Speaking Their Language

Today, I went with our church's senior group to a nursing home. There, we sang hymns. I led a devotion. We heard a poetry reading. We probably spent about forty-five minutes doing that. Then, we greeted some of the residents.



Many of them suffered from Altzheimers, Parkinsons, and other age-related diseases. Some of them were physically challenged, and some of them were mentally disabled. Some were easy to interact with, while others merely stared and clutched their baby dolls.



One woman made an impression on me, that I think will stick forever. I introduced myself, and when she told me her name, I detected a slight accent that I couldn't identify. "Where are you from?" I asked her.



"Puerto Rico," she told me.



Immediately I switched from English to Spanish. She told me that she had a son and a daughter and a sister in Puerto Rico. She has lived in the nursing home for eight years. We spoke for only three or four minutes. There was no lengthy spiritual conversation. But when I said, "Que Dios te bendiga," [God bless you] in her own language, there was something on her face that spoke volumes beyond words. It became obvious to me that she probably never spoke or heard her own native tongue anymore. Maybe she hadn't in years. And here was somebody giving her a blessing in the language of her heart.



That three or four minute exchange probably meant more to her than the forty-five we spent singing and sharing in English.



Which makes me wonder--In all the ways we Christians try to share Jesus with people, how often do we take the time to make sure that we're doing it in their language? Maybe they literally speak another language, and it'd be better to share Jesus with them in the language of their heart. Or, maybe they speak our same dialect of English, but they come from a subculture or special group that we need to appeal to--and put Jesus into terms they can understand.


On February 4 of this year, Jesusismyhomeboy.com reported:



It was the 1980s and Van Zan Frater was a young Texan relocated to Los Angeles. One night he was driving in South Central Los Angeles and needed to use a pay phone so he pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store. As soon as he exited he saw a group of toughs. They were young, none older than seventeen and out to prove themselves. As Van Zan walked to the phone they set upon him. As Van Zan remembers there were at least 12 of them and they surrounded him and began to ask him questions like where he was from and other questions that let Van Zan know he was dealing with a street gang.

One of the younger boys struck him and Van Zan fell to the ground. It was then the young gangster put a gun to Van Zan’s head. The other boys were telling the young man to pull the trigger and take Van Zan’s life so they boy cocked the trigger. Van Zan pleaded and pleaded but nothing could sway the boy. Then Van Zan looked around and then back to the boy with the gun. Eye to eye he looked at the boy and said, “Jesus is my homeboy and don’t you know that Jesus is your homeboy too?” The message was passed.

The message was withdrawn from his head. He had connected with the boy living inside the gangster. That boy looked at the next one and one by one each boy felt the message, that Jesus was their homeboy as well. Van Zan left there unharmed but the message still rang in his ears.

Van Zan Frater now heads a foundation inspired by Jesus is My Homeboy dedicated to helping innocent victims of gang violence.

How will we learn to "speak the language" of those around us? First, we need to listen to them.



That's not always easy to do, because we often bypass those who don't already speak our language. We're lazy about witnessing. We want people to come to us, on our terms. When will the church learn to bless people in their own language? It's so simple, and so much more effective than expecting them to come to our services, and learn to speak our language, just so they can hear.



Dee & Van Zan Frater recently read my blog post, and left a comment. Please click on "comments" below to see what they had to say.

“Fear and Rejoicing – Undignified Worship”

Last time, we saw how Uzzah’s tragic irreverence kept David and the Israelites from experiencing God’s blessings in worship. It is possible for you to ruin the worship experience of others around you, if you let your irreverence and bad attitude spill out into the church service. Instead of being brought into Jerusalem, the ark had to be kept under lock and key until a later date.

Months after Uzzah’s tragedy, David got over his fear, and again led a joyous procession to bring the ark into Jerusalem. It was a time of extravagant worship. David recognized that our whole bodies can be employed in worshipping God. He stripped off his kingly garments and danced before the ark wearing only a linen ephod. Later, his wife rebuked him for it, saying, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would (2 Sam 6:20)!”

David’s response was, “I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor (vv. 21b-22)." When you enter worship, are you more concerned with what other people might think of you, if you worship God the way you feel led? Or, like David, do you choose to give your whole self to God in worship, holding nothing back so you can praise your Lord?

I have a confession to make. I’m a closet hand-raiser. Yes, when the spirit moves me, I like to raise my hands in worship. The problem is, that’s not typical for my church. For years, I have allowed my fear of their judgment to keep me from raising my hands in worship. That’s pretty bad, since I’m supposed to be their leader! The funny thing is, I’ve talked with others who have felt the same way, yearning to raise their hands in worship, but feeling restricted. I’ve decided to give up phony concerns like this, and just worship God the way I feel led. By doing this, I’m creating more of an atmosphere of acceptance, and removing the restraining spirit that once held many in our congregation bound.

The March 10, 1993 edition of Today in the Word says, “Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, ‘If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing.’”

True worship is when fear (reverence) and rejoicing meet. Just as the wings of the angels touch on top of the ark, so the twin wings of fear and rejoicing have to meet for true worship to take place. It’s possible to have so much reverence for God that you never really worship. It’s also possible to come with so much rejoicing that you forget the awe of the Incomparable One. May you enter worship with both fear and rejoicing this Sunday.

“Fear and Rejoicing – An Error in Delivery”

What is your attitude when you come to worship? What style of worship services fits you best? What does the Bible have to say about the way we approach God in worship? These questions can be answered by a close look at 2 Samuel 6. In this passage, King David leads a procession to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. This procession has all the earmarks of a great worship service.

Verse 3 says that they set the ark on a new cart. They didn’t put the holy chest of God on some dilapidated piece of farm equipment. Instead, they gave God their best. When we come to worship, are we prepared to give God our best? Too often we’re tempted to say, “Here’s something that’s old and used up, and I have nothing to do with it anymore. But I need a tax write-off, so I think I’ll give it to the church!” How often we come to worship, prepared to give God less than our best! When we worship God, we need to do it with dignity, giving God the honor He deserves.

Verse 5 tells us that they were worshipping the Lord with all their might, with a variety of musical instruments. Does your church insist that only one or two kinds of instruments are holy enough for worship? Your praise team might be incomplete without David’s band of harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. Loosen up a little, and learn to enjoy a variety of musical expressions that give God glory. Worship as David did, with all your might, and not half of it. At our church, we all bring different talents into the worship service. Musicians play. Artists decorate the sanctuary with artwork that fits the theme off our service. Amateur florists design special arrangements. Those with the gift of hospitality serve as greeters. With all our might, we bring our talents and give them to God. Is this how you come to worship?

The gaiety was interrupted by Uzzah’s irreverence, which ruined the worship service for everybody—especially for him. The oxcart tipped, and reaching out to steady the ark, Uzzah forgot that the sacred chest was never to be touched by human hands. He didn’t show proper reverence for the power of God, and paid for it with his life. God’s power hit him like lightning, and immediately he fell down dead. After that, David was afraid to bring the ark up to Jerusalem. I have to admit that I’m not always in the mood for church on Sunday morning. It’s easy for me to allow my lack of reverence to ruin the worship service for me. Even worse, my irreverence can destroy what God is trying to do in other people’s lives.

When we worship God, we need to remember to reverence Him, and remember His power. Even good intentions like Uzzah’s can be wrong. This Sunday, I hope you’ll evaluate your intentions and attitudes as you learn to worship God.

Weak Leadership

Right now, our church is beginning the process of selecting new deacons. Our nominating committee is also busy making phone calls, asking people to serve as teachers, and on committees. Every church has different requirements for leadership, as well as varying methods for selecting their leaders. Perhaps your church is also in this process of looking for leaders. What kind of leaders do we need in the church today?

In his book, Wind and Fire, Bruce Larson draws a parallel between church leadership and the flight patterns of sandhill cranes: "These large birds, who fly great distances across continents, have three remarkable qualities. First, they rotate leadership. No one bird stays out in front all the time. Second, they choose leaders who can handle turbulence. And then, all during the time one bird is leading, the rest are honking their affirmation. That's not a bad model for the church. Certainly we need leaders who can handle turbulence and who are aware that leadership ought to be shared. But most of all, we need a church where we are all honking encouragement."

The apostle Paul, arguably the greatest church leader in the first century, spoke of himself in the third-person when he said, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven…This man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses (2 Cor 12:2-5).” We need leaders of spiritual vision, like Paul. Like Moses, who said to God, “Show me your glory (Exodus 33:18),” we need leaders who seek God more than anything else. But we also need leaders who are humble about their faith, not exalting themselves over others because of their deep spirituality.

In verse 7, Paul says, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” We don’t know what this “thorn” was. Bible scholars have suggested various physical impairments. The point is that God was trying to keep Paul humble, lest he think too highly of himself. Leaders can have a temptation toward pride. But what we really need is weak leadership—leadership that admits its weaknesses and relies on God for strength.

Paul continues in verses 8-9. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’" What should we, and what should our leaders, do when we encounter “thorns” in life? As Paul did, we pray, and we pray, and we pray. But then we listen to God and receive His grace. We realize that when we are weak, then God is strong in us. So pray that God does something radical. Pray that God gives your church some weak leadership.

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The Same River Twice

Photo: Heraclitus of Ephesus

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-480 BC) said, "You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.” No doubt a different version of the same quote, he is also purported as saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

I found this to be true on my 37th birthday, last Sunday, when a group of friends from high school got together to share a picnic meal in the park. Most of us hadn't seen each other for almost 20 years. How could I expect that everything would be just the same as it was before?

Most of us had gained weight (congratulations to those who didn't). We have lost hair, or gained it in places we should never have it. That hair doesn't look quite the same as it once did, either, with tinges of gray found on most of us. Some who were meatitarians are now vegetarians. All of us were single, and last Sunday there were spouses and gaggles of children running around.

Heraclitus also said, "There is nothing permanent except change." That couldn't be more true! I guess, since the mini-reunion coincidentally coincided with my birthday, I let it affect me more than most. While I enjoyed the company of my friends, I have to admit that seeing them made me feel old. As everybody changes around us--we watch our kids grow, we watch our spouse change--somehow we picture ourselves as remaining the same. The impact of that is greater when you see someone you haven't seen in almost two decades.

"Boy, you guys sure got old," you want to say. "It must be you. It couldn't possibly be me."

But the river continues to flow. It changes and shifts, making us acknowledge that the philosopher was right. You can never step into the same river twice. So if it's true that you can't go back again, the only question remaining is How can I make today's river more beautiful? And that's a better thing to focus on, than the fact that I'm getting older every day.

How Far Would You Go For Your Child?

We just celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday. Lately, I’ve been thinking of all the things my father has done for me—things I can never repay. My dad has certainly gone the extra mile for me through the years. Which makes me wonder: How far would you go for your child?

In Mark 5:21-43, we read about a man who was willing to set it all aside for his child. Jairus’ daughter was gravely ill, and he was willing to set aside all his responsibilities at work, and as the synagogue ruler, to meet her needs.

First, he sought Jesus out. That’s something that more men need to be willing to do. He didn’t sit on his hands and wait for Jesus to come to his house. He was proactive for his child’s sake. When fathers seek Jesus, miracles follow.

Next, he was willing to humble himself before God. He knelt at Jesus’ feet and literally begged for help. Most men would never humble themselves like that—because it means giving up control. It means trusting God to do what you cannot. I wonder—men who are reading this column—are you man enough to humble yourself?

Then, he was willing to ask for help. Most men would rather die than ask for help, because we’re taught to be strong and self-reliant—like the man who drives until he runs out of gas when he’s lost, rather than stopping to ask directions. We’re men—we don’t need anybody—right? Wrong! We need Jesus, and need to ask Him for help.
Along the way, a woman who needed healing distracted Jesus from following Jairus to his house. Jairus was willing to wait on Jesus. Are you willing to wait on Jesus, when prayers aren’t answered in your timing, or in the way you’d like? Waiting on Jesus yields our own lordship to His Lordship, and truly puts Him in charge.

Once they resumed their journey, messengers told Jairus that his daughter had just died. The Lord said, “Don’t worry, just have faith.” Later, Jesus said, “She isn’t dead, only sleeping.” Jairus chose to listen to Jesus, rather than listening to the voices of despair and hopelessness around him. When it comes to your children and their problems, whose voices do you listen to—the world’s, or God’s?

Jesus didn’t put Jairus in a waiting room and say, “You’ll have your daughter when I’m done.” No—he invited Jairus to accompany him in prayer. Jairus was willing to act with Jesus in faith. Jesus invites you to do the same for your children. The result was that he received his daughter back alive.

How far are you willing to go for your children? Are you willing to set everything aside, and seek Jesus? Will you humble yourself before God, and ask for help? Are you willing to wait on Jesus, and listen to what He has to say? Will you risk everything for your children, and act with faith on their behalf? Only when we do these things will we see the wonders of God.

My Most Popular Blog Post

Yikes! I never knew I would hit on a topic so popular when I blogged about whether it's a sin to get tatooed or pierced. Just over the past 9 days, I've had 18 hits on that topic alone! (That's a lot for me.)

It's interesting to me, what things I anticipate being popular topics that I'm right about, and what things I think will be popular, that I'm wrong about. It's also interesting when I think something will have no great appeal, but it hits a lot of people's hearts.

Sermons are that way, too--when I think I've bombed a sermon and someone tells me that God spoke to them through it, or when I think I've really hit one out of the park, and nobody seems to have listened.

Mark 4:26-28 Again Jesus said:
God's kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field. The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how. It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain.

I love this passage, because it reminds us that we don't understand how the seed we sow sprouts and grows. Just as the farmer must be faithful to plant his seed, so we must be faithful to plant the truth in people's hearts. We don't understand how they will receive it--but God understands it.

Interesting that the scripture says that it's the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow. In other words, the person who receives the word determines whether the word is going to grow in them. You can't make someone listen to you, or hear what they need to hear. You just have to plant the seed, and trust God to water it.

So--how do you think you're impacting the lives of those around you? Maybe you're impacting them--but not in the ways that you think. It's ok--God gives the increase. Just keep planting your seed!