Lost In Translation
Both Valerie and myself have had the fun and sometimes crucial role of being language Interpreters for people who to need hear what is being said in their native language. Valerie can translate and interpret between Spanish, English, and French and I can translate and interpret from English to Spanish and vice versa. I even gave a class at GTCC for medical interpreting, preparing interpreters for hospitals. As you may have heard, things can be “lost in translation” and while that often is true, it is the role of the interpreter to ensure there is the least lost as possible. That is never more true than when you are engaging in simultaneous interpreting for a sermon, live in front of hundreds or thousands of people. Your brain is working a million miles a minute to register what is being said in English, in a millisecond, finding the correct translation vocabulary, putting it in the correct syntax, finding equivalences for any idioms the preacher used so that the audience will get it, and then delivering the message, all of this while simultaneously listening to the next sentences the preacher is saying to start the whole process again for each sentence. It is no wonder that professional interpreters, like truckers, have mandatory breaks. The brain simply cannot do that much processing for a long time without getting fatigued which leads to mistakes.
I say all that to say that an underrated part of an interpreter’s job, is not only getting the words right, but all also transmitting HOW it was said. Imagine the preacher is passionately bringing his/her point across, with dynamics in the volume and an energetic passionate cadence in their speech. If I as the interpreter am giving the correct translation but the delivery is deadpan, lacking the energy and even the movements of the original speaker, the congregation will feel like they are losing something. Even if they are getting the correct words, it is not considered effective interpretation. There is something similar that happens with us as ambassadors of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 says:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[c] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[d] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
It mentions that God is making His appeal to the world He loves and sent His son to die for imploring with the world through us, BE RECONCILED TO GOD! The language here speaks of urgency: APPEAL, IMPLORE or to BEG. In other words, there is urgency in heaven for the world to be reconciled to Him. As His ambassadors, we have been tasked with delivering that message. The question is, are we delivering it with the same urgency as the original speaker? Or is the urgency lost in translation? Are we being lackadaisical in our approach to reaching the lost in our surroundings where God has placed us? God longs for his creation to be reconciled to Him, the world should feel that lover and passion coming from the Father and He has chosen us who have also been redeemed, to reflect the same passion for the lost since we know what it is like to be lost.
May we be effective interpreters and ambassadors for Jesus. May everyone around us feel the desire of God to reconcile them. As the song Build My Life says: “Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me”
In the love of Christ,
Pastor Javier
I say all that to say that an underrated part of an interpreter’s job, is not only getting the words right, but all also transmitting HOW it was said. Imagine the preacher is passionately bringing his/her point across, with dynamics in the volume and an energetic passionate cadence in their speech. If I as the interpreter am giving the correct translation but the delivery is deadpan, lacking the energy and even the movements of the original speaker, the congregation will feel like they are losing something. Even if they are getting the correct words, it is not considered effective interpretation. There is something similar that happens with us as ambassadors of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 says:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[c] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[d] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
It mentions that God is making His appeal to the world He loves and sent His son to die for imploring with the world through us, BE RECONCILED TO GOD! The language here speaks of urgency: APPEAL, IMPLORE or to BEG. In other words, there is urgency in heaven for the world to be reconciled to Him. As His ambassadors, we have been tasked with delivering that message. The question is, are we delivering it with the same urgency as the original speaker? Or is the urgency lost in translation? Are we being lackadaisical in our approach to reaching the lost in our surroundings where God has placed us? God longs for his creation to be reconciled to Him, the world should feel that lover and passion coming from the Father and He has chosen us who have also been redeemed, to reflect the same passion for the lost since we know what it is like to be lost.
May we be effective interpreters and ambassadors for Jesus. May everyone around us feel the desire of God to reconcile them. As the song Build My Life says: “Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me”
In the love of Christ,
Pastor Javier
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