Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Gospel in Oral Tradition

By Morgan Jackson
October / November 2009

Most of the world’s people live in oral cultures. They learn about their history and transmit their values through song, chant, story, and drama.

But when they listen to the Bible, oral people don’t separate themselves from the stories. As they listen, they are drawn in and find themselves walking alongside Jesus.

When the Kabiyé people of Togo heard the word of God in their language for the first time, their reaction was, “God speaks our language. We don’t need a translator to talk to God. God can address us directly.” And for so many around the world, they’ve been told and taught that God doesn’t understand their prayers.

Experiencing the Bible for the First Time
I wish people could go into a village and watch people as they hear—for the first time—the Bible in their own mother tongue. In my mind, I can still see them—people gathering from all directions. Most are walking in groups of three or four. Others ride bicycles, creating clouds of dust as they come. All are dressed in bright, traditional clothing. When they get closer, I can see the obvious excitement on their faces.

These people, like hundreds of thousands of others around the world, will be participating in a Bible listening group. For many, it will be the first time they have ever heard the word of God in their heart language. Most of them cannot read and must depend upon someone else to read and interpret scripture for them—at least until now.

For the past twenty-six years I’ve had the amazing privilege of being part of Faith Comes By Hearing, a ministry which makes Audio Bible recordings available to people just like these—people who otherwise would have no personal access to God’s word. It’s awesome to watch these people engage the stories from the Bible. Oral learners have a way of putting themselves into the stories that make them feel like they are actually there. When Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mount, they are right there sitting in the field, listening. When he lays his hands on people and heals them, they can see and feel the emotion of the moment. They cry or laugh or shout. When they hear the crucifixion, they weep and sob. Some actually fall on their faces and throw dust on their heads!

I’m also amazed at which passages speak to them on a deep level—often things we wouldn’t even mention if we were teaching. When’s the last time you heard a sermon on a biblical genealogy? Yet look at how the New Testament starts: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob…”

And so forth for sixteen verses. We may well be inclined to just skip to verse 17, but oftentimes I’ve heard listeners from oral cultures say, “Wait! Stop it right there. Play that part over. I’ve heard of some of those guys.” They play it three of four times, fascinated that Jesus had a real genealogy that could be traced all the way back to Abraham. That sort of thing is important to them—where someone came from, and who their ancestors were. Many have told me they accepted Christ just because they heard his genealogy.

Morgan Jackson is the international director of Faith Comes By Hearing. He began ministering to oral peoples at age nine. He now travels extensively, speaking to audiences all across the world, and sharing the need for God’s word in audio.