The Chronological Presentation of the Gospel
It has been over two thousand years since Christ died, and there are still unreached people groups on this earth who have never heard the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Moreover, there are many more tribal people out there who do not yet even have an elementary understanding of the Gospel. What would be the best way to reach these remaining unreached people groups for Christ as well as to place a strong foundation of the Gospel under many other tribal people?
The answer? A simple, written chronological presentation of the Gospel in the mother tongue of the tribal people.
If you only had one teaching to translate into a tribal language, what would be the best? The life of Christ? The Acts of the Apostles? Or one of the New Testament Epistles such as Romans, Corinthians, or Ephesians?
The answer? A simple, written chronological presentation of the Gospel in the mother tongue of the tribal people.
Purpose of the Chronological Project
The purpose of the chronological project is to put into the hands of as many tribal people as our God would allow an elementary, but profound presentation of the Gospel in written form in their own tribal languages in order that these people would not only have a strong, biblical foundation, but thereafter be able, on their own, to evangelize and disciple all others within their mother tongue.
Taken from the original New Tribes material written by Trevor McIlwain known as “Firm Foundations” and as illustrated in the New Tribes video “Ee-Taow,” the simplified chronological presentation of the Gospel begins in Genesis 1:1 and presents an elementary, yet strong foundation of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Importance of Teaching Chronologically
Why teach chronologically? The Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world in a vacuum. The people of Israel had more than two thousand years of teaching before God caused Christ to be born into their land.
Israel understood that there is only one God, and that this one God created a perfect earth for man alone. The Israelites had been taught that Satan was a fallen angel who is bent on destroying all men.
Israel knew that they were descendants of Adam and Eve and not of monkeys, and that the sin of their forefathers had entered into all of mankind. They had also heard of the story of Noah, and how God had destroyed almost all of the world because of man’s sin.
Israel had also been taught the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that belief in God alone brings salvation from eternal death. They were likewise very familiar with Moses and the law, and that they as a people had constantly failed to live up to these terms of God.
The Israelites were also aware of God’s promise through the prophets to send the Savior to save them from their sin.
But what about the majority of tribal people in this world? Many have no proper understanding of who the true God is, why people are inclined to sin, and that God alone can save them.
While some Bible teachers may begin their teaching with Christ and/or the New Testament, our Lord Jesus is not the beginning of the story.
Before people can properly understand Christ, they must first understand the need for Christ. As our Lord Jesus has even said (paraphrased), “Only those who understand that they are sick will look for a doctor.”
This is why people do not understand about Jesus, and take His Name in vain. They just don’t understand their sickness and their need for the only Doctor who can save them, the Lord Jesus Christ.
How does one, however, understand one’s sickness? Looking at other people, we see so many similarities that the general response on this earth is as follows: “He’s a good person so I must also be a good person.”
Yet, it is only by beginning our teaching with the holiness of God that we will be able to truly see our sin as our God sees it.
Therefore, man’s greatest need on earth is to understand the holiness of God, and to begin the teaching with God and His holiness is crucial, as our understanding of God will color and determine all of the rest of our theology.
Many people on this planet have a skewed or crooked foundational understanding of God which thereby distorts and causes the rest of their theology, including sin and Christ, to be crooked.
If you were to look at all of the world’s religions except for Christianity, you would find that the theology of these religions is wrong because their foundational understanding of God and His holiness is wrong.
Do most people in the world have a proper foundation in order to correctly understand our sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, and why He is so necessary in all of our lives? No.
Is an initial foundational understanding of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man important in order to properly understand Christ? Very much so.
And yet, we continue to begin our teaching with Christ while the unsaved have no idea of who God is, how holy He is, and that all of mankind is headed to eternal death because of sin.
To summarize, we must properly understand the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man before we can properly understand the need for Christ. This is all part of a solid, proper foundation which the chronological presentation of the Gospel can provide.
Translating the Chronological Gospel Before the Bible
How much time does it normally take for a Bible translation to be finished? Most Bible translations can take up to twenty years. And what will the tribal people do in the meantime while they are waiting for these translations?
When Bible translation is begun, what portions are translated first? Much of the current translation work starts with the New Testament, and there have been peoples who have rejected the entire New Testament because they have not properly understood a need for it.
This is where the simplified chronological presentation of the Gospel comes in. It is like teaching addition before multiplication and division. It is like putting together the border of a jigsaw puzzle before tackling the rest of the puzzle.
Whereas the translation of the Bible can take years, the translation of a simplified chronological presentation of the Gospel can be completed in as little as three months, and will provide a solid foundation for the tribal people while they wait for the rest of God’s Word to be translated.
The Need to Provide Elementary Bible Lessons Directly to the Tribal People
Missions over the last couple of centuries has been centered around the idea of expatriate missionaries laboring and controlling the work of the harvest field.
Over the last years, however, there has been a distinct decline in the numbers of expatriate missionaries, meaning that there are fewer expatriate workers to work with a greater number of people as the population of the world continues to increase.
It is also true that many expatriate missionaries these days are just too busy–too busy to learn a tribal tongue, too busy to translate biblical lessons into a tribal tongue, and even too busy to oversee a translation of own tribal languages.
All of the above speaks to a great deficiency of elementary, foundational Bible materials written in the tribal languages and placed into the hands of the people who really need them, that is, the majority of tribal people who have had no formal, biblical training.
This is that which the chronological presentation of the
Gospel seeks to remedy, that is, to translate a simplified
chronological presentation of the Gospel into the tribal language within less than a year, and to get it into the hands of the local people where it can be readily taught and read and distributed throughout the tribe.
Initial and Current Translations of the Chronological Booklets
The simplified chronological presentation of the Gospel booklets were first translated into the Me’en language, a formerly unreached people group living in southwestern Ethiopia.
From the Me’en language, the lessons were then translated into a simple English. From the English version, translation of the chronological booklets has already occurred in French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic as well as Albanian and a number of African tribal languages including Amharic, Somali, Dinka, and Nuer.
Details Regarding the Chronological Booklets
Keeping to the original “Firm Foundations” format, there are a total of 68 booklets in the chronological presentation of the Gospel. The first 42 lessons teach of the Old Testament using key stories in Genesis and Exodus followed by the prophet’s teaching of the coming Messiah. The remaining 26 lessons teach of the life of Christ, ending with His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven along with His command to make disciples of all nations.
The booklets are used for literacy, evangelism, and discipleship. Each booklet has either 8, 12, or 16 pages. The number of pages has purposely been kept to a minimum in order to encourage understanding and literacy, that the reader and the listener would not be overwhelmed with too many biblical truths and pages to read at one time. Each lesson takes approximately an hour to teach.
Within the booklets, one will find at the beginning of each lesson key questions which are used for a review of the preceding lesson. The lessons themselves hold key scriptures followed by teaching written in a question and answer format in a progressive manner in order to encourage the teaching and understanding of the truths of God therein.
Details of the Translation and Teaching of the Booklets
As the chronological booklets are written in very simple format using stories from the Bible, they are easy to translate into other languages.
Potential translators of the chronological lessons are identified according to their mother tongue as well as their understanding of one of the major languages from which the translation is to occur. Translation can be conducted most anywhere. An office is not needed.
Typing, proof reading, and printing of the booklets would follow the translations.
It is estimated that the cost for the translation of the chronological presentation of the Gospel is only two thousand dollars per language–one thousand dollars for translation, typing, and proof reading, and another thousand dollars for the printing of the lessons.
Once the booklets have been translated and printed, they need to be taught. It is hoped that churches or individuals, if they have sponsored the translation and printing of the booklets, would be able to participate in the teaching of the lessons by flying into the tribal areas to teach the tribal people.
Summary
As it is believed that the chronological lessons are the foundation of the faith, and therefore, should be translated and taught before any other portions of the Bible are translated and taught, it is the vision of the project to encourage the translation of the chronological materials into every language in the world, first teaching and thereafter placing these materials into the hands of the local tribal peoples who would, in turn, teach these lessons to those of their own tongue for literacy, evangelism, and discipleship.
Ben is now back in Ethiopia . He is in the city of Addis Ababa where he is working with 19 tribal languages. He will leave on Thursday to go Tikempt Ishet to visit with the Me`en and the bench,also the t`ara and the Bbodi in other parts of Ethiopia. Please pray for him. kc
