Our annual trip to Belize is in a couple of weeks, and I am down to “crunch time”. We host a Bible Conference in Belize every year and part of the process is to prepare a booklet for everyone to follow the study. It usually runs about 20-25 pages, and we provide it for them in both English and Spanish. English is the “official” language of Belize, so most people speak it at least a little. But many people have migrated from Mexico and other Latin American countries and only speak their native Spanish. Even those who can speak some English still have Spanish as their heart language and prefer their notes in Spanish. So after I get my notes put together, I send them out to the on-line translation system. Then I have to take their work and make a lot of adjustments with it. Whoever designed that system does not know much about the Bible. The Holy Spirit is “Holy Alcohol” in their mind. I am not sure we are drinking from the same spirit!
I have gotten to the point where I can read Spanish fairly well. I still need a lot of help, and I have the fine work of Juan and Esther Rios whose first language is Spanish, and after I do all of my work on the outline, I send it to them for their final editing. Then we can print and bind and provide for our friends in Belize a study booklet that can speak to each heart from God’s word.
It will be so nice when we get to heaven and can all speak the same language. It is very difficult to communicate with someone when all you know is a few words in their tongue. I know a lot of Spanish words, but I know nothing of the grammar and structure of communication. Things are not the same. Idioms and figures of speech do not translate. I made reference to “crunch time” a minute ago. We all understand that, but they would probably be looking for one of those great chocolate bars with the crispy rice. Getting this outline prepared in both English and Spanish is incredibly tedious and time consuming. Communicating to others who do not hear things the same way you do is one of life’s most difficult challenges.
Consider that in the light of God trying to communicate to man. Not only is there a “language” barrier, but the gap in “culture” between a holy and all-knowing God and sinful ignorant men is infinitely wider than any gap between human beings. Yet God is the master communicator. He does so in so many ways that no one is exempt from the knowledge of his truth. Psalm 19 shows us how he communicates through creation. God cuts through every speech and language on earth to proclaim his truth to his creatures. John 1:9 says Jesus is, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Romans 1:20 tells us, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Many skeptics of the word of God try to hide behind the excuse of “those who have not heard” or “those who don’t speak English” when the testimony of the truth of God is abundantly available on every square inch of the planet. Those who don’t see it or don’t hear it don’t want to.
The challenge for the believer in Christ is how to take the things of God and communicate them to a lost world that lives in that darkness. It is hard enough from English to Spanish. Now we have to find a way to bridge the “God – Man” gap as well. The only way to do that is to walk in the Spirit. If I could live in Belize for a couple of years and immerse myself in the culture and language, I would be able to communicate much easier to our brethren there. If you will immerse yourself in the culture of God and his word and learn his “language”, you efforts to share his truth with a lost world will improve.
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