An Inkling
As I write I’m just back from a Pastors’ Breakfast. We reviewed the joint worship service that we had in November, looking toward another service next November. I thought the service came together well, but some reported complaints about the music, specifically that they didn’t hear any of “their” music. And this despite the diligent efforts to have something for everyone! It was a reminder to me of how robust is the legacy of Babel.
Do you remember the Genesis 11 story? It describes one of the legacies of our broken world. In our sin we rarely find common purpose, but even when we do try to do something together, confusion and miscommunication all too often set us apart. And that’s when we all speak the same language – “so to speak!”
Gratefully the scripture has a story that gives a preview of God’s answer to babel. It’s in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church at Pentecost, and everyone gathered in Jerusalem heard those newly Spirit filled people in their own languages – Babel reversed.
The day will come when the Lord will gather his people from all nations to himself. Then the babel confusion, remedied in promise on Pentecost, will be finally reversed. And in the meantime we can all give ourselves to becoming multi-lingual – if not in a full ability to speak other languages, at least in learning to speak more than one language in worship.
In the power of the Spirit might we not learn to sing “their” music and to pray “their” prayers? Our native tongues in worship will remain the language of our hearts. But we can become multi-lingual as a sign of what God’s about. It’s part of what a Pentecostal people do. And it’s good preparation for heaven!
Blessings,
Keith
