So? You Eat Jar Sauce

Put downs, profanity, and obscene gestures have all become far too familiar today. Rarely does it cause me to laugh out loud. I must say rarely occurred today. While reading The New York Times, I came across an article entitled “Italian Americans, for and Against Mamdani, Square Off in New York City.” No, the article was not amusing, and the title is not particularly funny. Well, you will understand if you watched Everybody Loves Raymond, but if not, just knowing traditional Italians will do.  

I laughed out loud. I have eaten pasta made with sauce from a jar most of my adult life. I like it. It is not offensive to me. I could be in that protest with a sign that reads I Eat Ragu Sauce, and be happy. I probably would have a sign that read, ‘I Came for the Pasta.’ But for this particular Italian American, it was a put-down, a nasty remark, a degrading statement. Profanity is, at times, in the eye of the beholder. I have ministered on five continents and in many countries. I have lived in two nations besides my own. Cultures vary from country to country, state to state, and city to city.

In one city, I tried to hail a taxi, and the missionary told me I was calling for a woman. Oops. I was surprised at the language that, at times, came from the pulpit in one nation. I was shocked by the sectarian hatred I discovered in a nation’s churches. In another women had to dress a certain way in the church, but topless was okay in the field.

What is your point, Pastor? As you might have guessed, I have three key points to share.

1. One must read history, current events, and especially the Bible with a thorough understanding of the culture. When reading the New Testament, for example, one must attempt to understand what the original readers heard and what they understood. What may seem like an insult to our ears may not be insulting at all to the culture at hand.
2. The Bible was written in the East—we in the West like to think linearly. We think ABCDE… It is why we love charts and why some of our Biblical charts on prophecy are so far off. It is why we love Systematic Theology, the alliteration of our central beliefs, or simply an acrostic to guide us. Yes, it is helpful, but if you think God only communicates linearly, you haven’t read the book of Revelation. Dominoes don’t always fall the way you expect.
3. The Bible is still clear on coarse jesting, hate-filled language, and taking God’s name in vain. We can’t always get away with:  It’s just my culture,  it’s just my nationality, it’s just business, it’s just politics, or it’s just the way I was raised.

God must laugh at our charts and our very definitive descriptions of His Nature. We can only know what He has revealed to us; however, it doesn’t keep us from imagining. God made man in His image, and we have been trying to return the favor ever since. (If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor. Voltaire).

I leave you with this: And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, NIV.

Running the Race with a limp,

Dr. James D. Allen

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