A Place at the Tableنموونە

The Bible

Have you ever tried to communicate with someone who didn’t use the same language as you?

It can be a comical experience at first — each person wildly gesturing to items, like trying to play a game of charades. But the longer you don’t feel understood, the more your frustration will likely grow. Neither you nor the person you’re attempting to communicate with is at fault — you simply don’t express yourselves using the same language.

To sit down at the table of God’s Kingdom is to rub elbows with someone from Papua New Guinea who speaks Mekeo, a sign language user from Romania or a woman who speaks her Peruvian language of Napo Quechua. Earth is filled with languages, and they all matter to our heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 14:10).

People develop relationships with God and His Word when they have it in a language and format they clearly understand. 1 Corinthians 14:9b says it this way: “If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space” (NLT).

Our call, as followers of Christ, is to share the gospel with others. That looks like meeting people where they are and introducing them to the God who knows their language.

Food for Thought:

• What language do you wish that you knew?
• Who are some people who have helped to shape and grow your faith?
• How is your life impacted by having access to the Bible in your own language?