Love in any Language . . .

Mike Hosey, Elder

Recently, a behavioral economist named Keith Chen discovered some interesting truths about how language affects our behavior. He discovered, for instance, that people who speak Chinese languages tend to save (significantly) more of their money than people who speak English.  He believes that this behavior occurs not because the two cultures are different. Instead, he believes that their cultures are different because their languages are.   Those Chinese languages do not have a strong future orientation like English does. They don’t make a big distinction between “the future” and “the now.”  When an English speaker says he needs to save for the future, he usually does not do so. This is because “the future” seems so far away, and his immediate needs or pleasures override any motivation to save. The speaker of the Chinese language, which can’t distinguish the future as distant, doesn’t suffer from that handicap.

Some Australian aborigine communities do not have words for “left” or “right,” instead they use compass oriented words like North, South, East and West.  Because of this, aborigines from these communities are able to orient themselves extremely well even when they are in buildings, rooms, or territories where they have little or no familiarity. Their language creates navigational competence. Click here to read a brief article about Chen, the aborigines and other fascinating language/behavioral links.

An understanding of this language/behavioral concept can be very useful to the Christian.  Take the Greek word, “agape,” for instance. This is a word that means “love” in English. But the English word “love” does not translate it very well.  In fact, it’s a purely biblical word. It doesn’t exist in classical Greek. Rather, it was revealed to the biblical writers. Agape love is love or commitment that is self-sacrificial.  1 John 4:8 tells us that God is this kind of love. Self-sacrificial love is part of His core being!  This self-sacrificial love is the kind that allowed God to commit His one and only son to save us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).  Unlike other kinds of love, like sexual love, or friendly love, Agape love is concerned with the well-being of the loved, and not necessarily the comfort or pleasure of the lover.

So in order to love like Jesus, it might help to redefine our language of love from that of a feeling, and to push us toward self-sacrifice where we commit ourselves to the well-being of others rather than any immediate emotional or physical desire we have at any given moment.