There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "Words are the keys to the heart." It’s ironic then, that language is so often at the root of the things that divide people.
Christians have a long history of division over language —battles over biblical interpretation, languages used in church services, splits over what denominational by-laws do and do not say and divisions over inclusive language in our Bibles and hymnals.
These are important issues and should be debated. But the language used in such debates can be hurtful and mean-spirited—a fight over territory as much as truth.
Battles over words are, of course, not limited to the church. Political correctness being what it is, public debates often involve religion and usually lurch into the farcical.
Recently, it took the Jewish Mayor of Toronto to put his foot down and insist that the Christmas tree outside City Hall be called just that, not a "holiday tree" as some city bureaucrats suggested. Inclusive language zealots at clothing retailer The Gap has issued an edict to its employees ordering them to refrain from wishing customers a "Merry Christmas" and instead say "Happy Holidays." Even the stuffy old Canadian Royal Mint has gotten into the act by running an ad about "The Twelve Days of Giving."
It’s easy for Christians to get angry about such silliness. But the issue of language needs equal measures of determination and grace—determination in defending the place of Christianity’s place in Canada’s heritage and social fabric, grace in listening and being sensitive to the non-Christian cultures around us. This is especially true in light of the latest 2001 census data from Statistics Canada.
Data released on December 10 shows a country that is becoming more multicultural every day. More than five million Canadians (one in six) have a mother tongue that is neither French nor English.
This is up an astounding 12.5 per cent from 1996. Chinese-speaking Canadians number 872,400, up 17.1 per cent, and by far the largest non-English or French-speaking language group. People whose mother tongue is Punjabi or Spanish have increased their numbers greatly, too.
I am one of those Canadians whose mother tongue is neither English nor French. I am proud of my Brazilian heritage and my wife is proud of her Korean roots. Our kids study in French and speak English in our home, and we attend a Christian Reform church whose Dutch character is still evident. We are the United Nations.
Reach out
Yet, the truth is that people like us sometimes feel like strangers in churches whose assimilating tendencies (intended or otherwise) can be a barrier to inviting the stranger into a church family. The good news is that there are very good things happening among our churches to reach out to people like me who at one time knew little about Jesus.
For example, Canada’s largest evangelical denomination, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, has 32 different language groups among 279 "ethnic" churches, including 23 Korean congregations, 42 Spanish, 14 Portuguese as well as 84 First Nations churches ministering to aboriginal peoples in their native tongues.
The increasingly multicultural, multilingual face of Canada presents an incredible opportunity for missions right here in Canada. Many new Canadians have never heard of Jesus or have a warped view of Him based on what they heard in their homelands. Secularized Canadians may have some church experience, but not a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
In choosing the words we use, Christians might do well to heed the words of skeptical FBI agent Dana Scully from the TV show "The X-Files." In one episode where she is struggling with her faith in God, Scully laments that, "I’m afraid that God is speaking but that no one’s listening."
God is speaking in many languages. So must His church.
Joe Couto is a government and communications professional working on Bay Street in Toronto. A keen observer of the church in Canada, he formerly served as communications manager for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and is a frequent contributor to ChristianWeek and Faith Today. This is the first in nine-part series.
