How the Gospel Is Like a New Language

Do You Interpret Life through the Gospel?

Have you ever tried to learn a new language?

You know how hard and frustrating it can be translating every single word when you first start, but after awhile, something happens: suddenly you start not only to speak but to think and feel in that language. You eventually start interpreting life through it.

That’s fluency.

In many ways the gospel is like a new language—it takes time. We can be slow to learn, fast to forget, and unwilling to trust.

But when the truths of God through Jesus become part of us, we start interpreting the whole world around us through the lens of God’s perspective, and slowly every aspect of our story starts to be affected by the redemption story—relationships, work, and even ourselves. Everything starts to have a new meaning.

Gospel Fluency

Jeff Vanderstelt

Teaching believers what it looks like for the gospel to become a natural part of our everyday conversations, Vanderstelt shows that the good news about Jesus impacts every facet of our lives.

Even more, we are able to transmit the truth of the the gospel in in ways that speak to real and present brokenness and longings of people—and so, just like when you become fluent in a new language you discover a new way to see the world, with the gospel you discover that Jesus is good news for everything.

Jeff Vanderstelt is a pastor, speaker, author, and founder and visionary leader of Saturate and the Soma Family of Churches. He serves as a teaching pastor and director of missional communities at Doxa Church in Bellevue, Washington. Additionally, Jeff supports church planting globally through training and as a member of the advisory board of C2C Network. He and his wife, Jayne, have three children. You can connect with Jeff at his website, JeffVanderstelt.com, or on Twitter (@JeffVanderstelt).