by Brian Bowman

Theme: The church language we use may sometimes confuse and even turn away those who do not know Christ. We should be sensitive to our audience, those we are witnessing to...

Scripture: “As Your words are taught, they give light; even the simple can understand them. Psalm 119:130

(Two people, one a student, the other an instructor are sitting at a computer. The instructor is obviously excited about teaching the other person. The student seems eager but soon feels lost…)

TEACHER: Okay, you’re going to know everything about building web pages in about an hour, okay?

STUDENT: OK.

TEACHER: Okay, just for this lesson, we’re going to make up a company name. Let’s call it “Red Quark 6000.”

STUDENT: How about “Bob’s Pizza?” That’s the name of my husband’s restaurant.

TEACHER: Well, okay. Here goes. To begin your page, you click “file”, then “new” up here, see?

STUDENT: Okay, so far.

TEACHER: Right. Now, your company sells pizza, so click this button up here with the squiggly line that runs right to left.

STUDENT: A squiggly line. What does that mean?

TEACHER: Right. (pauses) Look, this button translates everything for the html code.

STUDENT: HTML?

TEACHER: Hyper Text Markup Language

STUDENT: (Silently stares in pity at the teacher)

TEACHER: Okay, at this point in the page, we’re going to create a “query.” Now, the components are modular, so press this button with the squiggly line that runs left to right, this one with the picture of an airplane, this one with the giant penguins and finally this one with the picture of a rutabaga.

STUDENT: What?? (He/she can’t make any sense of all this)

TEACHER: We’ll call it “Bob’s Pizza Toppings.” Now, the filter is where the region is, PLUS the “url parameter.” You want to assert the names in ascending order. See? Now hit “control, shift and the semi colon” to save it.

(student is quickly feeling overwhelmed)

TEACHER: I’d like to do another. Click here. Now, I’ll set this to “region.” The data source is the same as last time. In this query, name “from region.” The next line is where the “i-d” in the region table equals the “u-r-l parameter” that we’re passing, which is still “region”, right? So it’s pretty simple. Now, let’s throw some dynamic content on the page…

STUDENT: (Interrupts…head hanging low) No, let’s just forget it. I’ll never understand this.

TEACHER: It’s EASY.

STUDENT: Easy for YOU. How old were you when you created your first web page?

TEACHER : When I was just a kid.

STUDENT: Right, it’s harder for me. I can remember when computers had only one color and we’d NEVER even HEARD of the internet!

TEACHER: Never used the internet?

STUDENT: No. (attention begins to shift) I remember the first computer I saw was in church. I was a teenager. Pastor Davis thought it would help with organizing the church directory. Hey, do you go to church? (Standing, obviously proud) We have the prettiest sanctuary in the state. We have a massive pipe organ and stained glass near the BAPTISTERY, and our COMMUNION is a thing of beauty.

TEACHER: (confused by the terminology) Baptistery? Communion?

STUDENT: Oh, yeah. I’m a card-carrying member of the First Baptist, Pentecostal, Apostolic, Lutheran, F-W-B, A-M-E Congregation. REFORMED in 1910.

I believe our PARISHIONERS are anointed to preach the HOLY GOSPEL to a world of sinners.

TEACHER: Gospel? Sinner?

STUDENT: (with a little more of a swagger) You bet. We don’t consider ourselves to be very LITURGICAL but we do sing the DOXOLOGY every Sunday. Why, at the First Baptist, Pentecostal, Apostolic, Lutheran, F-W-B, A-M-E Congregation, Reformed in 1910, we’ve been JUSTIFIED AND SANCTIFIED, washed in the blood!

TEACHER: Washed in BLOOD??

STUDENT: (pauses…finally sees that his/her “church” words are confusing the teacher. Becomes more gentle.) Right, the blood of Jesus. He died for our sins. Look, this is SIMPLE.

TEACHER: Simple for you. How old were you when you first went to church?

STUDENT: Since I was a kid.. (pauses – now he/she gets it) Look, you don’t have to understand everything about the Bible to know that God loves you. He always has. He wants to be active in your life. He says in the Bible that He wants a personal relationship with you. (pauses again) And there are Christians there who will become your closest friends once you get to know them.

TEACHER: I’ve never been to church.

STUDENT: That’s okay. We have lots of adults who never went to church when they were young. The important thing to know is that God knows you better than you know yourself. If you place your faith in Jesus and not in yourself, He will change your life. He wants you to know Him and to spend eternity with Him.

TEACHER (pauses) Well, I want to hear more. Can I meet you and your husband there, Sunday?

STUDENT: We’d love nothing more.

TEACHER: Great. Just keep it simple.

(Exit together.)

Can you share the gospel in simple terms?  Have you tried lately?

©2003 by Brian Bowman

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