Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Arrival - The Conversation of Heaven (“I don’t talk like that!”)

Arrival - The Conversation of Heaven (“I don’t talk like that!”)



The Science of New Language


The movie Arrival is a science-fiction drama which explores the challenges of communicating with an alien species. In one scene, the protagonist is confronted by a fellow scientist with the notion that constant interaction and communication with these alien visitors has begun to altar and transform her brain. He even asks her if she has begun to dream in the alien's language. While this concept might sound pretty wild, the idea that our brains get rewired when we learn a new language is not wholly science-fiction. It is actually true that our brains grow when we learn a new language. In addition, studies at Georgetown University suggest that the brain patterns of those immersed in learning a new language begin to mimic the brain patterns of native speakers of that language.

As presented in the movie, it is easy to be overwhelmed and disoriented as we learn to communicate in and with a culture where we find no points of reference. This is also true with the language of heaven. As God’s thoughts are high above ours, so is the way of his Spirit. There is a great divide between human intellect and reasoning, and the speech and thought of the heavenly culture. Although we are his people, we may lack experiential knowledge of his Kingdom. Our hearts, minds, and actions must be transformed so that we can stay in step with what’s going on in heavenly places, where Paul tells us we are already seated (Eph 2:6).


My Lips Don’t work like That


Isaiah was confronted with this kind of culture shock and experienced a heavenly language barrier when transported to the throne room of God. This happened in the year that King Uzziah died when Isaiah…

“... saw the Lord, high and exalted… Above him were seraphim… And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” …’Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’” (Isaiah 6:1-5 NIV)

I recently came across a sermon with a very interesting take on Isaiah’s vision which adds some context to Isaiah's experience as he witnessed the interaction between the heavenly hosts. The speaker found that…

“… they’re having this conversation and they’re consumed by the theme of his glorious majesty and they’re consumed by his glorious plan to fill the earth with who he is and Isaiah says, ‘Wow!, I don’t talk like that.’ And he says, ‘and I’m surrounded by people who don’t talk like that.’ That’s what he means by being a man of unclean lips. He goes, ‘my preaching and my conversations and my blog posts, my tweeting, and my instagrammings … - it’s not connecting my audience to what is happening around the throne.” ~ Stuart Greaves

 

While speaking back and forth to each other, these angels are not talking to God, nor are they in discord. They’re talking back and forth to each other about the glory of God, and Isaiah finds himself woefully out of step with their culture, their thinking, and their language. How was Isaiah to reconcile his position with that of this new world before him? He needed a rewiring… a transformation afforded to him by the fire of the altar so that he might take on the language and mission of heaven.

“… one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:6 NIV)

Transformation


Isaiah’s transformation can be likened to Paul’s admonition that we be…

“… transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2 HCSB)

… and that we…

“… speak not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (I Corinthians 2:13 NIV)

To accomplish this and like the character from the movie Arrival, we must go through a process of having our brains rewired. We need the ongoing transformation of the Spirit so that we can think, speak, and act according to the culture of heaven, right here on earth. The scientific term for this rewiring is called linguistic relativity.


Linguistic Relativity


“Learning a new language doesn't just change the physical makeup of the brain. Based on a theory known as linguistic relativity, learning a new language can also change the way we see the world. This is specifically true in relation to our color perception. For example, Japanese speakers have far more words to describe the color blue, and as a result are generally able to see more shades of blue than English speakers. On the other side of the spectrum, the Himba tribe of Namibia in Southern Africa have only five words to describe all the colors in the world. Researchers have observed that, without a word for the color blue, the Himba struggle to tell it apart from green — an easy feat for English speakers.” 
~  Dana Dovey: https://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/how-learning-new-language-changes-your-brain-and-your-perception-362872

Even our perception is contingent upon the language that we use. As believers then, we can be separated from, or have problems finding connection with, certain facets of the life of God simply because we don't have a language to describe what we are seeing. This is why we must renew our minds. This fact should not surprise us. We see through a glass darkly, with his wonders before us waiting to be revealed as we are changed from glory to glory. So, although God is ever present, we may need an Isaiah, or Jacob experience before we can discover that “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (Gen 26:18 NIV). Then, our eyes can be opened to things we formerly had no ability to perceive or describe.


Burning Righteousness Upon Our Lips


As believers, we should hunger and thirst to enter into, and be filled with his heavenly culture, He promises that if we draw near to him, he will draw near to us (James 4:8) There are multiple promises found in Scripture, that we may rely upon as we seek to enter in.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 NIV)

“'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7 NIV)

Operational Language


In the movie Firefox, Clint Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a pilot who has commandeered a new, experimental Russian jet which operates via the pilot's mental commands. The catch? It only responds to the thought patterns of those who think in Russian which is not Gant’s 1st language. While being pursued by the enemy, he begins to panic and while in distress, his thought-language begins to slip back into English. Because of this, he is no longer able to command the jet with his thoughts. To remedy the situation, he reminds himself that in this realm, there is one singular language able to communicate his thoughts properly and interact with the onboard computer and that language is Russian. Like Gant, and Isaiah himself, we too need a transformation of thought. Changing the way we think is a simple definition for the word repentance. We must rely on the implanted word to save us (James 1:21), by humbly putting our own words and former way of speech behind us and relying upon the language of the kingdom.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24)
It is required, therefore, that our thought language meld more and more with the language of heaven so that we can more adequately perceive what God is doing. As our brains and lips are rewired, we can be more fully empowered and enabled to facilitate the Great Commission given us.

On Earth As It Is In Heaven


As we are transformed and enabled to see and experience the language and culture of heaven, we will, like the Seraphim, enter into this heavenly conversation.

“… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV)

“What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.” (I Corinthians 14:26 NIV)

These prescriptions allow us to enter into and participate in his culture of holiness as these things are nurtured within us. Ultimately, they bring about manifestations of the Glory of God and result in a changed, expanded, and thriving heavenly culture where together we have been rewired to experience and proclaim the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1 Corinthians 9-13 NIV)

As our brains are rewired with the words of heaven, we can better understand and speak what the Spirit is saying, allowing us to more vitally enter into his Kingdom - on earth, as it is in heaven. In some ways, it may seem like an alien visitation, and in some ways it is. But while we are considered be aliens and strangers in the midst of the world around us, speaking what seems to them to be an alien language of love and redemption, this language should not be alien to us.

Check out the trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMo3UJ4B4g