Speaking the Right Language

Isaiah 43 shows us God's heart for the entire earth:
4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; 6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth-- 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

God calls us to be fishers of men, communicating the gospel effectively through our words - and our actions!   God loves us and has empowered us to display His truth.   Because we love Him, we develop a love for people and desire to see them come into a love relationship with Jesus Christ.   I am thankful that God has chosen to use you and me for His purposes, as His ambassadors.


In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus gives some insight into his method of communication - and His motive: 
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., said they have invented a language named for one of the school's more well-known alumni, Stephen Colbert.

Viorica Marian, associate professor of communication sciences, said her team needed to invent a new language to conduct research into whether knowing multiple languages makes learning a new language easier, and they chose Colbert as the language's inspiration due to his tendency to invent new words as part of his political satire.

"Stephen Colbert has brought new words like 'truthiness' and 'Lincolnish' into the lexicon," Marian said. "We had to invent a new language to do our research, and no one invents words as readily as Stephen Colbert. Naming our new language after Colbert was a no-brainer."

Now, I have to wonder if we really need another language, especially one that is satirical in nature - after all, there are some 6900 spoken languages around the world.   But, this instance does illustrate the importance of speaking and learning.

In order to share the gospel of Christ, it's important that we are able to communicate with the people that we are attempting to reach.  When you consider literal languages, you find organizations such as Wycliffe who are translating the Bible for scores of people-groups, after spending years with these groups to learn the way they speak.   And, there is a movement within the church today centered on orality - recognizing that 60% of the world's population learns orally, by the spoken word.

The International Orality Network (ION) is a group of ministries that makes the Gospel available for oral learners in culturally appropriate ways in order to facilitate church–planting movements.

The orality movement uses methods conducive to the learning style of oral learners in discipleship, evangelism, leadership training and church planting. These methods include storytelling, poems, chants, songs, riddles and proverbs.

Missions organizations are becoming more mobilized as they learn to communicate truth to those who do not or cannot read, who learn by the spoken word.

And, there is what I would refer to as communication styles - in order to have good communication with our spouse, it's very helpful to know what connects with them best.   For example, Dr. Gary Chapman has identified 5 "love languages".   If we are a student of our mate, then we will be better equipped to communicate with them.   And, in the workplace, the church, or other areas in which we relate, we have to learn how best to communicate in order to be effective.   When attempting to share the gospel with others, again, sensitivity to someone's communication style is paramount - and Jesus illustrates an important technique:  telling stories and asking questions.

So, while the folks at Northwestern may have identified a new language, God is equipping us to learn how to communicate in a variety of effective means.