Church lessons from a three year old
My son, Jake, did something insightful this morning. His little sister who is now still only 7 weeks old was busy doing her normal thing... crying! :(.
Jake is bi-lingual. He has grown up in Thailand and his Thai language skills are as good as his English. Normally he talks to Anna in English. But this morning he spoke to her in Thai. Why? Because the person holding Anna was Thai.
He's figured out something I feel is crucial in church life. It doesn't do any good to talk to a person in a language they don't understand. Application for churches, the good news isn't good if it's not understood.
This is a big part of my philosophy of preaching and my philosophy of church in general. Our communication should be in the vernacular. This is in terms of speech, dress, gesture, music, liturgy, prayer, etc.... All this stuff communicates (or doesn't communicate). The big theological word is Incarnational. Ministry must always be incarnational.
Jake is bi-lingual. He has grown up in Thailand and his Thai language skills are as good as his English. Normally he talks to Anna in English. But this morning he spoke to her in Thai. Why? Because the person holding Anna was Thai.
He's figured out something I feel is crucial in church life. It doesn't do any good to talk to a person in a language they don't understand. Application for churches, the good news isn't good if it's not understood.
This is a big part of my philosophy of preaching and my philosophy of church in general. Our communication should be in the vernacular. This is in terms of speech, dress, gesture, music, liturgy, prayer, etc.... All this stuff communicates (or doesn't communicate). The big theological word is Incarnational. Ministry must always be incarnational.
