Sunday, July 1, 2007

'El Queso' Mata! – 'Cheese' Kills

We're on vacation and I'm loving the opportunity to read a little bit without the pressure of having to crank out a sermon for two Sundays! I am trying to read The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet, which is turning out to be a great book.

Additionally, I did something I haven't done in a long time--I picked up the Sunday morning paper (yes, the print edition!) and read it. The Dallas Morning News had this article buried somewhere deep in section C, "Marchers Take on Cheese." There was a picture of a small group of mostly Mexican Americans, donning t-shirts with the slogan "'El Queso' Mata!" marching to make people aware of the dangers of cheese.

Cheese? What's wrong with cheese I wondered? With the rash of recalls from pet food to toothpaste, I was alarmed to think that one of my favorite foods could now possibly kill me. I was pained to read about how two families had lost teenagers to overdoses of cheese. But it wasn't until halfway through the article that I realized "cheese" is a name for a mixture of cold medication and heroine.

I felt a little silly that I hadn't seen (note to self: put on glasses before reading) the subtitle to the article: "Northwest Dallas: Parents, police rally to promote awareness of drug." For someone who doesn't know the lingo, awareness is needed in order to gain understanding.

I wonder how often people come through the doors of church and feel the same confusion about church lingo that I felt about the dangers of "cheese." I am reluctant to utter words like: Sanctification, Justification, Ordinances, Salvation, Doxology, etc. because although I know these words well, I am aware that they are at best confusing and at worst meaningless to a lot of people.

So I continue to pray for guidance in writing subtitles that are bold and finding words that convey the most important aspect of the life of faith: that God in Jesus Christ loves us more than we can imagine.

Journey on...

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