Now I would REMIND you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you RECEIVED, in which you STAND, and by which you are BEING SAVED, if you HOLD FAST to the words I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ DIED for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was BURIED, that he was RAISED on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A GOSPEL-CENTERED MESSAGE OVER THE POWER OF LANGUAGES.
I love Spanish. I've stated that here on the blog, I've belabored it to some, but good things should pour out often, so I suppose I'll hack away and continue to express the sentiment.
And I love the Spanish language for a good number of reasons. The words roll off the tongue and they taste like pure sugar. The intonations and expressions allow for a romanticizing of the language, past the point of its academic language label. The culture, the food, the voyages and the history - all these brilliant aspects play a crucial role in the fun and the development and the glory of the Spanish language. But above all characteristics that pump me up, the actual use of the language is what excites me most. It's the idea that there once existed a barrier between two groups, and I sat on one side, and then with proper study and discovery, that barrier decreased, and relationships and knowledge increased.
And why does that matter? Because now I can share the gospel of Jesus with more and more and more people. HUGE deal, really cool, but there's some weight to it.
No matter what language you speak, if you claim to follow Christ, you vow to use that language for the promotion of His kingdom, of His ideas, of His goals. Language is no longer just a get-through-the-day strategy; language is now a gift through which to share a gift, a responsibility to the human race to expose what is good and true and pure.
This.is.so.awesome. and yet so weighty at the same time. I'm currently reading through Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes and of all the takeaways I've held onto so far, the idea of reaching for a pure, unadulterated use of language has internally dialogued with me the most. I have come to understand that, as a believer, the gospel does not cease. The gospel does not sit idle. The gospel does not happen in a prayer and neglect to keep moving. Paul reminds us (meaning, we know and are responsible for this) that we have really great news within us as believers. We first received the news, and then we were sustained by the news, and keep pressing towards godliness because of this news. And what's this news? Well here ya go:
Jesus, who didn't have to and shouldn't have had to, died for us to show us that we matter and that he loves us.
Jesus, to fully show that he has undergone every struggle we've ever been through, was placed in the ground,
buried, with all our sins weighing down upon him.
And Jesus, because he's that glorious and that perfect and that GODLY, beat all of that death and burial, rose to life,
and showed us that he is the real deal.
And this news was not random or in vain. People prophesied about it for years, he met all the expectations, and he kept showing people after it was all said and done that He is who He is. And, as Paul later tells us, that why I am who I am, and why you are who you are. We ought to, as believers, be TALKING ALL THE TIME, whether in English, in Spanish, in whatever language, about this news. As believers, words have weight, and we decide in our pursuit of godliness whether we choose to use the bad weight or the good weight of words. So I challenge you, as a believer, to use your language for the glory and pursuit of the gospel, and to learn more languages for the glory and pursuit of the gospel. It does not come easily, and I have begun to pray every day for guidance in my use of language (and oftentimes confessing my misuse of it). But the grace of this gospel that reaches me is that it does not cease to keep pursuing me so that I can keep pursuing godliness.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I love Spanish. I've stated that here on the blog, I've belabored it to some, but good things should pour out often, so I suppose I'll hack away and continue to express the sentiment.
And I love the Spanish language for a good number of reasons. The words roll off the tongue and they taste like pure sugar. The intonations and expressions allow for a romanticizing of the language, past the point of its academic language label. The culture, the food, the voyages and the history - all these brilliant aspects play a crucial role in the fun and the development and the glory of the Spanish language. But above all characteristics that pump me up, the actual use of the language is what excites me most. It's the idea that there once existed a barrier between two groups, and I sat on one side, and then with proper study and discovery, that barrier decreased, and relationships and knowledge increased.
And why does that matter? Because now I can share the gospel of Jesus with more and more and more people. HUGE deal, really cool, but there's some weight to it.
No matter what language you speak, if you claim to follow Christ, you vow to use that language for the promotion of His kingdom, of His ideas, of His goals. Language is no longer just a get-through-the-day strategy; language is now a gift through which to share a gift, a responsibility to the human race to expose what is good and true and pure.
This.is.so.awesome. and yet so weighty at the same time. I'm currently reading through Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes and of all the takeaways I've held onto so far, the idea of reaching for a pure, unadulterated use of language has internally dialogued with me the most. I have come to understand that, as a believer, the gospel does not cease. The gospel does not sit idle. The gospel does not happen in a prayer and neglect to keep moving. Paul reminds us (meaning, we know and are responsible for this) that we have really great news within us as believers. We first received the news, and then we were sustained by the news, and keep pressing towards godliness because of this news. And what's this news? Well here ya go:
Jesus, who didn't have to and shouldn't have had to, died for us to show us that we matter and that he loves us.
Jesus, to fully show that he has undergone every struggle we've ever been through, was placed in the ground,
buried, with all our sins weighing down upon him.
And Jesus, because he's that glorious and that perfect and that GODLY, beat all of that death and burial, rose to life,
and showed us that he is the real deal.
And this news was not random or in vain. People prophesied about it for years, he met all the expectations, and he kept showing people after it was all said and done that He is who He is. And, as Paul later tells us, that why I am who I am, and why you are who you are. We ought to, as believers, be TALKING ALL THE TIME, whether in English, in Spanish, in whatever language, about this news. As believers, words have weight, and we decide in our pursuit of godliness whether we choose to use the bad weight or the good weight of words. So I challenge you, as a believer, to use your language for the glory and pursuit of the gospel, and to learn more languages for the glory and pursuit of the gospel. It does not come easily, and I have begun to pray every day for guidance in my use of language (and oftentimes confessing my misuse of it). But the grace of this gospel that reaches me is that it does not cease to keep pursuing me so that I can keep pursuing godliness.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.