Life

Recently we had some conversations amongst our HarvestCall team that really made me think deeply about language and our own Apostolic history of having German language suppressed in the US during WWI, particularly events in our Iowa churches in 1918. I’ll share below and also attach a couple files (if I can't attach them, message me and I can email you if you're interested). Certainly don’t feel obligated to read through it all. I’m kinda fired up about this topic right now, so my apologies (disclaimer might be the better word, I’m really not sorry) in advance if this goes long. It has been good for me to put my thoughts down on paper even if no one reads them. (thanks to my wife and Amakeda for reading them!) 🙂

First, we have to have our responses to brokenness in society and to our fellow man grounded in the truth that all mankind is made in the image of God. We must then recognize that we, as image bearers, are made and designed for relationship, namely with God, self, others and creation. From Gen 3-6 we see a continual increase in the fracturing of all those relationships. God sends worldwide judgement through the form of water, lifting up and saving Noah’s family and judging the rest of creation, leading to new birth. Noah is given the same edict as Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiple and carry God’s stewardship of all 4 relationships outward. Instead, he ends up naked and ashamed (a la Gen 3) and then his descendants gathered in the east in the plain of Shinar and built a tower, trying to make their own name great and actively resisting God’s desire for them to spread out. So God disinherited and divided mankind from there, placing them under the authority of sons of God (Deut 4/8/32, Psalm 82), forming the basis of what we call “table of 70 nations” scattered throughout the ancient world. From out of all nations God then chose one new man, Abraham, and promised Abraham that through his seed (that is, Christ, as Paul explains in Gal 3:16) all nations would be regathered and blessed. This message of separation and reconciliation is woven throughout all the scriptures. Adam was not good to be alone. Out of the one become two so that the two could become one and produce more of God’s blessings. Abraham’s election was not so that others would be excluded but that all could be blessed and reconciled to inclusion in the family of God. Joseph was excluded by his brothers, but this led to his family's salvation, blessing and making God’s name known to others (see Gen 50:19-21). 

The next part of the story takes a dramatic turn, as Exodus 1:7-9 tell us that the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel and Joseph) were “fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied”. However, there was a new Pharaoh in town and he did not know the story of Joseph and the good works of these people who spoke a different language, and feared them (this will be important later). Oppression carried on for generations until God raised up Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. What we often miss in the story is the explicit detail in Exodus 12:38 that it was a “mixed multitude” that went out from Egypt. The word for “mixed multitude” is ʿēreb which means “foreigner” (our English word arab). In the Lexham Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible this is defined as "a person who comes from a foreign country who does not owe allegiance to your country; frequently of someone who does not speak one’s native tongue." So we see that the oppression of God’s people led to the including of foreigners, and that God blesses communities that work together despite their different languages. When two become one God’s purposes are being fulfilled. One might say that our Creator God loves to reconcile, and that reconciliation is the very nature of love. 

The picture the first two books of the Bible present to us is that God desires to dwell with His people in His good creation, and this will be accomplished by His image bearers bearing His image as He intends, in trust and obedience, by stewarding the good creation He has given to them. How do we do this? Micah 6:8 summarizes it well "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” All of this is done in light of who He is in nature, described to us in Exodus 34:6-7. It is important to note that this passage on the nature of God is the single most recited verse throughout the entire Old Testament (ergo, it "might" be important!). 

At the end of Exodus 40 it seems like such a perfect end to the story, as at the completion of the long journey of exodus Moses builds the tabernacle and, in verse 33 it says “so Moses finished the work.” This is a direct quote from Genesis 2:2 when God finished his work of creation. What did God do (Gen 2:1-4) after he finished? 

a) God rested in shalom (peace and blessing) of the 7th day; and 

b) God rested in unity with His creation. 

This is what we expect to see in the next line of Exodus 40:34 and we see part (a), as the glory of the Lord rests on and fills the tabernacle (the building fitly framed together for its purpose of being the dwelling place of God’s presence) but then we get to part (b) in verse 35 and there is a horrible problem….Moses was NOT ABLE TO ENTER the tent of the congregation, because of the fearful glory of the Lord filled the temple. This is not how the story is supposed to go, God is supposed to dwell with His people in partnership of caring for His good creation! (see Revelation 21-22)

Enter the reconciling story of Jesus. This is the work of Jesus; in his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, descent in the form of the Holy Spirit and His soon coming bodily return. Revelation 21:3 says “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” We live presently as citizens of a Kingdom not of this world, and while walking in light of His past resurrection and the giving of new life by the power of the Holy Spirit, we also await the fulness of His Kingdom in the future. Therefore we should 

a) with steadfast hope look towards that day (just as Abraham did, Hebrews 11:10), while also

b) never forgetting to look back to the work of Jesus that made this hope attainable, all the while 

c) orienting ourselves in the middle (of future hope and past purchase) seeing that there is purpose today in my actions by means of the (down-payment) Holy Spirit. 

It is future, past and present. I think this is why Paul says in Phil 1:20 "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” And later in verse 23 "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

I say all this to lay the groundwork for our HarvestCall team focusing on the "ministry of reconciliation". We truly believe that this is the work God has set before the body of Christ (because of the past work of Christ and in light of the future glory), to be participants and co-laborers with God NOW in reconciling relationships; God with man, man with man, man with self and creation with man. (2 Cor 5)

Now the next step is to understand the dynamics of those four relationships and what causes their brokenness. If you want to go more in-depth on this, attached (or email me) is a PDF excerpt from “When Helping Hurts” that goes through the condition of man and the broken society in which we live; in summary, it is the four relationships broken and at enmity because of these three things; 1) broken image bearers 2) broken systems and 3) there are also spiritual beings to whom God gave existence and they have also entered into broken relationship and rebellion against their Creator (Deut 32 / Psalm 82 / 89), and they in a mysterious way (see Ephesians 1-3 or 1 Cor 2:6-8) that is not all clear to us, are also opposed to God dwelling in rest and unity with His creation. (See HWH attachment)

We are called then, as ambassadors of Christ, to share the good news that there is a King, Jesus the Christ, reigning over the earth and above all heavenly powers, and He gives us new life in the Spirit (Eph 4) so that we can carry onward and outward the blessings of reconciliation that are available to all nations, tribes and tongues (Daniel 7:13-14). 

The brokenness gets messy though, and it is often hard to navigate what is true reconciliation (narrow gate) and what is just a mirage of the real thing (wide gate). So, what I am about to share is not to say that all elements of current trends towards “wokeness or social justice or cancel culture” are the real thing. There are certainly many mirages out there. What is important is for us to recognize is that each situation has its own context, and what words are helpful for true reconciliation in one instance may not be the same in another context (see James 3), but what is helpful in every context is the Word of God rightly divided and applied, which is Wisdom that comes from above. Broadly categorizing any action or statement as "without merit because it is part of a social thing that we don't agree with" is not the way of reconciliation. That is the way of dismissal. This is why being grounded in the image of God and our need to be reconciled to Him such that we have the full blessing overflow into all other relationships is of utmost importance. It is why the Gospel is relevant in every context. It is the Word. It is Wisdom. 

Here is the story that our Jamaica team shared with some of the brothers from HarvestCall this week that led to some of them sharing a fascinating piece of Apostolic history with us. There are lessons for all of us to learn in our pasts, both individually and corporately as the Apostolic church, as well as for broader society and the ministry of reconciliation in a broken and hurting and thirsty world. 

Language is inherent in how we bear God’s image. Language is a gift from the Creator to the created. It is purposed towards giving life and meaning via relationships; both individual and communal, created with the Creator. 

We have four pillars that we believe are necessary for the building up of these four relationships to become what they were made to be:

1) Sharing the gospel with the lost

2) Nurturing a new believer

3) Contending for the faith in truth

4) Humble deeds of service to fellow man for the glory of God

All four of these are necessary. You cannot have a firmly built building as a proper dwelling place unless all are present. 

None can be less than the other. If one pillar is taller, the building is not as it should (and quite awkward looking!). Yet that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a pillar set from which the other three draw their reference. When laying out a building there is always a single point from which the others flow. 

So for us, this is (1) the sharing of the Gospel with the lost. It doesn’t mean that the other 3 cannot be the angle of the building which a person sees first. Indeed, we as believers properly showing forth light and spreading salt might in myriad ways draw the lost to come and taste and see that the Lord is good. It very well could be that by observing (4) humble deeds of service, a person is curious to learn more about why and how this is happening (it is rare in today’s world, yes?). Or perhaps when we are (3) walking together in faith and true community demonstrate the love of Christ which casts vision for a person who feels isolated and lonely and lost to see a place where they could belong. 

Sorry for the tangent, coming back to my point. We must (1) share the Gospel (not of priority or sequence but of ultimate purpose), and sharing the Gospel is the first pillar, because it is only when a relationship is reconciled with God that the building fulfills its purpose, to be the dwelling place of the glory of God.

How is the Gospel shared? Not diminishing the action/behavior in pillars 2-3-4, the gospel has 1) always been shared through the medium of language. The gospel was preached to Abraham (Gal 3:8)! The beauty of language is that it is not about "spoken nor written" although both can be beautiful, but about communication and communion, it connects two persons into a shared relationship of meaning and potential for transformation.

In 1880 there was an international congress gathered in Milan to decide how education should be structured for deaf children. It was decided, much because of Alexander Graham-Bell (read this for a perfect example of “when helping hurts”) and his life mission to “eradicate the plague of deafness” that this international congress voted to make sign language illegal and to ban it from use. This drove the signing Deaf community underground and caused serious repercussions still felt today, but it also gave rise to men and women of faith who affirmed the dignity of the Deaf as image bearers of God and were so impassioned by this truth that, against all opposition and in line with Luke 19:37-40 they could not help but cry out the truth claims of what it meant to know their Creator as King and one true authority. One example of positive fruit that came out of this oppression of (deaf) image bearers by means of suppression of their language (banning sign language) was that it led a Deaf man of God named George Veditz to advocate for a video recording to be made in 1913 in which he signs “It is my hope that we will all love and guard our beautiful sign language as the noblest gift that God has ever given to deaf people”.

When language (and cultural identity) is forcibly taken away, it changes people. Yes, it can be a refining process for those who survive the flames and God is faithful in preserving a remnant (and turning what others meant for evil into the good that God brings from it, as with Joseph), but we cannot diminish nor overlook the harmful effects of division it has on communities who share values, beliefs and practices in large part tied to their linguistic identity (e.g. Babel). We need look no further than the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria and the forced intermixing of people groups for the express purpose of losing identity to see conflict arise (e.g. samaritans and jews despising each other), but most of all the southern kingdom of Judah being exiled to Babylon where the Persian language of Aramaic began replacing Hebrew. Both Hebrew and Aramaic languages continued in the time of return from exile (5th century BC) and nehemiah and Ezra rebuilding the walls and temple, but there was much oppression still happening. And then with the next empire spreading under Alexander the Great, the greek language eventually became dominant in this area of the world by the 3rd century BC. This climaxed in many ways in 190 BC with the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes IV who forcibly “hellenized” the jewish population. This led to the Maccabean revolt in which the jewish people reclaimed a level of independence from oppression and were again able to resume their practices. But an important element must be noted, that in the process of having their language and practices oppressed, and then in a measure being able to reclaim their autonomy, the jewish leaders found themselves split apart against each other for power as different groups stressed and emphasized various aspects of “practice and rule” over against each other. Practice of man’s concepts of truth took precedence over God’s declared and clear purpose; to be salt and light to the nations. 

From here develops the sadducees against the pharisees, and the essenes against both of them, and the zealots still wanting to fight like Judah Maccabees against their neighbors. We cannot help but see that the calling of God’s people to be set apart, for the purpose of being salt and light and blessing to the nations, was dramatically diminished into ensuing political and cultural debates about “who has the true truth”. In modern terms, it was a "left vs right" fight for power in each of these relationships. The sadducees went “liberal” and made concessions to the ruling kingdoms (i.e. Rome) in exchange for judicial and economic power and in the process gave up any belief in a resurrection because their greco-roman peers and influence of platonic thought (its very nuanced). The pharisees went “conservative” and inwardly became focused on the law and considered themselves morally superior and with a better understanding of God and the law, most notably through the “oral tradition” where once again practice became more important than purpose. Then we have the essenes, who saw the hypocrisy in both groups and because of a lack of societal power, withdrew from the population and believed that by their righteousness and personal piety they could usher in the times of the messiah. Then we have the community of Qumran, where scrolls such as “the war scroll” shows the sons of light against the sons of darkness. There are many overlaps between the Qumran community and aspects of the essenes, but there are stark differences, i.e. the Qumran community had families and leaders were not required to be celibate (which as a rule for all leaders to be celibate is a social construction of man that is opposed to God’s created design, as celibacy is a unique gift to some but not most) and there is no evidence in the scrolls of Qumran that they identified with the essene group, rather these sectarians saw themselves as (sons of light, sons of Zadok) called to be the temple of God because the physical temple in Jerusalem was led by corrupt politicians (sadducees) and religious leaders (pharisees). The community at Qumran also felt the call to preserve sound teaching through the medium of language, treasuring and storing safely the Hebrew texts of the Tanakh (Old Testament) which God in His providence preserved for 2,000 years in the caves around the Dead Sea. (For a rabbit hole, which you all know I love, there is strong evidence paralleling the words of John the Baptist and especially the Acts of the Apostles that seem to indicate the remnant from which the Jesus movement sprang had close association and influence with this community of Qumran and not the essenes). Anyways, according to Bertil Gartner (author of “The Temple and the community in Qumran and the New Testament”) “One of the fundamental elements in the temple symbolism of the Qumran community was a conviction that the ‘presence’ of God, the Spirit of God, was no longer bound to the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:18) but to the true and pure Israel (Ezekiel 11:19-20) represented by the community.”  

Sorry, back to my point again. The true community of God will be marked by His presence (Holy Spirit) and that presence will manifest itself by guarding and loving the truth of God, that He has made mankind in His image and has given them the gift of language such that they can 1) know Him, 2) understand self, 3) relate to their fellow image bearers and 4) steward creation in partnership with God. 

The Jamaican Deaf community is a beautiful group of people who are endowed with the image of God and have been given great gifts for the purposes of building up into fulness the body of Christ. The noblest gift they have been given (it must be stated that Christ is the pre-eminent gift and yet in our human terms we choose to give rank of nobility) is the gift of sign language. However, much like other Deaf communities around the world, there is persecution, exclusion, marginalization and suppression which leads to broken relationship in all four areas.

It bears repeating, we have four pillars that we believe are necessary for the building up of these four relationships to become what they were made to be. 

1) Sharing the gospel with the lost

2) Nurturing a new believer

3) Contending for the faith in truth

4) Humble deeds of service to fellow man for the glory of God

What this looks like in practice then aligns with our belief that 1) the Gospel must be shared, and it must be shared in Jamaican Sign Language, the true language of this community. We believe that 2) to nurture a new believer, they must experience affirmation in their identity as an image bearer of God, that there is nothing wrong with being deaf, and that they are able to learn and do any work that God sets before them. This can only 3) be truly fruitful and multiply in the context of community (the church) where the body together contends for true faith such that we enter our purpose, which is 4) to have and act on the knowledge of who we are (imago Dei) and for what we were created (missio Dei), to be humble servants in partnership with God as He seeks to reconcile all things to himself (by transforming us into imago Christi). 

In our HarvestCall Jamaica mission this is our framework, that each of us (Deaf or hearing) have the same shared human problem of sin which cracks our vessels and keeps us in a leaking state of a LACK of bearing the full image of God as we were created to have. When an image bearer has all four of these components (Language + Affirmation + Community + Knowledge), their relationships can be restored and they can experience the fulness of dwelling in and being transformed into the pattern and image of Christ as our cracked vessel is remade or made whole by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

--> This results in the fulfilling of the Gen 2:4 and Exodus 40 hope, that God may a) rest in shalom b) in unity with His creation <--

Sidebar: Perhaps this is why “glory” in its semitic root has the meaning of “fulness and heavy weight, without LACK” (see The Bible Project podcast series on “glory”). It is also perhaps why “holy” in its semitic root has a meaning based in “directional purpose, towards a desired end” (see Andrew Case translation podcast, Working for the Word). 

The holiness of God propels His loving actions towards His glory. In other words, the purposes of God to dwell in fulness of His glory with His creation is the “why” He loves us as He does. And this then is why John writes about the manifestation and declaration of the Word in 1 John 1 “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

God desires to dwell with His creation. But He is awesome and beyond us, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). C.S. Lewis said it well in the Chronicles of Narnia: “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

In this paradigm we find an appreciation for how Moses and all Israel would have felt in Exodus 40:34 – the liberation from captivity was over it seemed, the work of building the tabernacle was finished, they were ready to enter into God’s presence, the only problem was…..mankind had sin and therefore it was quite dangerous, yay deadly, to enter the tabernacle and Moses could NOT enter! Sacred and holy space can only be truly occupied by the cleansed. Thankfully there is cleansing power in His blood!

Again, back to my point. We partner with God in His work of reconciling all things to Himself, in filling up the LACK that we all have apart from reconciliation and harmony with Him, self, others and creation.

So, what happens when we see someone being oppressed? What happens when we see someone’s language and cultural identity being suppressed? In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus says “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

It seems quite clear that Jesus desires to see His body functionally moving towards His purposes of reconciliation, especially to the "least of these".

This also bears repeating from earlier: The true community of God will be marked by His presence and that presence will manifest itself by guarding and loving the truth of God, that He has made mankind in His image and has given them the gift of language such that they can know Him, understand self, relate to their fellow image bearers and steward creation in partnership with God.

In our Jamaican Deaf community context, this starts with Language. 

So what happens when the language of the Deaf community, Jamaican Sign Language, and their cultural identity is publicly being mocked and ridiculed? We stand up for the imago Dei and the gift of language and affirm the beauty of the gift of God. We say “this is not right to mock the gift of God nor devalue the image of God.”

Today when a person or group faces a public backlash because their words or actions are deemed to be coming from a place of the powerful oppressing those without power, it is often broad-brushed as being “woke” or part of “cancel culture” or “social justice” or “critical theory”. However, there are also moments where the powerful use the medium of media to quiet or shame the voice of the voiceless, often called gas lighting. Both actions and occurrences happen within society today and both can be confused for the other. Not every public outcry is the result of true reconciliation. Again, reconciliation is messy because we are broken people in broken systems influenced by unseen powers. We are taught to judge a tree by its fruit, and to leave ultimate judgement up to the King. So, be careful before dismissing or accepting any claim on social media (or TV or your newspaper, for that matter).

Remember: When language (and cultural identity) is forcibly taken away, it changes people and communities. We don’t want to see JSL taken away from the Deaf community, nor do we want to see its value mocked in society. This perpetuates a societal system which, from birth, tells a child that they are defined as less valuable because they cannot hear with their ears like the majority. This lie from the pit of hell distorts and shatters the image of God, and children grow up truly believing that they are inferior and unable. They are a slave in a hearing world, the message seems to convey. This lie, or mirage, which causes perpetual emptiness and inescapable selfishness, is dealt with by speaking the truth in love. The truth is that all of us LACK fulness, we all LACK the ability to properly bear God’s image, we are all broken. That’s why Christ came to cleanse us and create in us a new man, conformed into His image and bound up inseparably in His own body! He identified with us fully so that we could be incorporated into him eternally.

Here is a video (screenshot only) posted last week by a famous Jamaican social media comedian. It mocks the Deaf community, calling them dumb, doing ridiculous things to make fun of JSL sign language while making monkey sounds as if the Deaf have less of the image of God in them, they are “sub-human.”

This is a bit grainy, sorry for that, the full article is available at this link

It's a 1917 Cartoon in an Iowa newspaper shaming a student with "German American" written on their shirt. These things really happened only 100 years ago! 

When language is taken away from a people group, the community changes. Yes, God can and will still make all things work together for good to those who love Him, but part of that is participating with Him in this work, the ministry of reconciliation. And part of that work is understanding how the building is built. Before we start prepping the soil for the 4 pillars, let's pause and lament at the damage done by ourselves, our societies and evil powers. 

What are some negative repercussions of immigration and language suppression? Well, communities change. A movement that saw over 100 new congregations in 35 years in multiple countries in Europe, known as "evangelical baptist", spread to the US and saw dozens of churches established. It was a very missional, outward facing and Gospel sharing movement. Though the factors were many, certainly experiencing discrimination from non-german American neighbors, as well as unjust laws and systems, combined with cultural shifts of youth growing up feeling "different" than their peers at school, all lead to a proverbial bucket of water being dumped on the evangelistic flame of the life-giving ministry of reconciliation. Once Language and Identity took a hit, the community turned inwards and insular. It's a common self-defense mechanism that sociologists and psychologists and economists can do a much better job explaining than me. But it matters. Communities change.

I'd love to (and maybe one day others can help with this) see stories from those generations get documented. Why? It would help our perspective. It would give us seeds of empathy. And I'm certain there are beautiful stories where good neighbors who were not German stood up for their German American friends and told people "this is not right to mock a language and devalue an image bearer"

What are we to do today when our world seems to be broken worse than it has ever been? Does it help to look back and see that the world has only been perfect in a place called Eden, the garden of delight? Does it help to look forward to the day when all things are made new? All those things can help, but only when they are all packaged together in such a way that the building, fitly framed together, can be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, the living water, nourishing the body such that it can grow now. Presently.

It is the ministry of reconciliation, and in order to get there, we have to guard and love the noblest gift that God has ever given to us: Language. Words. Relationships. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, FULL of grace and truth (Exod 34:6-7).

Let us remember that there is no US vs THEM. It is only FULL GLORY vs ETERNAL LACK. 

Be an ambassador for Life, acting in Holy Love. 

Do not oppress an immigrant (ʿēreb) or a broken image bearer. We were once excluded but are now included in a new exodus.

Do not restrict or mock someones language or access to the Gospel. We were once lost too, but now are found.

Do not participate in the world's building of Babel. 

Be a part of the Father's house, the body of Christ, the dwelling place of the Spirit.