A Love of Language

I have long loved languages and learning about other cultures. It probably derives from a passion for travel and meeting new people, even in my own neighborhood. It is an active interest in who or what shapes them, how they live, who they are, and who they are becoming.

This passion led me to study a couple of different languages in my life. I’ve also learned phrases in a few others from friends. Ok, I will freely admit those mostly revolved around food, but we enjoy sharing good food, right? The fact of the matter is that I really don’t speak any of these languages well. Often, any attempt quickly become a series of hand gestures, comical expressions, or quick sketches on a scrap of paper when vocabulary lacks. Admittedly, this can happen even when I am speaking to another in the language I grew up speaking.

At times, an inability to clearly communicate with one another can create confusion, distress or worse. But when there is understanding, there can be a brief connection, and it is a memory-making moment.

In one of those moments, I remember giggling with a friend’s mom as we sorted through a pile of methi (fenugreek) at her kitchen table.  When my friend left us alone to run an errand, Google Translate helped us to have our first conversation together as we used the app to translate Hindi to English and back. This friend also once welcomed my mom into her home with warmth, honor, and respect. It was a gesture I appreciated as much as my mom appreciated the homemade chai she was so graciously served (in English).

Language is one of the ways we communicate. Approaching someone in their own language or expressing interest in learning more about them can be a way to start to foster a connection or build the relationship. And when we use it to reach across a cultural or linguistic divide despite the potential embarrassment or shame, it is an act of love.

Divine Language

So, this got me thinking. What language does God speak, and can I learn to speak it more fluently as a form of worship? Christians refer to the Bible as God’s word, and it is. It is God speaking to and through his people. Because of its divine authorship, it is timeless and unchanging in what it teaches. Yet, it also has a cultural, linguistic and historical context due to the fact that it was written down by man in a specific time and place. The earliest manuscripts of the Old Testament are written in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament is written in Greek. If you do read the Bible, you probably have not studied any of these languages (nor have I), so you rely on careful and faithful scholarly translations into contemporary languages.

Reading the Bible in our own language, whatever that might be, is a gift that we enjoy only in recent history. Even so, it may still bring up questions, strong emotions and even doubt about what is read in some, but probably not all passages. There are some passages that are difficult to read and understand, that is for sure. But prayerfully maintaining a posture of faith allows us to trust God’s word as his Spirit reveals meaning. An intellectual curiosity about what we read (and experience as we do) will help to bring clarity to what can be known about God and ourselves in light of who He is. It can help us to better understand the reasons for why we believe what we believe. We get to know God through reading what He tells us about himself.

God Speaks All Languages

Now, I want to be careful here. I am not saying that all religions lead to God, but the God of the Bible does understand all languages because He created them (Genesis 11:1-7).

I also want to be respectful of those who practice other faiths. Of all the world religions, it is only in Christianity that God reaches down from heaven to invite mankind back into relationship with Him through his Son Jesus Christ. He does so when we repent from sin and trust that Jesus is who the Bible says He is: Immanuel, God with us. It is God’s mercy that saves us from getting what we have earned and deserve through what Jesus has done. The Christian puts their trust in Jesus, then seeks to submit to God’s instruction for their lives, not as a means of earning salvation, but as an act of worship and love in response to his gracious gift.

As I was thinking about this idea of language, I decided to listen to a favorite worship song in as many languages as I could find it in the half hour I dedicated to the project. In that time, I found the song in languages that represented every continent on earth. As I listened, I imagined the noise that the combination of all of these languages would make to the human ear if sung in unison. To us, it would be deafening and incomprehensible. But just as the God of the Bible hears all of our prayers individually, He also hears the beauty in this unified, diverse chorus as each individual voice praises Him for his glory and goodness. As I listened to the one voice singing this familiar song in a language I did not understand, the melody calmed my anxious heart. I reflected on God’s sovereignty over all creation and his presence among us-all of us, all around the world-and I opened my mouth and started to sing along in my own language.

This is the language I want to more freely speak. The language of adoration and praise lifted up to my Lord and Savior. Now please know that I am not trying to convert anyone here; I don’t have to. But I am opening my mouth to offer the highest form of honor and worship I can to the Lord. It is not because He needs this adoration or worship; It is because my own heart needs it, and it is good for me.

Otherwise, I can easily begin to believe the world revolves around me, my life, and my circumstances, whatever they may be. The Bible assures me that it does not, and I am so very grateful to understand this. I am not designed to bear that kind of weight.

As you go about your day today, I pray that you are able to do the same.

Peace. Alison

Photo credit: Wirestock on istock.com. Photographer unknown.