What Language Do You Think?

“The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here.” J.R.R. Tolkien

What language do you think? Odd question, I know, but it can be vital to our most precious relationships. Let me explain. The other day I was sitting on the back porch of my neighbor’s house enjoying the view from the opposite side of the cul-de-sac when Aron came to me with a little book and asked me to read it. I picked it up and smiled at him and explained that I couldn’t read this particular book. It was written in Bulgarian.

My neighbor, though she has lived all over the world, is from Bulgaria originally. Having two little girls she has a few children’s items that are written in Bulgarian. I asked her if the girls have picked up Bulgarian as well as English and she shrugged a little sadly and said that because she now thinks in English she doesn’t often speak to them in her native tongue so they are not picking up the language.

As I thought about this later it struck me how like a language our Christian lives are.

We are born to speak “selfish” and it’s a language we never fully shake. No matter how ensconced in the love of Christ we are, we can at any time revert back to our former tongue. Why? Because it’s a choice we have and will always have. God didn’t save any of us by force, He saved us by grace and grace is handed to us, not handcuffed to us.

When we accept that grace and become a citizen of a new Kingdom, a Kingdom ruled by Love Himself and not by ourselves, we have to learn the customs and language of our new home. Syllable by syllable we try on new ideas and attitudes. The more we delve into our new citizenship, it’s history and it’s future, the more forgotten our old self becomes. Just as my neighbor has studied the new environment she finds herself in, we must become a part of our new spiritual environment and take on the attributes of our new nationality.

This new citizenship carries a responsibility as well. I recently witnessed my friend Johnny become a citizen of the United States. In the oath he took he swore his allegiance to America and no other. He is no longer a citizen of Mexico, and must not ever put his love for Mexico above his loyalty to America. He is fully American, as much American as I am, though he was born somewhere else. He works an American job, with American pay and pays American taxes. He can vote for American leaders and he is raising American children. He speaks the American language of English and as fully American as that is, his ability to speak Spanish did not change. He can still speak the language of his homeland if he chooses, and his children, if allowed to hear it enough, will learn to speak and understand both languages as well.

Learning to speak two languages has some benefits here on earth, but when it comes to our new identity in Christ, speaking our old language of “selfish” and our new language of “grace” will confuse those we speak to. People will begin to wonder who we really are. If we do not fully embrace our new identity and strive to make the language of the Kingdom our official language, we will lead a double life and we won’t succeed in either one. We have to get to the point that we THINK in the language of our Redeemer. No longer selfishly, but unselfishly allowing our lives to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We must have His mind and then we will live His ways and speak His speech.

I hope that I am fully ensconced in the language of Christ as I relate truth to my children.

The parent child relationship is especially effected by this language and that is what impacted me most as I thought through this analogy. I hope that I am fully ensconced in the language of Christ as I relate truth to my children. I hope that I am so shifted into the paradigm of grace that I no longer think in the ways of the world, but in the ways of Christ, and that my language expresses His love more than my own, His compassion more than my passion, His Truth more than my opinion, His faithfulness more than my discipline and His joy more than my emotion.

If I desire to speak the language of grace, I MUST:
Be transformed by the renewing of my mind Romans – 12:2
Have the mind of Christ – 1 Corinthians 2:16
Let none of my words fall to the ground – 1 Samuel 3:19
Be seasoned with salt – Colossians 4:6
Destroy speculations and take every thought captive – 2 Corinthians 10:5
Hate double-mindedness – Psalm 119:113
Be stayed on Him – Isaiah 26:3
Guard my heart and mind and think on these things – Philippians 4:7-9

It is not enough for me to be able to speak my new language, it is of utmost importance that I learn to think it, to be naturalized in it and allow it to direct my thoughts. For some of us, controlling our tongue is the toughest battle we face. Stop trying to use a filter between your brain and your mouth to control your words and put that filter at the entrance of your thought life. Satan will be relentless in putting thoughts in your head, whispering venom (especially the clever, sarcastic type) into your ear, but God’s Word provides a way of mastering that phenomenon. Meditate on those Scriptures above, let them dwell in your richly and the Bible says that the words you speak will become teaching, admonition and wisdom (Colossians 3:16).