In just a generation, our society has truly become more and more diverse. As I sit and drink a cup of coffee at a café, I hear a couple nearby sharing an inspired conversation in French. I don’t know French, but given the enjoyment of the participants I am a little jealous. As a boy, I rarely heard languages other than English. Now, during the regular commerce of the day, I might catch a word from my high school Spanish class or my college German courses. I find it amazing that the eight most common languages other than English spoken in Philadelphia’s schools are Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, French, Khmer, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.
Language connects us, and it also excludes us. As beautiful as the poetry and music of a particular language can be, not understanding another’s meaning can also be alienating. As we open our mouths, we find ourselves in a particular phylum or family. Language becomes a source of identity for us. It helps define who we are. It matters whether we read Shakespeare, Cervantes or Goethe.
In the Book of Acts, we learn how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost. Suddenly they disciples were speaking in other tongues. A crowd quickly gathered and “was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each” (Acts 2:6). With this miracle, God was giving the Church a new identity. As ethnically and diverse as the Church is and remains, it has a primary identity in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Language is no longer the defining characteristic.
In our complex, diverse and fast-paced culture, questions of identity become paramount. We have serious questions of who we are and what is important. Beyond language, we find a new classification system. We define ourselves by the jobs we do, the things we buy, and the media we consume. We secretly embrace our categories because they give us meaning. The ongoing miracle at Pentecost means even our created categories of identity are secondary to our identity in Jesus Christ.
Speaking into our old situation, the apostles reach out to us, and they give us a new language. We speak a new poetry and sing a new song. We become children of God.
