Lost In Translation (Again)

Next week, I’m heading to Germany to speak at a leadership conference. 

 

They’ve asked me to give five different sessions (!), so I’ve been cranking to get everything ready.

Unfortunately, I don’t speak German, which means I’ll be working with a translator. I always find this challenging—the start-and-stop rhythm can kill the momentum and energy of a talk.

To help with that, I decided to have all eighty-six slides (I know!) translated into German ahead of time. I used a mix of AI tools, bouncing translations back and forth between them to refine accuracy. It’s been a challenge for a whole host of reasons, but at least it’s a start. A real human in Germany will be reviewing them too—thankfully.

A few years ago I was speaking at a seminar in Switzerland (how does such a tiny country have four national languages—and require English in school?). During a Q&A, a pastor lamented that only 2–3% of the population went to church. My evangelism bias kicked in, and I blurted out: “That’s awesome! It means the field is wide open for harvest. You’re famous for chocolate, right? Let’s go hand some out and pray for people!”

Everyone laughed—and by the way, laughter sounds the same in every country I’ve visited.

Encouraged, I added, “It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel!”

The translator paused, gave me a puzzled look, and whispered, “Uh…why would you kill fish in a container?”

And just like that, I lost the room. Sheesh.

Language is slippery. It shifts shape depending on context, culture, syntax, tone, grammar, and rhythm. Some words don’t even translate cleanly. For example, the Japanese have a single word for “sunlight filtering through trees”: komorebi. How beautiful is that?

In today’s post-Christian, post-pandemic world, how often do we pause to think about how we communicate—especially to those outside the faith? If we truly want to be welcoming and inviting, maybe it’s time to rethink how our services and messages convey the beauty and power of the Good News. What tone do we use on social media? Is it inviting?

So much of how we speak is shaped by our culture—and we rarely reflect on it. It’s like how a fish thinks about water: it doesn't. It’s just what it swims in. We’re often just as unaware.

Here’s an idea: What if your team—staff, board, elders, whoever—set aside a few hours to examine how your church communicates, inside and out? Maybe even watch a recording of a whole church service together. Does your communication reflect your mission and deepest values?

If we’re being honest, we might be surprised by what we find.

And surprise, in this case, is a very, very good thing.

Dave Workman | The Elemental Group

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