So I went to church with Henry and let me say it was quite an amazing experience. The church was at his aunt’s house and it consisted of his entire extended family, and a few neighbors and family friends. Rewind a bit to the fact that I'm currently doing a bible study of Acts and was reading Acts chapter2 just yesterday, and in Acts 2:42-47 it talks about the fellowship that the first believers had…it was that of a family. So to be a part of a church that was basically a family was really neat to see…it took me back to the Acts 2:42 church. They welcomed me in as one of their own and even invited me to stay the night because it was raining and they didn’t want me to have to get my feet wet….plus I think they wanted to get to know me more before I left. So not only was it really cool to see such amazing fellowship and be involved and catch a glimpse of what the author was talking about when he wrote about the Acts church’s fellowship but the coolest part was the service itself.
Henry’s family is from Tamil-Nadu (which is another state in India) *side note***There are 10 official languages of India—one for each state+Hindi&English Can you imagine if America had 50 different languages, one for each state? Not only that, but they all have different alphabets and everything!!!**** And so during the worship we would sing the song once through in English and then repeat the song in Tamil. When everyone else was singing in Tamil I would quietly sing it in English and that alone was AMAZING. It really opened my eyes to how BIG God really is! The fact that He completely understands my English as well as their Tamil blew me away. God is not limited by language. It’s a profound thought isn’t it? We often times resign ourselves to think that God predominately thinks and talks in English and listens to our English worship, but when you’re in a room full of people singing worship in another language while you sing the English version; well let me just say it really can change your view of things. While English is the most widely spoken language in the world we should not become so haughty as to think that God prefers our English worship or only speaks/thinks in English.
One thing that this trip has taught me is that we often times try to culturally contain God. I do it, you do it, my Christian Indian friends do it, it’s programmed into us because we are human therefore simple-minded. But here’s a radical thought: what if we could break our culture boundaries and stop trying to fit God in a box that suites us. What if we could open our minds, hearts, and become aware of what we are doing? What would that look like? The fact that in India a lot of people consider it a sin to date, while in America a lot of people consider it a sin to cuss….why is this? Why is it a sin to do something in one place, but not another? These are questions that I’ve struggled with and still have not been able to wrap my mind around.
These thoughts just excite me for heaven one day—when we will be able to break all culture boundaries, all language barriers, and all other obstacles that keep us from properly accepting one another and worshipping our creator as He should be. When we can finally overcome our ignorance as humans and when we are able to see with new eyes and fully comprehend God. Through this trip I’ve come to learn just how naive I really am….how much more there is in this world and how much I try to contain God. I've been able to see just a little more how big and powerful God really is. But I have to say I can’t wait until I can fully see that…I know as long as I am human I will never fully know God for who He really is. One day though….one day.
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