Marco Rubio & the Day of Pentecost
Illegal immigrants have been in the news quite a lot recently. Not just the illegals but even the high number of legal immigrants have led many people – including Donald Trump – to promote English only as the language of America (a view to which I am quite sympathetic). But Trump has also criticized at least Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish.
In the most recent Republican Presidential Debate, Senator Marco Rubio, the grandson of Cuban immigrants, made the following comment: “My grandfather instilled in me the belief that I was blessed to live in the one society in all of human history where even I, the son of a bartender and a maid, could aspire to have anything, and be anything that I was willing to work hard to achieve. But he taught me that in Spanish, because it was the language he was most comfortable in. And he became a conservative, even though he got his news in Spanish. And so, I do give interviews in Spanish, and here’s why — because I believe that free enterprise and limited government is the best way to help people who are trying to achieve upward mobility. And if they get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear that directly from me. Not from a translator at Univision” (nbcnews.com).
That italicized statement is the relevant quote: “If they [Hispanic immigrants, p.h.] get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear that directly from me.” We’re talking about the power of speaking someone’s heart language.
Just recently, I have been helping our deaf ministry get in contact with a former deaf member who lives in another state. One of the Christians has been talking with the deaf member through an interpreter and she expressed disappointment that she has not been able (even through video) to speak with the deaf member directly, where she can see her. The power of speaking someone’s heart language.
I am thoroughly convinced that the Lord’s church needs hordes of missionaries and that these missionaries ought to learn the languages of their host cultures. That point was drilled into our heads (hearts) in missions classes at FHU. I saw the power of the effort in our own work on the mission field in Romania. Most Romanians were thankful, impressed, and surprised when we communicated with them in their own language.
pharmacy levitra It increases libido and known as best Vajikara dravya (aphrodisiac) It is also used as uterine tonic and to enhance female libido. Impotence in men is a tadalafil 40mg india difficult condition to manage. It has anti-aging properties and viagra prices canada boosts your sex drive. UK studies alarmingly reveal cialis for women that about 20-30% of men experience this problem worldwide in fact.
And, it has biblical precedent. When the Holy Spirit came over the apostles on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, He guided the apostles to speak the language of each one of those present. There were Jews, from Egypt, who perhaps spoke Coptic, who were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. These men spoke to their wives in Coptic. They sang to their children in Coptic. Perhaps they read the Old Testament in the synagogue in Coptic. They dreamed in Coptic. The bumper stickers on their little red wagons were written in Coptic.
So, the Lord’s ambassadors spoke to them in Coptic. Why? To paraphrase Rubio: If they get their [good] news (euangellion) in Coptic, He wants them to hear it directly from an inspired man.
Take the time to learn the language. You earn people’s respect, especially if it is a hard language to master. You can read material in their own language. You can write Bible study material in their language. And, of course, you can teach them the Gospel in the language of their heart.
Until the Lord unites us in heaven into one language, we owe it to the lost to teach them in their language.
–Paul Holland
