Recently, a friend, (fellow Gen-X’er,) sent me a social media video. In the video, a woman wanted to share her discovery of a Bible written for Gen Z. She read some verses from it as she had found some humor in the way Scripture was presented. For example, this is the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary, advising her that she would be the one to bear the Son of God, as found in Luke 1:26-34, (NIV):
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
Now, here are the same verses, according to the Gospel by Gen Z Bible1:
mary was a pick me girl for god and was simping for him in prayer when the angel gabriel appeared to her and said ayo you’re a real one and TOP G is feelin you but she thought his compliment was sus and gave him the side eye
so he said babygirl chill god sent me to tell you youve passed his vibe check and low key he wants you to have the main character you’d name him jesus and they will say HES HIM the one prophesied in the divine dad lore who solos all and whose crushing it never ends he will take the w from all his opps and his kingdom will go hard forever
she said how can this be, since i promised him my body count will always be 0?
I was unable to ‘copy and paste,’ so I had to physically type out the above translation. The lack of proper grammar, punctuation marks, (auto correct was having a fit,) or even capitalization made the process very difficult. I did have to modify the spacing a bit between paragraphs a bit, but the rest is a word for word copy.
Like many others, I giggled at the absurdity of this. Then, as I read more passages, I became a little miffed at how flippantly the Scriptures were treated. I was able to follow along a bit, but I admit I had to search what a ‘pick me girl’ was … not sure that is an accurate way to portray Mary.
As I was scoffing at what I was reading, something occurred to me. I wondered if, when translations of the Bible started coming out, post the King James Version, were there similar reactions? In 1993, did someone bring a copy of Eugene Peterson’s The Message to some back hall of a church to look at and share a laugh with friends? How about 1971’s The Living Bible or 1901’s American Standard Version? Or, the many different variants and revisions of the King James itself, (of which, there are many!)
Could it be that to keep the Scriptures relevant to a rapidly, and increasingly, changing culture these renditions are needed? Is this a good way to engage an emerging demographic that are also desperately searching for the Truth like all of their predecessors?
Though this is not my preferred way to read and study the Scripture, if it acts in a way as to engage anyone who previously would not have been, then I am all for it. Increased interest will lead to increased study and Truth develops. It IS all about growing the Kingdom, right?
So, until the time we can say, “So, like, I peeped this fresh heaven and earth vibe, 'cause the old ones were out, and the sea was non-existent. I spotted the holy city, New Jerusalem, sliding down from God's crib, all decked out like a bride for her hubby2...” we should earnestly promote the truth of the Gospel in whatever form that will reach those who are seeking.
~ Pastor Sean
1 The Gospel by Gen Z, @gen.z.bible.stories, December 2, 2023, Novo Cantico
2 Revelation 21:1-2, as translated into “GenZ” by ChatGPT, 01/17/2024