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Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #20: Worship God in Any Language

Embracing a Service in Mandarin

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #20.

Although I’m uncomfortable in situations where language differences make conversation hard, if not impossible, something about this church draws me. Despite not knowing Mandarin, I want to return.

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

My language limitation did not limit my worship of God. He was present and his presence enthralled me.

Experiencing the singing in Mandarin provided a time of deep worship. I wonder if this is unique to Mandarin or this congregation—or if perhaps hearing God worshiped in any language would affect me the same way.

If I do return, I’ll first ask friends to pray that I’ll be able to supernaturally understand the message.

It seems like a big, bold request to make, but God can do that, of this I’m confident. And if he doesn’t, it will still be a wonderful time because our focus will be on him regardless of the language we use.

With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can worship God despite the language or language barriers. Even if we don’t understand the words, we can still connect with the Almighty in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

[See my reflections about Church #19 and Church #21 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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