Part of the “job” of becoming a missionary is that you will cross many barriers. There is certainly much excitement and blessing that can come with such a crossing of cultures. Yet, most missionaries will tell you that there are also some detriments. I mentioned in a previous post that I have missed the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) in my time overseas. In this post I would like to highlight another difficulty that is regularly felt by missionaries, namely, the lack of worship in one’s “heart language.” Knowing this struggle ahead of time will help prepare those who plan to serve overseas, and, as I mentioned in my introductory post, it will help churches know how to serve the missionaries they send out.
Heart-Language
Missionaries use the term “heart language” to describe the language that an individual is most comfortable with. Most people groups around the world are multi-lingual. As a matter of fact, virtually the only people group we regularly observe to be mono-lingual is Americans. In Africa, it is not uncommon to meet individuals who are not simply bi- or tri-lingual. Many people can actually speak four, five, or sometimes up to seven or eight languages! And yet, in every scenario, it is relatively easy to determine which language is the true “heart language.”
Learning the Heart Language of the People You serve
What language does the person revert to when dealing with matters of utmost importance and intense emotion? The nature of the work we do is to spread the gospel. Therefore, it is important to try and learn that heart language and minister to individuals in it when and where possible. After all, when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, He did not inspire mono-lingual sermons with separate interpreters but instead every person in the crowd said, “we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues” (Acts 2:11).
I do believe this makes for good missiology in ministry to Africans. But one thing it does not naturally provide for is ministry to us as American missionaries. Virtually all of the churches that surround us here in Zimbabwe conduct their worship services in a language called Shona (some parts of the country utilize a second language, Ndebele, and a few worship in English). And while any visiting American can tell you the facets of Shona-worship from which the American church could stand to benefit (e.g. joyous clapping/dancing, genuine fellowship and welcome, meaningful worship with few means, etc.), there is another sense in which the Americans in the room will always lag behind in worship. The same principle that explains the need for Africans to worship in their “heart language” applies to all humans.
A Refreshing Experience
My wife and I have studied and developed the competency to live and work in the local language. However, we cannot deny the feeling that comes over us when we get to travel to a regional meeting where a church group comes from America to lead us in worship in English.
Singing songs that we recognize (and even ones we don’t but whose words we can easily learn). Walking through a liturgy or service that is more similar to our upbringing/traditions. Hearing the word in our native language without an interpreter. Or even having the balm of God’s Word apply to our own cultural mindsets and scenarios. These are the very reasons we are commanded not to forsake meeting together (Heb 10:25). And yet because of the cross-cultural work we do, we often miss out on many aspects of this fellowship.
Of course, we recognize there are innumerable blessings in worshipping alongside people from other cultural backgrounds and languages. We obviously understand and are motivated by the reality that Christ’s kingdom will have people from every nation, tribe, people, and language. And that our eternal worship will not only be in English. Nonetheless, I cannot deny that during this time of sojourning, we receive more edification when we worship God in our own heart language. And we deeply miss this.
Nick Moore is a missionary with the International Mission Board in Zimbabwe where he has served as professor and Academic Dean at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe since late 2015. He and his wife Kyndra have been married for 15 years and have seven children.
