I'm posting this morning from Kolda, Senegal. We are having a great time doing some preliminary work on our partnership here. Our goal is to help plant a church in a nearby village, Sarre Yoba, where there are no believers. It is an exciting type of ministry that I urge other churches to get involved in as you seek to take Acts 1:8 seriously.
A few days ago, we met with about 7-8 new believers and their friends here in Kolda. There was no building, or stained glass windows. Just a mango tree and a few wooden benches and our Bibles. This is really the first church in this area, and it is fascinating watching this small band of Christ-followers figure out how the are going to do church. There are no instruments and no bulletins to hand out; just baby Christians reading their Bibles and then discussing what they have discovered in God's Word.
They had chosen the passage in Luke 11:37-53 as their text for the evening. This is the passage where Jesus pronounces six woes on the Pharisees who are seeking to trip Him up. Now, this is a pretty challenging text I think, even for seasoned Bible students. As they turned to the passage, I was wondering, "Will they really be able to grasp the theme of this text?" Dumb question on my part.
In Kolda, there are several languages spoken. The primary one is probably French. The people group we work with speaks Fulani. Then there are Creoles. So in this group, the verses were read through three times, once in each language. I was asked to read it in English. Each reading took several minutes, but the entire group listened closely to every word. When they had finished reading it, they began discussing what they thought it meant. And within just a few minutes, they had nailed it: God's primary concern is the condition of your heart, not the outward dressing of religion. If you have a disobedient heart, no amount of religious fervor is going to please Him.
Wow! "How did they figure that out?" was my first thought. But I already knew the answer. When we listen to the simple Word of God, with a teachable heart, the Spirit speaks truth into our lives. The Spirit is skilled in French, Fulani, Creole, English, and every other language. I walked away from that worship service under the mango tree with a greater determination than ever to preach God's Word with faithfulness and passion. The Holy Spirit is fully qualified to do the rest. I am grateful to my new brothers and sisters in Senegal for teaching me this timeless truth.
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