Posted by Patrick Corkum on May 1, 2010
As I am studying the Greek language, I am realizing how much translations are interpretations. It is not really possible to simply translate one language into another. Concepts exist in some languages where they don’t exist in others. There are also idioms that exist in languages (and cultures) that don’t make sense in others. A great example is the Hebrew idiom that is used in the Old Testament that is literally translated “long of the nostrils”. Huh? Well, this is translated in the English as “slow to anger”.
So, the one that has been bothering me is James 1:27. The reason that it is bothering me is that the way it is translated in English Bibles is an interpretation. I don’t want to get too heady, but bear with me. The NIV translates the Greek as:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
This would lead one to believe that keeping oneself from being polluted by the world is a separate command. Now, up to the “and to keep”, I am not going to get into… but let’s look at the Greek for a minute…. don’t worry, I will walk you through it.
“θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὕτη ἐστίν, ἐπισκέπτεσθαι ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ἐν τῇ θλίψει αὐτῶν, ἄσπιλον ἑαυτὸν τηρεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου.”
See the comma? Well, that isn’t there in the manuscripts, but that is okay, I want to use it as a reference point. So let’s start with “ἄσπιλον ἑαυτὸν”. The translation that the NIV has for that works fine… it is translated as “oneself from being polluted”, perhaps “himself unstained”. Himself is the noun there and it is in what is called the accusative. In other words, it is the object of the verb, that is why it shows up in the English after the verb. The verb here is “τηρεῖν”. This verb is in what is called the infinitive. It means “to keep”, like “to keep his commandments.” So, what is an infinitive verb? It makes the verb function as a noun and conveys the concept of “in order that” or “for the purpose of”. Read here to understand what the infinitive means. “ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου” means “from the world”. So, where does that leave us? My translation!
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress in order to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I simply replaced the “and”, which does not occur in the Greek with the concept of what the infinitive is. Now, this translation conveys something COMPLETELY different than the NIV. My translation conveys that looking after orphans and widows in their distress is how you remain unstained by the world.
Does this sound weird? Well, people have been testifying to the truth of that argument. Kay Warren (Rick Warren’s wife) has an entire talk where she explains how she has become “gloriously ruined” by caring for orphans and widows. What she means by that is that she cares nothing about the culture and the trivialities of life anymore. She doesn’t want to talk about anything but God’s heart for the orphan and widow. She wrote an article here.
James is not trying to tell us to do two separate things. People are trying to figure out how to keep themselves from becoming “of the world” and he is telling us how. Sorry if this was really heady.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 30, 2010
This is now the third breakout (out of four) that I have been in with Michael Monroe of Tapestry. It is the second one that he has done with his wife Amy. I LOVE these guys! They are so passionate not only about helping families around them, but helping other ministries. They have so many materials out there to help you do what they do.
This session is the session that I have been most looking forward to as it really relates to where I am right now, knowing that there is a huge need around us (and for us) in the Maryland area. This session is about post-placement support. What is post-placement support? Well, your adoption agency typically helps you through the adoption process and right up until the adoption is finalized. What then? They try to tell you about things that you might encounter, but there is no way to REALLY prepare you.
Adoption comes with problems that are unique to adoption and there is a huge gap out there helping people with these problems. The church does not do a good job, partially because they just don’t know that there is a need and partially because they are not equipped. We have heard so many times that people wish that there was help, they wish there was someone to help them through the post-adoption process (which is life-long).
I can’t wait to watch the video series called Empowered to Connect that they have created with Dr. Karyn Purvis! Check out the videos they created here.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
I am sitting in the General Session this morning, typing this blog post as people all around me are standing, clapping, kneeling, raising hands and all kinds of stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I love to stand and sing (my wife would probably not call it singing), clap, and all that stuff like the person next to me. What I don’t particularly like is when someone tells me to go putting my hands on someone else. Okay, so why do I not like it and why do I not like this so-called “spirituality”? Well, a couple reasons.
First, it is an emotional in-the-moment kind of false “spiritual high”. I am not saying that God doesn’t meet you there, but I AM saying that he doesn’t need singing and hand-raising to meet us, he wants holiness. He is the God that draws near, but he requires us to be holy. He makes us holy and it’s not when we’re raising our hands, singing. If people want to praise God that way, I have no issue with it. Just reflect as to why you do it.
Secondly, it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for others. Now, I think most Christians that are not into the whole thing are going to just get over it and think that you are weird. Those that are used to it are just going to not even realize that not everyone else does this kind of thing. However, what about the non-believer who has never experienced this and has showed up to see what this is all about. What are they going to think? I know what I would think…. “they’re crazy! Why would I ever want to be doing this stupid stuff? These people freak me out. If I don’t do what they do, which I am not going to,because it is awkward for me, I’m am going to be judged and looked down to as ‘not spiritual’” Why do I say this? Because it is what I think. I just get over it, because I know better and am more accepting of other people’s culture. But what those who aren’t like me in that way?
Now, I know that some people are not going to agree and may take it personally. Please don’t, I am not attacking anyone. I would love your comments, just please don’t be inflammatory.
Anyway, I really have enjoyed the music here. Peder Eide has a really nice sound and some awesome music. He also has a great sense of humor. I can’t wait for the rest of the day!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 29, 2010
I am sitting here among many many people with a passion for caring about orphans worldwide. It is pretty awesome walking around with those that I have heard on recordings and read about on the internet. I know that I am going to forget to do something while I am here. I’ve already met a few different people, the first two from Oklahoma, how strange is that?
I love what people are doing here, but I must say that I think that people are missing something. Everyone seems to have James 1:27 posted in their booths. My issue is that everyone is using ellipses. People are either ignoring widows, the “remaining unstained by the world” part or both. People are missing a profound truth by doing this. There is an important aspect of what James is trying to tell us: caring for orphans AND widows is how you remain unstained by the world!
Looking forward to my first breakout with Michael Monroe of Tapestry – “Organization Matters: Church Ministry v. 501c3.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 17, 2010
Okay, I am going to be a bit more serious in this post for a change. There has been a significant amount of news and discussion around this family who took their adopted child and sent him on a plane with a one-way ticket back to Russia. People are so quick to judge this family and their action. Did they do the right thing? Absolutely not! I cannot condone what they did. However, who was providing them with the needed support?
We in the US are horrible at this thing called community. It is indeed true that it takes a community to raise a child. It is especially true when the child has been adopted and even MORE so if the child was not an infant when adopted. However, in the US, we are a “strong”, “independent” people that cannot show weakness or request help from others. This is just pure hogwash. We are no different than anyone else; we need other people. There are not enough people supporting adoptive parents. I know first hand that raising an adopted child that was not an infant when adopted is hard. It has been much harder than raising my biological children.
The Church needs to step in and support these families. If we as a Church do not step in and support these families with whatever it is that they need, meals, counseling, an ear, anything, then we are as much to blame for these kind of events as the family. We need to stop complaining and step up and make a change. We cannot simply hope that somebody else is going to take action. YOU must take the action and help. And if you need help helping, Melissa, myself, and several others are here to help you!
Via con Dios!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 14, 2010
So, the topic of conversation yesterday was: is it appropriate to talk about your *** life in a blog post. Certainly most of us would agree that there are definitely certain aspects of what goes on in the bedroom, or wherever it happens to take place, that are certainly to be kept between husband and wife. However, I have a big problem with the fact that Christians don’t want to talk about ***. God sure talks about it; try reading His book sometime, I hear it’s a best seller!
So, I ask, why not be open about the husband/wife relationship? Perhaps if we did, the divorce rate among Christians would not be the same as the rest of the population. What if newly-weds or pre-weds (is that a word?) were given a realistic view of marriage before they had their expectations shattered because they were set by TV and movies (and the media at large)?
Don’t worry, you’ll never hear me talk about the *****, or ***, and definitely not ********.
As for my wife, she has decided to “respond” to my post. You men can tell her that *** is not a “perfect end to a perfect day” or “an ultimate fix to a crappy one”. Rather, it is just the end of the day 
. AND, contrary to her opinion, it is definitely a theology post!!!!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 1, 2010
Last year, at church, we decided to do a Seder dinner at church. A Seder dinner is the traditional Passover meal celebrated in Jewish households. What astonishes me is that the Christian church generally does not celebrate this. For the life of me, I just cannot understand why we don’t celebrate the Angel of Death passing over us. Jesus certainly celebrated the Passover. Although there are some who are uncertain, the consensus is that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder dinner. This is where he broke bread (Matza) and passed the cup (wine, not grape juice) saying this is my body, eat; and this is my blood, drink. Unfortunately, this year, we are not doing it at home. However, next year will begin an annual celebration for us of a Christian Seder at home on Passover. Experience it once and you too may want to start this long-practiced tradition in your home.
Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheynu Melekh haolam
<Blessed are you Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe>
Posted by Patrick Corkum on March 27, 2010
In American society, we are bent on being entertained. It seems as if though we won’t do anything if it is not entertaining to us or in some way leads us to entertainment. It seems to be so much the case, that it has found its way into mainstream Christianity as the norm. I am not saying that there is not a place for it, but it seems to have proliferated to all aspects of the church. The church uses entertainment for all kinds of purposes. People don’t seem to want to go to church unless the “entertainment” factor is good. It is almost as if the measure of a church is how good the band is or how well the pastor preaches. In most Protestant churches, kids get seperated from their parents because the entertainment isn’t geared to them in the “main” service, so they are shuffled off to Sunday School. I dare someone to point to a Middle School or High School ministry that doesn’t have entertainment as a primary focus of reaching and keeping kids coming. This seems also to be one of the primary methods of evangelism <a big word for telling non-believers the Good News (gospel)>.
So, here’s my question. <drum roll please>. Are we okay with this? Is this the what Christianity is about? Is it about God entertaining us? Or, rather, is it about the holiness and awesomeness of God? Are we focusing on the right thing (i.e. what we get out of it)? What do you think?