Episode 281: I’m Talkin. . .Language

I’m Talking, episode 281 for September 3rd, 2023.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking language.

Language is kind of a complex word, and I didn’t even look it up in the dictionary because just in my head, I think of all the different ways that we use it that makes it so unique.

We can use it to talk about what we speak as in English or French or Spanish, and you may speak a foreign language.

And so it’s used in that sense.

It can be used in the sense of a theme or a type of concept, maybe, or something like that, where the language of the times, or you hear it like in a movie, the way they spoke so many years back or the way we speak today.

And so it’s used to kind of capture the, I don’t even know, the aura of the time or something like that.

Like I said, kind of complex.

And probably lots of other ones.

You think of things like where parents might say to a child or in other situations where they may use it as in watch your language.

And it may be if you’re talking back to somebody or maybe you’re using inappropriate language for a situation, or maybe it’s just not appropriate to say what you’re saying.

So there are so many different ways, and I’ve probably just scratched the surface of how we use the word language.

And I think it’s a very important word because the concept of language leads to communication.

And if we don’t use language properly, our communication suffers.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

As Christians, we may not speak a foreign language, but to the world, that’s what it sounds like.

Some people call it church words or things like that.

But just the language of the Bible, not because the text is so old or those kind of things, but just the concepts, the themes, the practices, all of those things that are in the language of that holy text is in opposition to what the world thinks often.

It is foreign to their ears.

It’s very hard for them to understand.

So how do we, as Christians, use God’s language to reach others to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

How do we use the language that the world rejects to, in turn, draw the world to the light of Jesus Christ?

And I think there’s a couple things that we do is our language, what we say, how we say it, the truth of what we say has to be conveyed, but it has to be conveyed with love.

And I think I say that quite often in my microcast, but it’s always true.

Always need to be caring of the people that we are talking to.

The reason we’re talking to them about Jesus Christ is we care about their eternal future.

So that’s the first.

The other thing we have to do is stay with the basics of what it means to be saved.

There’s a lot of language in the Bible that’s very difficult to understand.

There’s lots of stories in the Bible that are told in the language that’s difficult to understand.

Context of times, context of verses, all of those things are very complex.

Just like the word language is complex.

And so we have to stay with the basics of what Christ did on the cross, the love He demonstrated for the world He created to give them a path of salvation to God Himself.

And if we stay in the basics, then our language starts to make a little more sense to the people that we are trying to reach for Jesus Christ.

And then for the rest of our lives, we have to watch the language that we use.

We really can’t slip up.

The world is watching to see if the language of Jesus Christ, the words of the Bible ring true in our lives and are demonstrated through the language we use in everyday situations.

I pray for us as Christians that our language, as foreign as it may be to the world, shines a light, makes people interested, and gives us the opportunity to live sold out for God’s glory.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.