Across the globe, churches are looking to respond to the fact that our towns are becoming more multilingual. On response to that is to hold services in different languages. But is that as good an idea as it looks? Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Pros
Holding different services in different languages allows people to worship in their own language.
This benefit should not be underestimated. Creating a space where people can worship in their own language helps people to build community. It also reminds us that God speaks every language. There is not one holy language that is preferred above the rest.
Different services in different languages increases the likelihood that people will find someone with similar experiences.
There is nothing quite like meeting someone who has walked the road before you. Going to a service in a minority language creates a ready-made community for people to join of people who understand their experiences.
This option means that everyone gets to worship in a style that suits them.
In theory at least, having different services in different languages create space for people to worship in a style that suits them. Often, speaking different languages also indicates that people have come from different cultures. Allowing for different worship services in different languages makes space for cultural differences and reduces the opportunity for people to be offended.
So how could there possibly be any problems with this approach? Let’s look at its drawbacks.
Cons
Holding different services in different languages separates people into groups according to language.
This might sound like a mere description of the facts but it deserves special attention. By holding different services in different languages, we erect barriers between Christians who speak different languages. Yes, that barrier exists in the world around us. But, as the Church that started with a blaze of multilingual glory in Acts 2, do we want to re-erect a barrier that God specifically publicly tore down?
Different services in different languages increases the likelihood that those who speak different languages will split off into their own church.
Holding different services in different languages creates silos. It means that people only meet people who share their experiences and their languages. This can and does lead to these services becoming their own churches. Often there is no real connection between those services and the church that originally planted them. Even in the very best case, where there is true co-leadership across all services in all languages, specific planning is needed to ensure that speakers of different languages in the same church interact with each other. On those occasions, some other method will be needed to help people communicate. Why not just use that method every Sunday?
This option means that people don’t get to experience the worship styles, approaches, and thinking of Christians with different backgrounds to them.
At a time when the world is increasingly divided along cultural, political, and ideological lines, we really need churches to be places where people see reconciliation, love, and acceptance in action. We need churches that will encourage people to go beyond the things they are already comfortable with. We need churches that encourage people to form friendships with people who are different to them.
It was in Antioch, a church with a culturally, financially, and linguistically diverse leadership team that we were first called “Christians”. There simply wasn’t another name for such a varied, unlikely bunch of people. They would never have been together if it weren’t for Christ. The apostles worked hard to ensure that everyone was welcome in the Church and in individual churches, no matter their background.
For that reason, the moment we hold different services in different languages, we are reversing the process of unity in difference that is a key theme in Acts. We are cutting ourselves off from each other in a way that has no Scriptural precedent. We belong to each other and, as hard, even verging on impossible as it might seem sometimes, God is calling us to do life together.