Learning God's language

Later on this year, I hope to pay my first ever visit to the Iberian Peninsula. I gather I'm not the only one of my acquaintance who has never yet been to Spain or Portugal. This rather surprises me as nearly every Brit seems to visit one of these countries at some point. Indeed, 1.7% of the population of Spain is reckoned to be British. Spain is a popular destination for arthritis sufferers who want to escape the damp climate of the UK.

The reason I am going, however, is not to do with bodily ailments but to find out how gospel Christianity is faring. The Spanish Gospel Mission has operated in Spain for around 100 years, evangelising and planting churches. They offer an opportunity to stay in their Bible centre south of Madrid and tour some of these churches. The buildings are hardly architectural marvels like the great cathedrals. Yet they are places of worship for many brave local men and women who have overcome prejudice to honour God in the simple way of Evangelical Christians.

The Mission promotes this experience as allowing the traveller to meet "real" Spanish people. Presumably that means people in the interior of Spain, away from the coastal areas that are so geared to tourists. For that reason I am trying to learn Spanish, in the hope of entering into the experience more fully. It is a challenge. I have now turned sixty and most of my foreign language learning was done in my teens and twenties. I found an audio-visual course on the internet that suited me (there are such courses that are worth having, if you search long enough) and I think I have made rapid progress in easy steps. As well as learning words and grammar, I am trying to pronounce the language as authentically as possible. I had training in phonetics so am well aware what a difficult task this is. Over the course of centuries, each language develops its own unique speech patterns which come naturally to native speakers but which outsiders have to acquire painfully, sound by tedious sound.

It leads me to ask: how well am I doing learning God's language? Believe it or not, God is not an English-speaking Brit. Isaiah 55:8 "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord."

However, God does not make it difficult to learn His language. True, His plan to save lost sinners took centuries to mature. Its intricacies are way beyond our feeble understanding. Yet we see the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ stretched out on the cross, open to receive us. It is a gesture that speaks volumes in any language. God simply offers it to us and asks, "Now, what part of that don't you understand?"