Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday July 8, 2010

"Tack, ha det gott sjalv! Ar tillbaka igen torsdag, vi kanske kan fika nan dag?" Annika Banfield

I don't know what it says either. Annika Banfield is a publisher friend from Sweden who several years ago published an article about me in a book about American Indians published and promoted in Sweden. She seems like a nice person. I don't know if her Uncle Played in MacNamara's Band.

I copied Annika's sentence from Facebook to emphasize the language barrier we humans face daily unless we live in a cultural/group cocoon.

Over the years I have noticed that most people speak several languages, usually unintelligible to others not familiar with the occupation or hobby of the speaker. The same use of language is part and parcel of religion and especially sects within the overall group. A person knowledgeable in the particulars of different sects within Christendom can readily tell a Methodist (though not much) from a Roman Catholic, or Baptist ad infinitum. Peter, in his vain attempt to deny Christ was exposed by a girl stating, "Thy speech betrayed thee."

Years ago I listened as a very successful businessman in our church interviewed several people he was considering to take over a major project within his company. The process came down to two men. While taking a break he asked me, "Larry, which of these two men do you think will actually get the job finished properly?" I assured him that both candidates seemed great to me. He responded: "Larry, candidate B. would fail. Candidate A. is much more likely to succeed. Here's how I know. B. said, 'I will try to do my best.' A. said, 'I will do it.' There really is no "try" in giving your best. You either give your best or you do not." A little time proved my friend correct. You do notice that he spoke and understood the language of success.

In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul stated the case for understandable speech in 2 Corinthians 3:12:

"Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:"

If truth is to be grasped via speech, the lingo of the audience must be used effectively. Thus, Paul used "great plainness" in his choice of words and illustrations.

Larry Lilly Copyright (C)2010 Use with credit.

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