Speaking My Language

Call Me A Linguist

I don’t mean to brag, but I speak a whole bunch of different languages. Now I’m not talking about the languages that you might be thinking of, languages like Greek and Hebrew. Don’t get me wrong, I know those languages - I can’t really speak them - but I know them. I’m talking about the different languages of people. I believe that one of the gifts God has given me is that I can talk to a wide variety of people in their language, at least well enough that they feel understood and comfortable.

For example, when I worked at Marco’s Pizza I worked with a guy named Jodice. Now Jodice spoke like he was from the hood, he used a lot of slang. And when I worked with Jodice, I sounded different talking to him. The “yes sir, no sir” was replaced with “yeah, nah.” I used a lot more slang, I spoke like he spoke. Not exactly like he spoke, but as close as I could and still sound natural.

When I was working in Florida, I generally spoke pretty much how I’m speaking now - until the receptionist from my Georgia insurance office called. Then it was immediately “well hi, I’m doing very well ma’am, how about you?” My drawl deepened - not as far as when my brothers and I go full Southerner, but it was in that direction.

When I talk with friends from Vanderbilt, it’s another language still. The words tend to have a lot more syllables or a lot less syllables - I’ll let you think about what that one means. When I talk with my brother about hockey, we start to sound like Riley and Jonesy from Letterkenny.

Even with you guys, the way I talk with Donnie or with Dave is different from the way I talk with Joel which is different from the way I talk with Luke.

All of this is to say that, even though we all might be speaking English, we each speak our own dialect, our own version of the language. And we tend to be more comfortable, more receptive when people talk with us using our own language.

People Who Speak Our Language

To illustrate my point, I just want to look at a series of images - and please nobody raise your hands for any of this. If this person *picture of Ben Shapiro* shared some idea, some of you would be really receptive to trying it out. On the other hand, some of you might be more wary of the idea. The same could be said for this person *Rachel Maddow* as some of you might be really open to what she has to say, others might not be willing to listen to it at all. The same could be said for President Trump and President Obama. Maybe you’re a big Marvel fan and if this man *Robert Downey Jr* would suggest something you’d be willing to give it a shot, or a big Star Wars fan and would be willing to try anything with his *Ewan Mcgregor* stamp of approval, or a big Lord of the Rings fan and trust *Vigo Mortenson* to give tips.

You see, we look to people like us or people that we connect with or people who speak our language to give us advice, to point us in the right direction, and to impact us in meaningful ways. This is true with these public figures, but I think it’s even more true in our daily lives. We take the words of our close friends, the people who most speak our language, very seriously.

A Personal Savior

That’s what makes Pentecost so incredible, because God chose to speak to all of these people in their own languages. The people gathered there, the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, and all the rest, they spoke - at least to some extent - a common language. If they had business in Jerusalem they could presumably communicate with the inhabitants of the city, and they shared enough of a common language that they could ask each other about what was happening, saying “how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”

But God didn’t speak to them like that, He didn’t have the disciples speak to them like that. No, God spoke to them each in their language. In the words that spoke to them personally, in the words that reached them where they were at. And some of the people who heard all this dismissed them as drunks - although I’ve never met anyone who spoke more languages drunk than they did sober - but some of them heard the good news of the Gospel, the mighty works of God. And that doesn’t make sense, Peter explains how Jesus lived, how He died, and how He rose again from the dead, and that doesn’t make sense to the wisdom of the world. 1 Corinthians 1:18 puts it well when Paul writes that

1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The Holy Spirit works through the words of the disciples, the words expressed in each person’s own language, and gives the gift of faith to about three thousand people that day. And the Holy Spirit gives that gift of faith to each of us here today, promising that

Romans 10:9 (ESV)

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Our faith is an incredible gift that promises us a place in paradise, in the presence of God forever.

Friendship Evangelism

And when we think of our friends, of our family, and of our loved ones, we want to see them in that paradise. But that means that they need to know the truth of the Gospel, not just know it but to believe it.

Now I want you to imagine your closest friend outside the faith, that co-worker or sibling or friend, and I want you to imagine what would happen if I walked up to their house. If I, dressed in my suit with my hair in a bun, walked up to their front door, knocked, and asked “do you have some time for me to tell you about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?” For most people, the story would probably end there, because they would say “no thank you” if they were polite - something stronger if they weren’t. And that’s if they answered the door at all. Some of them might answer the door, some of them might let me in, and the Holy Spirit might work through that conversation. It seems to me like we’re putting a lot of obstacles in His way though.

So imagine this, you’re sitting with a friend around a fire, at the salon, or at dinner. And you say to them, “hey, I’ve got something really important to talk to you about.” And you tell them in your own words, in the language you share, about Jesus. Tell them about how He lived, died, and rose again for you. Tell them about the importance of faith. Tell them how much you want them to connect with the faith you’ve been given. If this is one of your closest friends, they’re at least going to listen to you, they’re going to give you a chance. Now your words might not be perfect, you might not sounded like some polished, professional evangelist - you might even say some wrong things! But the Holy Spirit can and will work though that conversation, and there were a lot fewer obstacles than the first story we imagined.

Exponential Growth

Because that’s what we see at Pentecost, we see people being spoken to in their own languages and the Holy Spirit moving in incredible ways through it. Now, we might not see 3000 people come to the church all at once, but think about it this way, if everyone at Edgewater brought one friend next week - we would have around 150 people in worship. And if those people connected and found a home here, if the Holy Spirit moved and brought them to faith, and everyone shared their faith again with just one person - we would have 300 people in worship. Which is great, but what is greater is this - that’s 300 people who are being rooted in the Gospel, people who are connecting with a faith that saves. So I’m going to challenge you, each and every person here, to boldly have those conversations in whatever language you speak with your friends - polite or rude, classy or crass - and share the good news of what Jesus has done for you, for me, and for them. Amen.