Static: Tune Out the Christian Noise and Experience the Real Message of Jesus

By Ron Martoia

Book Overview

Words communicate. Christians often use words to communicate to others; however, these words aren't understood by many of those outside the church. We can be so absorbed in our "christianese" that we... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 141431213X
• ISBN13: 9781414312132
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 4.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Learning how not to talk

I'm 80 pages into this book, so far I love it. I love how the author has opened up new ideas, which are both thought provoking, and in my case very valid. I've never been one to share a lot about my faith, whether it be to Christians or those who don't yet know Christ. I am part of a group that is using this book as a study and it has really opened up conversation, allowed all of us to share and get to know each other a little better. So far it has been a very easy read, and opened my eyes to things I was unaware of. I think it will help guide and provide direction for our church going forward.

More than Words

Language is so important. And, we in the "church club" have, quite possibly, adopted a language that can only be understood by it's members. And, it is a message that we deperately want to communicate. In Static, Ron Martoia addresses this language barrier in a way that is easily understood by everyone. He makes the task of sharing your faith a little less daunting by removing the baggage that "hot" words have accumulated. But, more than that, he helps you examine your own faith experiences and how they affected your spiritual formation.

Rethinking Old Assumptions

In his excellent and thought-provoking book Static, Ron Martoia says,"You can't hear when you think you have already heard". This statement exemplifies well an important struggle within the church in today's evolving and yet to be clarified post-modern world. That is, how do you make the message of Jesus, this "news flash" as Ron describes it, understandable, relevant and compelling in today's culture; a culture that is partly a product of a religious mindset that thinks it has already heard what needs to be heard? In Static, Ron does an amazing job of telling the Biblical stories of Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration in a language that is both understandable and relevant. Yet, he does it without compromising the truth of God's Word. Displaying his giftedness as a writer, he reaches out to people in a way that makes the message of Christ real and alive. However, he also challenges many time-honored "assumptions" man has made about the Bible in general and Jesus' message in particular. Ron remarks,"We have to be willing to dump our assumptions if we are going to learn anything new and this is true of the Bible. We need to remain open to even hear the Bible instead of believing we have already heard the Bible!". Ron does not discount the importance of the biblical language so familiar to us such as gospel, sin, repentance and kingdom, a language that today too often inhibits spiritual conversation. Instead, he "probes past the common definitions of the words to discuss the more nuanced backstory of the Old Testament, Jewish, and first-century contexts from which they emerge...." Only then can the hard work of translating these stories and concepts into words that will be understood by today's contemporary listeners begin. There will be those who take exception to such "freedom" with God's Word.I, however, applaud Ron's courage. He has given us a book that is exceptionally readable, compelling and guaranteed to make you rethink many of your own "assumptions". Ron quotes Sallie McFague from her book "Speaking in Parables", "The purpose of theology is to make it possible for the gospel to be heard in our own time". Static is just the book for our time.

Language Bellman

You don't have to be in/around the church for long to begin picking up baggage! Much of the religious heavy luggage occurs at the point of the way we Christians talk. Very quickly our language becomes burdened with all kinds of meanings - most of which are not known by those around us, and hotly debated by those inside the church. Static finally brings some help to the luggage of language. Martoia gives us some new handles on the words that have become so laden with implied meaning and as Ron points out - just mis-interpreted! What a great time for the church to begin to learn that most of the world (those we wish to communicate our message to) have no clue what we are saying. Maybe the starting point is us clarifying to ourselves first exactly what we are trying to communicate. It begins by cutting through the noise to gain clarity with some of the religious and Biblical terminology that has become such normal baggage for us. Read Static with an open mind and you'll discover fresh meaning to old terms that we've just assumed we knew what they meant. It could just re-define the way we do church, the way we live life, and the way we communicate the Gospel! (what does Gospel mean anyway?!)

Reclaiming the Newsflash

Helping clear out the distortion in our hearts and minds, Static returns us to the compelling newsflash of the Biblical Narrative- Narrative filled with truly good news in a language that was accessible to people of the time. Isn't that the longing of today as well? Static helps us think about how to communicate this message, the real message of Jesus, by having us go back to the Scripture to reclaim this newsflash. Static's deep and rich interpretation of Scripture provides us the safety for questioning not only our own understanding of words like gospel, repentance, sin, salvation, and kingdom of God but also how our interpretation of these words translate (or fail to translate) to a culture seeking authentic peace and hope. The entertaining setting of Static places us in an on-going conversation between Ron and his friends, Phil and Jess. Phil and Jess are trying to figure out why Phil's `evangelistic' techniques are not working on his coworker. In an all too familiar dialogue about the command to `preach the good news", Static has not only Phil and Jess wondering why words like `gospel' and `sin' are shutting down spiritual conversations, but it also has the reader experiencing a bit of déjà vu. With great angst, Phil and Jess begin questioning the origins of their own thoughts. Might I say, it catalyzes a few questions in the mind of the reader. Ron helps us all, through these conversations, become more aware that the real message of Jesus, when stripped of some of the noise, is one of a much richer, fuller, life giving story than what perhaps is embedded in our minds. Static is a great book for helping us reclaim and understand the original intention and compelling newsflash in a world desperately seeking hope.