The Word on the Street by Bible Network News Staff
The Word on the Street is a reverently irreverent modern take on the Bible
CARDIFF, Wales, October 14, 2004 — This is not the Bible - with a capital "B" - but it might just get you reaching for one.
Ever wonder how Moses might speak if he lived in 21st Century Britain? Or Job? Or Jesus? If God gave us commandments today, would they include honouring our fathers and mothers "that thy days might be long..."? Do we really need longer days, aren't 24 hours enough? All these questions (well, not the last one) and more are answered in Rob Lacey's book, The Word on the Street, a reverently irreverent modern take on the Bible.
Excerpt: The Big Ten (Exodus 20:1-17)
1-3 God dictates to Moses:
No.1: "I'm your God, your God who liberated you from slave labour in the sweatshops of Egypt. I get total priority. You won't have any other gods taking your attention away from me. I'm it, the only God! No other god's worth squat."
4-6 No.2: "You won't idolize anything else of any shape. Nothing that is something, or represents something – you'll waste no time polishing them or showing them off to your mates or looking to them for the big answers of life. 'Cos I get jealous! And when I'm jealous, I'm ruthless. I punish families even three or four generations after those who hated me have rotted in their graves. But those who live by my rules, I show them incredible love for thousands of generations of their family line."
7 No.3: "You won't use my name lightly, as some sort of magic word, supposed to blackmail me into action. You won't use it as a swear word. If you do, you won't go unpunished. Handle my handle with care!"
8-11 No.4: "You'll keep my Rest Day different, distinct, special. You'll do what the word means – 'stop'. You'll work six days, do all you've got to do, then the seventh day is my day. You won't work, your family won't work, your staff won't work, your equipment won't work, your guests won't work. 'Cos I made everything you see in six days. Then I took a break on the seventh. So will you."
12-17 No.5: "You'll treat your parents with respect. Then you'll live long and prosper in this new land I'm moving you into."
No.6: "You won't snuff out a life, stop someone's clock, blow anyone away, bump anyone off, dole out the big chill, erase, drop, hit, top, waste anyone."
No.7: "You won't sleep with someone else's wife or husband, put it about, cheapen yourselves."
No.8: "You won't thieve, nick, lift, blag, fleece, half-inch, swipe or get sticky-fingered."
No.9: "You won't lie, fib, fudge about someone, in or out of the witness box."
No. 10: "You won't drool over your mate's wife, his house, garden, staff, equipment, gadgets or anything he has and you don't."
The book is a paraphrase of the Bible, boiling down the key stories from the Old and New Testaments to 496 pages. "It's like a trailer for the Bible," says Lacey. "Hopefully (reading and enjoying it) will get someone to pick up a proper one."
In the meanwhile, thousands of people are picking up The Word on the Street. First released in the United Kingdom in 2003 under the title, The Street Bible, it sold more than 40,000 copies and was named Christian book of the year. In September, the book was released to the North American market.
Lacey believes that putting a modern spin on Scripture provides new opportunities for Evangelism.
"I just wanted to get a fresh look at the Bible," he says. "I knew the Bible very well from my upbringing, but it had become stale and I almost knew it too well. So by rewriting bits and being creative with it and quite playful with it, it suddenly came alive."
"When we do evangelism, which is what The Word on the Street is all about, we need to engage them with fantastic stories, and then they'll be asking questions," Lacey says. "That's what Mel Gibson's done with The Passion. It's a beautiful work of art, and now people are asking, 'Who was Jesus?'"
Lifeline to Sanity
While Lacey hopes his Bible paraphrase engages people with God's Word, he knows that it has already been a lifeline for someone: himself.
Shortly after being commissioned to write the book, Lacey was diagnosed with bladder cancer and given a year to live. It was fitting, then, that he started his work by paraphrasing the book of Job. He could identify with Job's afflictions while undergoing his own painful chemotherapy sessions, at one point weighing less than 100 pounds.
He calls writing the book his "lifeline to sanity", noting that being immersed in the Scriptures was a way for him to cope. "The Bible deals with all the big issues in life: life and death, love, pain, fear, the whole thing. So it's the perfect thing to be soaked in."
Now four years removed from his diagnosis, Lacey has made a full recovery. And as the book attests, he has managed to keep his sense of humour, which he uses as a serious tool for evangelism. "The Bible's the best book in the world," he says, "so just because it's humorous, it doesn't mean it's not serious, and I see it as hugely serious."
Published by Zondervan, the book is available in both hardcover and softcover versions. An audio CD, The Essential Word on the Street, is also available.
