Musical Musing: “I Will Possess Your Heart” Death Cab For Cutie, “Love In Every Language” Jars of Clay

I know I’ve blogged on the Death Cab For Cutie song before. I suspect I’ve written about the Jars of Clay song before, but as I lay in bed tonight, listening to the lyrics of the first, I was reminded of the second, and of all the mentions of language in the Bible (Genesis 11, when God confused the languages to prevent the pride of man from overreaching themselves, Acts 2, when Peter speaks to an assembled crowd, and they all hear him in their own native language, and 5000 respond to the message, 1 Corinthians 13, which mentions the importance of tempering language gifts with love, Revelation 7, when we are told that there will be people from every language in heaven, to name a few).

See, language is one of the things I’ve been passionate about for a long time. I started studying French in 8^th grade, but even as a tiny child, I was learning words here and there from other languages; when Big Bird when to China, I learned how to say hello and I love you, two terms I still remember. I started learning American Sign Language from the time I was small, too, saying “I love you” to my Grammie with a hand sign every time I saw her. By the time I was in 8^th grade, I began formal language studies, enrolling in my first year of French, the language I would eventually earn a Bachelor’s degree in. By my senior year in high school, I was slowly teaching myself Russian… just a word here and there, but I could say good and hello and thank you, and tell you that the key or lamp or elevator or chair didn’t work (I was studying from an OLD Berlitz book!). I wanted to study it in college, but the college that was my best fit didn’t have it… so I added German instead. After German came Spanish, and I eventually took a semester of Biblical Greek, not because I had to, but because I needed a minimum number hours to be eligible for financial aid again, and it just sounded like a lot of fun (I even took a prerequisite course for it that I didn’t have JUST so I could take Greek!) A trip to Europe in 2008 saw me teach myself some Italian, and I can read Portuguese a little bit… thanks to all the French and Spanish I’ve had. And I’m not done; since we’re adopting from Indian nations, I’m teaching myself Cherokee (very slowly. Wesa means cat, and Osiyo means hello. I kinda forget at the moment more).

When I’m asked why study languages, why do I learn them, why do I learn so many, I always have the same answer. To me, it is the height of arrogance to go to a people, to share with them the radical love of Christ who stepped out of eternity, out of glory, who put on humility and met with sinners WHERE THEY WERE, and demand they learn to speak MY language to hear the best news of their lives. I believe with all my heart that Jesus doesn’t have a language barrier, though one was imposed upon us, and if we are truly living to be like Christ, if we are truly operating out of love, then we will actively seek to remove language barriers so that we can carry the good news to everyone.

Unfortunately, I know that not everyone has the same affinity for learning languages that I do. We all have different gifts and different skills, different talents and abilities that are meant to be used to the edification, or building up of the body of Christ (both the encouragement of other believers, and the increase of the family by the sharing of the good news that men and women might be freed from the slavery of sin). I think that’s where the lines in these songs come in for me.

The song by Jars of Clay speaks of “showing love in every language”, and using “words that need no form”. Beloved, there are some gestures that mean different things from one country to another, from one town to another… but there are some things that are universal across us all. We all recognize a smile, the simple joy and pure delight as it lights up a face. We can all identify grief. And surely generosity needs no words to translate it. Certainly, gestural languages are different across languages; British Sign Language and American Sign Language are different, and they both are used to convey the same spoken language: English. But Love, Beloved. Joy. Compassion. These are consistent, and need little translation. Anyone can speak these without a single word. The Haitians are understanding them in the food they’re being given, in the medical care being received, in the men and women helping them dig out the rubble and bury their dead. The Chileans understand it. The victims of the Tsunami in 2006. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Katrina struck. All across the world, Beloved, we show love in every language precisely we because we have no words and can only demonstrate it through our actions.

The other thing to consider is that learning another language, learning to communicate in the language of another human being, speaks volumes. They know you don’t speak it well. They’re not judging you for a grammar or vocabulary test. You’re making an effort to acknowledge who they are, where they are. It’s like they’re the book that’s elegantly bound, in a language that you can’t read just yet. But don’t give up hope yet… things worth doing, worth having, take time. And all people are worth the investment of time. Let me say that again. ALL PEOPLE ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT OF TIME.

I believe that going to people where they are, in their language, learning to speak their language instead of assuming they must learn mine, is Biblical. In Acts chapter 2, Peter preaches to the assembled crowd. He could have spoken in the common language of the day… but God miraculously allows the people to hear the message in their OWN language, spoken to them as if by a native. There is power when you hear truth spoken to you in your OWN language.

In Revelation Chapter 7, we’re told that ever tribe, every nation, every language will be assembled before the throne of God. He may have confused their languages in Genesis 11, but he never excluded them. But remember; just telling them isn’t enough. Just speaking the language isn’t good enough. You need to love them. You need to show them love. 1 Corinthians warns that if we speak in the tongues of men and angels without love, we are just clanging cymbals and sounding gongs.

So there we have it. Why am I passionately driven to learn new languages? Because my God promises that every language will be in heaven. We’ll all be there, together, worshiping before the throne of Heaven. When I meet people who don’t speak my language, I want to show them the kind of love that does… because that’s the kind of Love that stepped out eternity, out of immortality, out of glory and omnipotence, to be born an infant, to walk the earth He shaped for 33 years, to bleed and die on a cross for the men and women who put him there, and to rise again, to redeem us all. I want to learn new languages so that the tower that pride built between us in Babel never stands in the path of the Savior that came to seek and save us all. I want to show you that you’re the book that’s worth spending time to learn the language so I can read it and appreciate it, because Beloved, Jesus says you’re worth everything! I want to show you Love in every language, because nothing compares to spending some time, Love, with the Lover of your Soul.