Agree

Kate's word prompt for this week's Five Minute Friday free-write is: agree

Yes, I am quite aware it is Saturday - work with me here okay?

How can you and I tell if we agree upon a particular topic? We talk about it and discuss the situation or idea, and eventually we will be able to tell if we agree or not. 

What if we did not speak the same language? How would we communicate to other people our desires and our agreement or disagreement with a situation?

Might we use our faces, our body language, our actions - as we walk either towards or away from a gathering? It must be frustrating for people who cannot understand or speak our language to make their opinions or desires known to us, or for us to communicate with them.

I think about the Great Commission, when Jesus told His disciples to go and spread the Word of God, you know: Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations... and I am with you always. Matthew 28:18-20

How did these disciples share the knowledge of the love of God, and the sacrifice of Christ? Many of them probably knew the language close to their homelands, but what about later, when they ventured farther away? First they had to learn the language of the native people - and learn it well - to be able to communicate this great love and forgiveness. It is similar to what Bible translators today do through organizations like Wycliffe. First they learn the language, then they get to know the local people, then they share the Gospel with the locals. Once there are local, native speakers who have accepted Jesus, the missionaries work with them to get the Bible translated into the native language to share with others.

Maybe you are not going around the world to meet new people, so maybe your language learning will be smaller. But the first step is the same - we must go, and the second step is the same - we must learn about the people we wish to share with - as we learn about their lives through the relationship of friendship, we learn to speak their language, and we show them the love of Christ through our words and your actions.

Let us agree that the first step is this: to go!