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REFLECTION 10: THE IDOLATRY OF LANGUAGE (PART II of ARTICULATING THE WORD)
"Our sufficiency is of God, Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
Does God communicate with language or does He communicate despite our language? Does human language carry the actual communication of God, or does it, at its best, merely point us to seek a deeper realm where God speaks to us without using language? Could it be that human language, the very thing we use to describe our interactions with God, ends up being the very thing that hinders us from better communicating with Him?
Saint Augustine said that the even the person who says the most about God is still but "dumb." His point was that human language is woefully inadequate to impart the knowledge of God. And yet we often hold language as the highest expression of God, when in fact it is one of the lowest.
The more I hear God, the less I hear language. God speaks primarily by "tone." That tone is love, not language. Language can describe it. Language can polish it. Language can explain aspects of it. Language can even enhance it on occasion. BUT language by itself cannot contain or deliver the essence of God's love. In a word, language can't ARTICULATE the Kingdom of God. Isn't this the very reason Jesus never ARTICULATED what God's Kingdom WAS, only what it was LIKE? He knew human language could not convey God's Kingdom, so He used parables of comparison rather than language of definition.
If the Tower of Babel proved anything, it was that human languages divide men and diminish man's knowledge of God. Many years ago I wondered why didn't Jesus just take pen to paper and write the New Testament in His own hand so that nobody could question whether there were any mistakes or misstatements. The Lord then showed me that IF Jesus had handwritten the New Testament, then we would worship the language He used rather than the Spirit He manifested.
In fact, this is what people do today with the Ten Commandments. They worship the letter of the Law rather than the Spirit of the Word. They wrongly define God by language commands rather than by indescribable inner ignitions of God's love. Law lovers can argue points of theology ALL DAY LONG without EVER experiencing the presence of God's unspeakable love. God is above, beyond, deeper, wider, farther, better and stronger than ANY language. The Lord is "slumming" when he uses language.
When we REALLY get hold of this, we will loosen or grip on words, and start using them the blessed way. Tennis pros often instruct students to "loosen their grip" on their rackets so they can better swing with fluidity and power. It is counter-intuitive to think a looser grip can increase power, but it is a proven fact that clutching the racket too tightly can inhibit the proper arc and rotation of the swing. So too, clutching language too tightly keeps our Spiritual movement stiff and stilted.
When I first started teaching, I had a "death grip" on Scriptures. I endlessly quoted verses verbatim. Every sentence I uttered or wrote, I had to back it up with a specific scripture. I couldn't tell someone I loved them without citing a verse reference. I was in such bondage. I eventually saw that for every literal concept I tightly gripped from Scripture, I would be challenged by another "death gripper" with his own literal scripture in hand which seemed to contradict the scripture I was gripping.
I began to realize that when read "literally," the Bible was a "literal" Tower of Babel which scattered all who read it into different camps of belief--- denomiNATIONS, in other words. The end result was endless divisions. Nobody can hear each other BECAUSE we worship the denomiNATIONAL language we choose to speak.
The Lord started "coaching" me to loosen my grip on human language. He showed me I had developed a "language addiction" which was retarding my spiritual growth. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit did an intervention to help cure me. They showed me to focus more on the "tones" of God rather than the languages of men.
"Tone" in physical science is defined as "the quality, character and strength of a particular sound." In language, "tone" refers to "the use of pitch to convey meaning to distinguish, convey, contrast, or otherwise express the proper use of the words being spoken. All languages use pitch to express emotional and other nonverbal information." In fact, "tonal languages," like Chinese, express meaning more by HOW something is said than in WHAT is said. Or, more precisely, the tone of the speaker determines the meaning of the words. Meanings of words change based on the tones used by the speaker. English is not tonal, so this is a difficult concept for us to grasp.
I know we all recognize that our parents had certain tones toward us as youngsters, tones that we needed to be sensitive to regardless of what they were literally telling us. My dad's tones told me far more than his words. As a lawyer, I have learned that most Judges have "tones" which tell me far more than their literal words. Lawyers unable to recognize judges' tones often trip courtroom land mines.
My point in all this is that the concept of "tone" is crucial to understanding Scripture. By "tone" here, I mean "the quality, character and strength" of the Holy Spirit's inner voice within us conveying the true meaning of Scripture. Literal meaning is "toneless" and often misleads us into wrathful interpretations. BUT as we listen to God's tone, we become convinced of better things. Do you see? The Holy Spirit's perfect tone sings within us to lead us into all truth.
We are no longer slaves to language. The Spirit sings all meaning to us through the quality, character and strength of God's goodness. I can read something literally when the Spirit sings to me that it expresses God's true character. I will not read literally when the Spirit "sounds" a different meaning to me. GOD'S TONE ALONE DEFINES ALL SCRIPTURE.
Beloved, let's loosen our grip on human language. Wasn't that the purpose of the gift of tongues at Pentecost--- to show that heavenly language unites and blesses? God was telling all men to loosen their grip on their own natural understanding, to stop idolizing language, to stop worshipping the letter, and to stop loving the literal. Instead, there is a non-verbal land of milk and honey waiting for us. This land flows with unspoken unctions, transcendent tingles, virtuous vibes, inner illuminations, incomprehensible utterances, and groanings beyond words. When I now think of God, words no longer initially come to mind. Rather, a "tone," a "vibe," a "sensation," a "knowing" fills my heart with divine recognition.
When Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice," perhaps He meant, "My sheep hear my tone." His tone never kills, destroys or steals. "The tone of a stranger we will not follow." Jesus' tone only blesses, loves and gives life (John 10:10). Remember, the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Language can be Satan's greatest weapon when we allow human language to mediate our knowledge of God RATHER than allowing God's presence to mediate our knowledge of language.
I can honestly say since I have loosened my grip on language, I have become much better at using it. I feel free to use language as a complementary tool to help polish, clarify and amplify the "tone" of the Lord as sounded by the Holy Ghost within me. But no longer am I addicted to serving the literal language of man. Start sensitizing yourself to the Lord's tone and soon, very soon, language will never torment you again. Then, YOUR tone will explode with goodness as you start harmonizing with the Holy Ghost!
