What Does the Bible Teach About Language Learning for Missions?
It was the fall of 1999, and I had just arrived in a remote corner of East Asia. It had taken years of preparation and waiting to get to this point, but the Lord had finally opened a door for me to come to this ancient land, a land of breathtaking beauty, but one living under a thick cloud of spiritual darkness.
I was thrilled to finally be living in the midst of an unreached people group. My excitement was only matched by a long list of tasks I had to take care of. Chief among these was getting my internet set up. Mind you, this was late-nineties dial-up. It was terribly slow, but it was an inexpensive way to communicate with family back home. I knew a little of the language, and since my teammates had already helped me quite a bit, I decided that I would try to get my internet set up on my own. So, one day I made my way to the telecom office in the center of the city, walked up to the appropriate desk, and tried to explain to the attendant behind the counter what I needed. To my dismay, I did not know enough vocabulary to get my meaning across. What normally would have been a rather mundane and easy task turned into a burden and a chore all because of the language barrier. I eventually did get my internet set up, but it required another trip downtown, and more importantly, learning a new phrase or two.
Language is such a bear! If you’ve ever lived in a country where your own language is not widely spoken, you know the feeling. But, as a missionary, the purpose of language acquisition goes beyond convenience. You’ve been called to proclaim the gospel, make disciples, and plant churches among the unreached.
Fulfilling the Great Commission involves sacrifice and even suffering, and willingly submitting to the Lord’s call on your life. You recognize that part of that sacrifice is taking the time and effort to learn a new language, maybe even two. But, if there is a biblical reason for the time and energy spent learning a heart language, could you make a clear case from scripture? Could you cite chapter and verse to explain why learning the language is not just helpful for missionaries, but a God-given task?
Stunning Complexity
On the surface, that question is more difficult than it might seem. After all, there are no passages in the Bible that command missionaries to learn new languages. There are no hefty tomes written over the centuries by famous theologians on the theology of language learning. To answer this question well, we have to understand what scripture tells us about language and the existence of multiple languages.
According to SIL Ethnologue there are 7,164 unique languages spoken in the world today. Even though many of these languages are only spoken by a small number of people, this is still an astounding number! There are also 143 distinct language families. Some of which contain only a single language which is completely unrelated to any other language on earth. By any measure human language is stunningly complex.
Modern linguists don’t really have an answer to the question of why there are so many different languages in the world. Multiple theories, some with very strange names, have been put forward but with little concrete evidence to back them up. In fact, the question of language origins was such a contested issue that “in 1866 the Linguistic Society of Paris famously banned all discussion of the origin of language, deeming it to be an unanswerable problem.” Thankfully, as Bible-believing Christians this issue is not vexing at all. The Bible gives us a very clear answer to the origin of languages in Genesis 11. When we understand why our world has thousands of different languages, the biblical basis for missionaries to learn the language comes into sharp focus.
Biblical Origins
Genesis 11 is the historical record of the rebellion at the tower of Babel. After the descendants of each of Noah’s sons are listed in Genesis 10 (“the table of nations”) the text mentions how the descendants are divided into families/clans, languages, lands, and nations. Genesis 11 begins by describing the world of this time by saying, “Now the whole earth had the same language and the same words.” As John MacArthur notes, the Hebrew for this phrase is “one lip and one set of words.” Lip here means language and one set of words refers to vocabulary or lexicon. At this point in history not only is everyone speaking the same language they also share the exact same lexicon. There isn’t even a variation in vocabulary like we might see today between British and American English.
In Genesis 11:4 we come to the crux of the problem at Babel. The text tells us that the people say: “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Previously God had blessed Noah and his sons and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1) This is the same command He originally gave to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28), though God also tells Adam to subdue the earth. Here at Babel, we see the descendants of Noah disobeying the Lord. Rather than spreading out and filling the earth as they had been commanded, they congregate in the same place and refuse to disperse, seeking to make a name for themselves. As The Moody Bible Commentary explains it, “humanity was seeking to establish a memorial or testimony to themselves in exclusion from God. … this is in essence the first expression of secular humanism.” John Piper notes that the building of the city is what allowed them to not scatter and the construction of the tower is how they built a name for themselves. The city and the tower, then, were an external manifestation of what is going on in the hearts of the people – pride and rebellion.
The rebellion at Babel in chapter 11 is a very dark chapter in human history, another consequence of the Fall, following on the heels of Cain’s murder of Abel, and the depravity which caused the Flood. Again, judgment must come. However, this time judgment comes through the confusion of humanity’s one common tongue into many different languages. Genesis 10 seems to indicate that this division happened along family lines. What the people would not do willingly, the Lord now forced them to do as he scatters them “over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:8).
This event, the confusion of the languages at Babel, is responsible for the vast array of languages that we find in our world today. It is the reason we live in a world with over 7,000 different languages.
A Curse and a Blessing
We often think about the tower of Babel as a judgment, even as a curse. And indeed, there is judgment going on at Babel. The Hebrew word used for “Babel” (balal) in Genesis 11 means confusion, and the confusion of the languages was a punishment against the pride of man, which continues to reverberate today. If you have tried to learn a new language as an adult, you know that it is a very humbling experience. You may have a PhD in your own language, but when you visit a country that speaks a different language, a 5-year-old can say more than you can, and a 10-year-old can read the social cues that you are completely oblivious to.
So yes, there is judgment at Babel. But Babel was also an act of God’s mercy. As verse 6 makes clear, when humanity is unified, the potential for evil is much greater. In dividing humanity into different language groups and scattering people around the world, the Lord puts a restraint on the sinfulness of mankind. As John Piper says, “Thousands of languages around the world and thousands of different peoples limit the global aspirations of arrogant mankind.” So Babel is judgment, and it is also God’s mercy. But there is something else going on at Babel.
In chapter 12, about 250 years after Babel, God chooses one man from the line of Shem, Abram, and makes a covenant with him. This covenant – the Abrahamic covenant – has four aspects: First, there is the promise of descendants for Abram. Second, there is the promise that Abram’s descendants will become a great nation. Third, there is the promise that a specific land will be given to Abram’s descendants – the land of Canaan which will become the land of Israel. And fourth, there is the promise of protection and blessing, and the Lord also makes this stunning promise “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The blessings will not stop with Abram and his descendants the Jews. No, this blessing will go not only to the Jews but also through them to all the families or peoples of the earth. The families or peoples mentioned in this passage are a direct reference to the families or peoples that are mentioned in the previous two chapters, Genesis 10 and 11.
Old Testament
This is where the Biblical basis for missionary language learning comes into sharp focus. The tower of Babel isn’t just an interesting story that tells us how we got the multitude of languages that exist in the world. It is part of a larger story. God’s division of mankind into different linguistic groups spread all over the world was a purposeful step in his plan of redemption. In fact, in Galatians 3:8, Paul calls the statement “All the nations will be blessed in you” in Genesis 12:3, “the Gospel announced in advance to Abraham." The existence of different linguistic people groups is fundamental to how the Lord is going to redeem a people to himself. It is central to how the message of salvation will be declared around the earth.
The mention of different ethnolinguistic groups isn’t just a one-time occurrence in the book of Genesis. In fact, we see this theme mentioned in numerous passages in the Old Testament (Psalm 46:10, 67:1-7; Isaiah 49:6; Ezekiel 5:5; Daniel 7:13-14) and it continues into the New Testament in the very words of Jesus. In the Great Commission Jesus gives His disciples, and the church by extension, the command to make disciples of all nations. The English word “nation” refers to geo-political entities or nation states, but the Greek word for nations (ethne) carries the meaning of ethno-linguistic people groups. In order to fulfill the command to make disciples of all nations, there is an inherent need to cross barriers of language (and culture). Once again, we see these different ethno-linguistic people groups introduced to us in Genesis 10 and 11 are inherent to God’s plan of redemption.
New Testament
We see this theme continued as we move into the book of Acts. In Act 2 Luke recounts the amazing events surrounding the day of Pentecost. On this miraculous occasion, the Lord enabled his disciples to speak of the “mighty deeds of the God” in languages that they did not know so that the Jews of the Diaspora could understand in their own native languages. Peter preaches a sermon in which he calls on his brother Israelites to repent, and that day about 3,000 come to faith in Jesus.
Pentecost is the Greek way to refer to the Old Testament festival, the Feast of Weeks, first instituted in Exodus 34:22-23 and Leviticus 23:16, which was held 50 days after Passover. It was a “celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.” All the men of Israel were required to appear before the Lord and bring a grain offering. Here at Pentecost, the disciples speaking in different languages is a kind of first fruits of what God is about to do. Up to this point the “mighty deeds of God” have primarily been declared in the Hebrew tongue. But now the gospel is going to all the ethne and the mighty works of God will now be proclaimed in the languages of the nations.
Finally, in the book of Revelation, we see the culmination of the Lord’s plan of redemption. In Revelation chapters 5 and 7 the apostle John gives us a glorious glimpse into the throne room of heaven. In chapter 5 John tells us that Jesus was slain and with His blood He has purchased men for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Then, in chapter 7, we see a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing in front of the throne saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Here at the culmination of the ages, before the very throne of God, we again see the tribes, languages, peoples, and nations that were first introduced to us in Genesis 10 and 11. Through his chosen people – the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham – the Lord has indeed fulfilled his promise to Abram to bless all the nations.
When we as missionaries understand that the division of humanity into different linguistic groups is central to how the Lord is going to redeem a people for Himself, it literally changes everything! First, it changes how we think about language, and specifically the language we are working so hard to learn. Language is a direct gift from God to humanity. Each language was created directly by God, and it is His gift to us that allows us to communicate with Him, worship Him, and to connect with our fellow man. The complex phonetic system, extensive lexicon, and intricate grammar present in every language reflects the greatness of God.
Conclusion
So, missionary (or prospective missionary), the language you are now striving to master is literally God’s masterpiece. And for the people that speak that language, it is God’s gift to them as their very heart language. It is the language in which they communicate their most complex thoughts, in which they express their most intense emotions, and in which their worldview is encapsulated. It is a rich treasure, and your attempt to learn the heart language not only glorifies our Lord, who decreed that this is how the gospel would spread, it also honors and blesses the people whom you are reaching. Your ability to communicate in the heart language is what allows you to proclaim the gospel with clarity. It is what allows the lost to hear and understand God’s word in all its richness. And it is what opens the door for you to connect with people at a deep heart level!
Understanding that the Lord has pre-ordained the existence of multiple languages as part of His plan of salvation also changes how we as missionaries approach the task of learning a new language. Language learning is no longer an unfortunate obligation but rather a sacred duty. It is no longer a burden to bear, but instead a responsibility to steward. It is no longer a hindrance to communication, but instead a catalyst for deeper connection and understanding. And it is no longer a distraction from the real work of ministry, rather it is the work of ministry.
What language has the Lord called you to learn? Are you trying to learn the complex tones of Chinese with its multiple homonyms that make the use of its thousands of character pictographs necessary? Are you attempting to master the bewildering uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal sounds of Arabic? Are you working to grasp and apply the rules of vowel and consonant harmony in Turkish suffixes? Are you struggling to correctly pronounce the distinctive nasal sounds in Malayalam and decipher its ancient and complex writing system? Are you laboring to mimic the unique and flowing rhythm of French?
Take heart and remember that the task before you is a God-ordained one. He will bless your perseverance and hard work for His glory! God decreed this plan in eternity past, set it into motion at Babel and He is now bringing it to fulfillment in these last days. Dear one, as ambassadors for Christ, we’ve been given the joy of participating in His plan of redemption (1 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Is there any greater honor?