The day the Holy Spirit descended over the 120
people gathered in the upper room mentioned in Acts (Acts 1:12-15; 2:1-4); the
new born Christian Church started to speak in a manner that was understood by
people of different nations and languages, people who spoke totally different
languages, from Rome to Mesopotamia, passing through North Africa and the
Mediterranean islands.
Professors of Scripture debate whether those
infused with the Spirit of God spoke in other languages, or actually they spoke
in Aramaic, their mother tongue, but were understood by everyone else in their
own language; the fact is, that either way, that day the Church preached the
Gospel of Salvation to the whole World in their own language and terms.
In that Pentecost day, not only a new dispensation
was inaugurated, where for first time the Holy Spirit of the Lord was going to
reside within the spirits and bodies of the regenerated believer in fulfilment
of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28), but the ethnical and national barriers that separated
the human race were removed to unite the whole of humanity into a single people
before God their Creator, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the regeneration
of the Holy Spirit
(Romans 5:9; 1Corinthians 12:13).
The Gospel of Salvation was presented to all
humans, from every nationality, race, sex, age and social status, and it was
presented in their own languages, to make this clear, that they were accepted,
but not only that, that GOD was coming to look for them, who were dispersed
like sheep without a Shepherd, and not the Church waiting for them to come to
knock on the doors to ask about Salvation.
God went out to look for them, not waited for them
to come to Him.
WHAT
IT MEANS FOR US TODAY
1 - Following the theology of Pentecost, and the Will
of God manifested to the Church and to the World on that day; the living Church
of Christ is under obligation to actively go and search for the lost, not
waiting statically for the lost to come to her in search of Salvation.
For this
reason St Paul said:
“Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How
then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they
believe in the One of whom they have not heard?
And
how can they hear without someone to preach?”
(Romans 10:13-14)
The Church is under the obligation to flood the
whole planet with the Gospel, homes, work places, schools, Armed Forces,
streets, media and market places; and this will not happen by sitting on
benches with close doors waiting for sinners to come to her. It has to be an aggressive
initiative to introduce the Message of Salvation through every means possible,
radio, TV, internet, reading material, active preaching and living testimony in
general, to the point that nowhere in the world or mode of life, even in jails,
hospitals, nightclubs, cassinos and places of sin, the Gospel of Christ may be
heard by all.
2 – Other aspect of Pentecost is that this Gospel
has to be preached to them in their own language and modality.
Worship, preaching and discipleship have to be
done in a language accessible to all, in a manner acceptable to everyone,
according to their own identity. The Gospel not only has to be translated linguistically
for every national group, but also adapted to the culture of those we are
seeking. In order to do this, dead “Liturgical” languages and manners have to
be removed, and replaced with modern, current ways of communication that are
familiar to the ethnic communities we are evangelizing. Certainly there are
things we cannot compromise, as some do, misunderstanding this, by sinning of syncretism,
but certainly we can interculturalize Christianity by adopting licit forms of
local customs for worship and teaching.
CONCLUSION
To translate and adapt the Message of Christ to
all levels of society and all national identities is not an option, but an obligation
on our part before God, because in Pentecost, His intention for us towards the
World was made plain clear. Until the Name and Message of Jesus Chris is heard
everywhere, by everyone, and in their own language and culture.
Omar Flores.
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