Sa a se bagay ki pi enpòtan ke ou te ka janm li. Ou ka li li l ’? Si ou pa kapab alò ou pa pral kapab konprann. Ou dwe konprann! Frape, frape! Ki moun ki la a? Ou. Ki ou? Oh pa kriye, li jis yon blag!

I think that I have heard the words, “Watch your language!” more than I could ever imagine. It turns out that when I was younger I did not have much of a filter. It also turns out that as an adult I do not have much of a filter. Every day my poor wife has to remind what not to say.

Don’t you feel bad for her? I do.

My issues are not the point of this post, however. The issue is language. Could you read the opening few sentences? Unless you are some sort of awesome linguist, then probably not.

If you are a follower of Jesus you speak a secret language, a language that not everyone speaks. To he honest, most people don’t speak our language. It is comprised of big words, special words, insider words and most of them end in “-tion”.

When I have conversations with people I am reminded that sometimes my Christian language is different from their language. I want them to understand what I am saying because when we are talking about Jesus, we are talking about the most important thing.

What is the language of your neighbors? I am not taling about English. What are the metaphors and narratives that give their world meaning?

I will almost guarantee it’s not the biblical narrative.

Television, films, music, celebrities, and to a lesser extent books provide the narrative arc for the world around us.

Can you speak their language?

If we want to be able to invite them to know Jesus we must be able to speak the language.

Oh, if you want to know what the opening paragraph says leave a comment!