THE HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF GOD. A Paper. Presented to. Dr. Debra Watkins. College of Biblical Studies. In Partial Fulfillment

Transcription

1 THE HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF GOD A Paper Presented to Dr. Debra Watkins College of Biblical Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course English 1302 B: English Composition 2 by Nickey Costello January 30, 2013

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 1 DON RICHARDSON... 1 SAWI CULTURE... 2 JESUS OF NAZARETH... 3 JESUS USE OF ANALOGIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS... 4 CROSS-CULTURAL ANALOGIES... 5 CONCLUSION... 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY... 10

3 INTRODUCTION In a planet so large and vast, with nations, tribes, and tongues from every part of the earth, how can missionaries and evangelist transcend the culture, tradition, and language barriers of the world to present the gospel message that brings peace with God? The answer is simple, yet profound: the hidden language of God. a universal language known to all men, in all places, at all times! This paper will unveil the secrets of God s hidden language in culture and tradition by analyzing the teaching method of Jesus to witness to lost souls, and by analyzing the method of a man who broke the locks and chains of a people that honored Judas s treachery over Jesus sacrifice. This paper will attempt to support this claim by examining the Scriptures, the only divinely inspired words of God, to unveil this hidden universal language in all cultures. The meaning of the term, hidden language of God, is defined this way: it is the cross-cultural analogies of Christ inscribed in every culture by God before the foundation of the earth. As a natural outpour of this paper, the question as to weather or not man is accountable to receive Christ in all places and in all times in order to have eternal life will be answered. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus (Rom. 2:11-16). 1 DON RICHARDSON This story begins in 1960, when Don Richardson and his new bride, Carol Soderstrom, were united in marriage. Don s story is like every other story when God calls one stated. 1 All Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible (1995): unless otherwise

4 into the ministry; after listening to an inspiring message by Ebenezer Vine about missions in 1955, God began to pound on Don s heart; God was calling Don to the people in Netherlands New Guinea. New Guinea is in the western half of a fourteen-hundred-mile-long island stretched along the edge of the Pacific Ocean north of Australia. It lies in the Torrid Zone, just south of the equator, yet within its vast watery area of 110,000 square miles; you will in some areas find yourself facing jagged mountain ranges hoary with ice at altitudes of more than 15,000 feet. In other areas, you may find yourself entangled in miasmal lowlands, were torrential rains combine with sweltering heat to sustain an enervating humidity. 2 God was sending Don and his wife to a people that were anything but welcoming. The Sawi people were the type of people that made adults want to hide under their bed. The Sawi people were barbaric headhunting cannibals, and they were a people that made their own laws. They have never had any outside government controlling them. The spiritual bondage, demonic influence, and demonic control in this unwelcoming land was not welcoming. Language, culture, and traditions were all unknown, and must be learned without a translator, without knowing the Sawi language, and without an alphabet. Everything must be worked out from the ground up. These are just some of the difficulties that one must encounter in an unknown place. Little did Don and his wife know, that God had prepared the Sawi people before the foundations of the earth, by inscribing His hidden language in their culture. SAWI CULTURE Tuwiasonaimakaerin! Which in the Sawi language means, We have been fattening you with friendship for the slaughter! What a terrible thing to hear from one who seemed welcoming and honest; however, this was a way of gaining honor in the Sawi tribes. It was an 2 Don Richardson, Peace Child (California: Regal Books, 1974, 2003), 66.

5 old Sawi expression, terse, deadly, which expressed in three words one of the deepest undercuts of Sawi culture-the idealization of treachery. 3 This treacherous act was preserved in the culture by raising pet pigs. The Sawi people would raise a pig, feed it the best food, play with, love it, allow the kids to play with it, all to turn against it and kill it and eat it. This was not done just to have something to eat; it was a way of teaching their children and their prodigy. The kids practiced tuwiasonaimakaerin on pigs, while the adults practiced it on humans. This is why the Sawi people honored Judas for his treacherous act over Jesus sacrifice. But this is not the cultural compass 4 (as Don Richardson puts it) that points to God. JESUS OF NAZARETH Before going forward in the discussion about Sawi traditions and culture, it is important to introduce Jesus, the people He preached to, and their culture. God has chosen the Hebrew people for no distinct purpose (Deut 7:7). God has chosen the Hebrew people to bless the world with His word, the Messiah, and countless other blessing that most people do not know about, including computer processors. Jesus was the type of person that could amaze a group of teachers by His great ability to understand the Scriptures. Even at the tender age of twelve, Jesus could surprise many scholars with His understanding. In the gospel of Luke it is stated, Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Lk. 2:52). Jesus wisdom would be illustrated one night when the teacher (one of the noblest and most educated teacher) of Israel came to visit Him; this man is known as Nicodemus, and he was a Pharisee of the Law of God; however, one night after Jesus had dispelled hundreds, and if 3 Don Richardson, Peace Child, An expression used by Don Richardson to indicate an imprint in the culture that points to God.

6 not, thousands of people from the Temple, Nicodemus came to Christ whit a question on his heart. Jesus began to tell Nicodemus that in order for him to enter the kingdom of God he must be born again. In retrospect it is easy to understand what Jesus was talking about, but Nicodemus was perplexed about Jesus words. It is in this dialog with Nicodemus that evangelist are enlightened be Jesus ability to use illustration and analogies to present the gospel in an easy and effective way. JESUS USE OF ANALOGIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Unlike Don Richardson, Jesus was presenting the gospel to His people; a people that can understand and communicate with Jesus. In this sense it is possible to conceive that presenting the gospel to the Sawi people was a bit harder for Don Richardson then it was for Jesus to present the gospel to the Hebrew people. But this is irrelevant, because when one finds the hidden language of God inscribed in any given culture, the gospel can be understood by using that specific cultural analogy that points too Christ, and no better illustration if found anywhere, but in the third Chapter of John. Jesus begins to introduce the idea of being born again to Nicodemus. In other words, Jesus was introducing the concept of regeneration. To help the baffled Nicodemus, Jesus first gave Nicodemus an illustration. To better express the idea of rebirth, Jesus used a physiological illustration. Nicodemus understood that it was impossible to be reborn again. But when interpreting the passage, people should give Nicodemus a little bit more credit; he was the most knowledgeable teacher in Jerusalem. Nicodemus understood that Jesus was telling him that you can not contribute anything to your salvation in the same way that you did not contribute anything to your physical birth. Nicodemus understood that Jesus was telling him that it was not

7 by works, but by Gods sovereign election. Nicodemus would have understood Jesus perfectly; why else would Jesus have used that illustration. It was an easy illustration to understand. No one has ever brought himself to physical birth; therefore, no one can ever bring himself into spiritual birth. This illustration only brought Nicodemus to understand that he could not contribute anything to his salvation, but how would Jesus direct Nicodemus faith to Himself? The answer is cross-cultural analogies that point to Christ. CROSS-CULTURAL ANALOGIES This is where both Don Richardson and Jesus Christ come together in this paper. It was said in the thesis statement of this paper that the teaching method of Jesus to witness to lost souls, and the teaching method of a man who broke through the locks and chains of a people that honored Judas s treachery over Jesus sacrifice would be examined to equip the body of Christ to further the Kingdom of God by using cross-cultural analogies that point to Christ. This is also called The hidden language of God. In Jesus discussion with Nicodemus about regeneration, Jesus uses an analogy to help Nicodemus direct his faith to the Messiah. By God s divine sovereign plan, there was an analogy that Jesus could use that would bring Nicodemus to understand where he was to put his faith. Know that Nicodemus knew that he contributed nothing to his salvation; Jesus could know direct him in the right direction. The analogy Jesus gave to Nicodemus was the brass serpent on the wooden pole. When Moses and the people of God were rescued from Egypt, they began to follow Moses in the dessert. Because of their disobedience, they wondered in the dessert for forty years. God was always patient with them, but when they began to complaint about the food that God was giving

8 them from heaven, God sent fiery serpents among them. These snakes would kill the people when they were bite. God told Moses to erect a brass snake and wooden pole, and everyone that looked at this object would be saved from death. The snake represented their sins, while the wood represented their salvation. The point was that their faith had to have an object, and in this case it was the brass snake and the wooden pole. Jesus told Nicodemus, that in the same way the object in the time of Moses was lifted up to save the people, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The analogy made now made sense. Nicodemus could now understand that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life. Weather Nicodemus believed what Jesus said or not, the message was clear, and it was through the culture of the Hebrew people that made it possible to understand. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that there needed to be a Peace Child; a Peace Child that would bring peace between man and God. The mind of Nicodemus was now turned on, and he could now think about all the traditions in his culture and see that they all lead to one Man. Nicodemus could now see the prophecy coming true. He could remember how Isaiah said, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). Is it possible that this analogy would work on the Sawi people? Turning back to Don s story, he, his wife, and now two boys, were beginning to feel as though they had made a mistake. It was almost ten years know, and still no breakthrough with the Sawi people. Don had spent sleepless nights coming up with the Sawi alphabet, but understanding their language was harder then anticipated. More then that, after some of the near by tribes began to strike out against the Sawi people because of the white people,don began to

9 feel responsible for the men who were injured and lost their lives. More importantly, he never forgot about that Sawi exspession, Tuwiasonaimakaerin! Which in the Sawi language means, We have been fattening you with friendship for the slaughter! Don decided to abort the mission, and made in public to the Sawi people. To his surprise, the next morning the crowds had gathered all around the village. People from other villages were also there, but this was no celebration. Don did not now, but the people of the village spoke about the announcement that he had made a day before. The people did not want Don and his family to leave, because they were such a benefit the people and the village. Don s wife would administer medicine and help the young and the sick children whenever they were not well. The night that Don made his announcement to the Sawi people, they were up all night trying to come up with a plan. By morning they were already instituting the plan, and they were determined to keep Don and hhis family, but they knew that as long as there was war between the other villages, Don and his family would surly leave. As Don and his wife were observing the people from their porch, they could not help but notice two men holding one baby each. One man representing one village, the other man representing the other. Behind one of the men was his wife frantically pulling and tugging at him, as if he was about to sacrifice the newly born son. The women was moved, her face was in tiers, and her demeanor looked as if this was going to be the see time she would see her baby. The other man, representing the Sawi village, was holding his baby with one hand, while climbing down the ladder of his house with the other. As the man began to make his way to the middle of the people, his wife begged him to return the child. This was not his only one; the others were at the feet of their mother. Looking at his wife and newborn baby, his face fell as he returned the

10 child. He could not go through with the ceremony. This was going to be tragic. The ceremony required two babies from opposing tribes. AS this was going on in the village, Don departed from his wife and went in the middle of this ceremony to find out what was going on. As he asked the people, the people replied, you asked fore peace right? Do you not know that there could be no peace without a peace child? When the man said that, a tiny bell started tinkling somewhere deep inside Don. But it was vary intrinsic, and he had hardly paid attention to it. Later, after all the commotion settled down, and he had some time to think, the Spirit of God began to work in the heart of Don Richardson. He began to realize that there was a hidden compass in the culture of the Sawi people; a peace child. The big event that was going on that day was one that was inscribed in the culture of that people for ages. The only way that the people could have peace was by trading children, this way the peace between tribes could be sustained. If one tribe decided to break the bond between the other tribe, they could be sure that they would kill and eat the child, and vice versa. Had the child died for any reason, the bond or the peace would be broken. Don began to think about this tradition in the Sawi culture, when it all of a sudden hit him; Jesus Christ is the Prince of peace, and He is our peace Child. Jesus was the One who brought peace to between man and God, and since Jesus lives forever more, there will never be animosity between man and God, as long as man placed his faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When the two children were presented in the middle of both tribes, Everyone who laid his hand on the given son was bound not to work violence against those who gave him. 5 Don then gathered to Sawi people together, and opened an English Bible and translated part of Isaiah s 5 Don Richardson, Peace Child, 165.

11 prophecy into Sawi. Unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Might God, The everlasting Father, The Prince- Tarop-of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace there shall be no end (Isa. 9:6-7). And then he began to speak from the gospel of John: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John. 3:16).The Sawi began to come to faith one by one. In fact, in June 1972, the Swai people dedicated their newly completed conference building to the glory of God. 6 CONCLUSION In conclusion, it has been demonstrated by the witness and teaching of two men that there is a hidden language of God that is inscribed in every culture. It was first demonstrated by Jesus and the dialoged He had with Nicodemus about the serpent and the wooden pole, and how it was an analogy of redemption that pointed to Jesus Christ. It was then demonstrated by Don Richardson, the ability and profit of observing vary closely at the culture of any given people to identify the hidden compass that leads one to believe in Christ. It is the prayer of the writer that one may use this method in the hopes of bringing others to faith by proclaiming the gospel to every tongue and nation, knowing that every man and woman is accountable to God. 6 Ibid., 228.

12 BIBLIOGRAPHY Richardson, Don. Peace Child. Seattle, WA: Youth With A Mission Pub, 2003.