of their existence?  3. What will I do to improve my ability to speak effectively to my congregation so that they are better able to make sense of their daily lives?

Here are some ideas:
Parents, spend enough time with your children. Be intentional in speaking to them about your own (imperfect) journey with Jesus.  They already know that it’s imperfect, but they need to know why you are still on the journey.  At the Regional Gatherings, Chap Clark will elaborate on the fact that there is a clear connection between parents who are real and transparent about their faith journey and the transmission of faith to the next generation.
Pastors, be true to the text that you are preaching from. Do not give in to ‘pseudo exegesis’. If we are to preach God’s word, let’s honour what the text actually says.  Then let’s help the teenager, the struggling couple, the long-haul truck driver understand how the message relates to their behavior.

Spend time with unchurched people. If we want to be more effective in knowing and loving the people that God loves, we must spend time where they are, and they’re not all in church. How can we bless them and invite them to follow Jesus if we are strangers, or just plain strange? The same kind of transparency about our own journey that makes faith real to our children is important to others. Moving beyond your Christian circle to love others may be uncomfortable and difficult, but it’s where God’s love calls us, and it’s worth learning to do.

Let’s make the most of the opportunities we have this year, to help others interpret reality in the light of Christ.