Recently I spoke at a church that uses the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as its main Bible translation. I believe they would have used the English Standard Version as an alternative. I have no problems with these translations and find them useful in many ways. But I’ve used the New International Version (NIV) 2011 as my main translation for study and teaching for many years now. I find it has a good balance of accuracy and understandability. But I know that the NIV is viewed with suspicion by some quarters. I am not sure that this church would have viewed the NIV in this way, but I wanted to disarm any possible negative reactions to my use of the NIV.
I began by sharing my knowledge of the translators of the NIV. I know for a fact that the translators of the NIV come with different perspectives on different issues. For example, on the role of women in the church, some are complementarians and some are egalitarians. The issue here is not whether the NIV is more conservative or less conservative than other versions. Rather, we understand that every Bible version has its own translation philosophy. Indeed, we should use various translations in any serious study of the Bible to be exposed to different nuances in the text. I use different versions even for my devotional reading.
And so, from the pulpit I said I’m going to use this “evil” translation, the NIV 2011, but told the folks not to worry because I know most of the translators of the NIV and that they are OK. Later, as I reflected on what I had said, I realised that I had said something that was untrue. I do NOT know most of the translators of the NIV. At most I know two of the translators of the NIV personally, Gordon Fee and Bruce Waltke, and I would know of about 20 of the other translators. But there’s no way that I would know most of the translators of the NIV. There were over a hundred translators in the original version and possibly 15 who helped update the original version to the present NIV 2011. Of course people might assume that I knew most of the translators by reputation and not personally, but even that would not be true.
For the longest time I’ve been very concerned about Christians inflating their ministry reports. Often they may want people to rejoice and be encouraged by what God is doing. But in trying to do that they inflate and exaggerate their ministry reports. For example, they may say ten people accepted Christ at a gospel meeting when it was actually five people rededicating themselves. They may talk about how many folks were healed miraculously, when actually they just felt better. They may exaggerate the numbers in their congregations to make them seem far larger than they really are.
Therefore, I’ve always been very concerned that we must tell the truth especially when it comes to our communication to the church and to the public. Alas, here I was guilty of the same sin that I was so concerned about.
So let me put it out there: I do not know most of the translators of the NIV. I only know two of them personally and I know of some of the others by reputation and know that they are sound. But I do not know most of the translators of the NIV.
This misrepresentation also came about because I do not write out my sermons in full. I prepare my sermons comprehensively in my study, but I do not bring a full script when I stand before a congregation. I only bring brief notes and an outline. This allows me to interact more with the congregation in my attempt to make the preaching a more personal encounter. It also gives me the freedom to adapt the talk in response to unfolding situations in the congregation. But one danger of not writing out your sermon in full is that you end up saying things off the cuff which are just not true.
I am writing this essay for various reasons, one of which is to confess before my readers that I said something that was untrue. Through the years I think I’ve acquired a reputation for being honest and authentic in my teaching and preaching. I suspect people are inclined to believe the things that I say. If indeed people think that I am committed to telling the truth, then I have to be a good steward of that reputation. I should invite people to question me if they think that something I’ve said is not true; or if they think what I said might be exaggerated.
And so it was a good reminder to myself that even as I prize honesty in communications, I am not immune from exaggerations and therefore need to be much more careful when I speak, especially when I speak extemporaneously. Today it might be something that is seemingly innocent but, if this is left unchecked, the next time I may be sharing some untruth that is more damaging if people were to believe what I had said. And really, God doesn’t need exaggerations to help His cause.
