There are up to 7,000 languages spoken in the world, 90% of which are spoken by less than 100,000 people, according to the BBC. That’s a lot of languages, many of which are not shared by large groups of people. Does that mean that translating Scripture and biblical resources into more languages is a waste of effort? Absolutely not!
Josiah, a software developer at Renew World Outreach, shared his perspective on this with Zúme recently. If believers can only engage with God’s Word in a trade language and not their heart language, “They will actually begin to dissociate themselves from their culture . . . Because they worship in Spanish [for example], they would study Scripture in Spanish, they would preach in Spanish, and suddenly their own language would feel less holy, less worthy, and less valuable, and with that, their own culture—the wisdom that has been passed down from their people throughout generations.”
Josiah is not the only one with this perspective. In the 2011 book You Are What You Speak, Economist correspondent Robert Lane Greene speaks on diglossic situations, where two languages are used side-by-side in a culture, the socially “low” colloquial one being used in everyday life and the socially “high” trade language being used in business or education. A Tunisian researcher the author cites “argues that teaching children in fusha [Standard Arabic], essentially a foreign language, hampers literacy and learning and psychologically distances them from the culture of the written word.” Teaching children or adults that their language is not appropriate for education and business is bad enough. If their language is not holy enough for spiritual matters, what does that say about them?
We can easily see how this social and academic argument applies to sharing God’s Word. If God’s words are never in someone’s heart language, is God really speaking to them? Is it really personal? Or is it just for the broader culture?
Zúme’s biblical training has been translated into over 40 languages and counting. Through the efforts of groups around the world, whole or partial text or audio translations of the Bible are available in many more languages. Too often, people just don’t know where to find the resources that others struggled to prepare.
Josiah tells a story of talking with an African movement leader at an event and asking the man how he engages people from a different language group in Scripture. “He said, ‘Well, there isn’t any Scripture available in their language.’” When Josiah searched on the man’s phone, he found audio translations that had already been created and were readily available for the unique language group the African leader was working with. “And he had no idea.”
Resources are out there! Many people of God spend years of time and effort on Scripture and training translation, and that work is critical. “If people don’t engage with Scripture in their heart language,” Josiah says, “they’re never able to actually see how the truth of the Bible can fit into their culture.” People react strongly when they hear Scripture in their language. They resonate with it on a deeper level. And they share that experience with their communities.
Hear more of Josiah’s impassioned argument for heart language translation, as well as personal stories of its impact, on our podcast. If you are convicted to help with translation and have the skills to help us bring Zúme to a new language, reach out! Every language helps us in our mission to saturate the world with disciples in our generation.