Power in Any Language

Have you ever wanted to share your faith with someone whose language or culture felt worlds away from your own?

“When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’” (Acts 14:11).

The Gospel spread rapidly during the first century, in part because Greek was commonly spoken throughout the Roman world. However, Christians also had the challenge of reaching people with different languages and traditions.

We see this multicultural climate during the visit of Paul and Barnabas to Lystra. The key moment took place when a man who had been lame his entire life was healed. The people reacted not in Greek, but “in Lycaonian.” Today, this language is totally lost.

Over time, some languages disappear. Others change and evolve. Comparatively few people today speak the Greek that once dominated the Roman world.

Despite the passage of time, God’s power never changes. As the healing in Lystra clearly demonstrated, that power still reaches people today.

Wherever he went, Paul knew that God’s power could transcend language barriers. As he wrote to the Corinthians, “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5).

As faithful witnesses, our challenge is to find ways to communicate with diverse cultures and people, in every way possible and in every language.

Reflection Question: Have you ever demonstrated God’s power through your words and deeds?

Frequently Asked Questions

What language did the Lystrans speak, and why don’t we know it today?

Lycaonian was a local Anatolian tongue spoken in the region around Lystra; Acts 14:11 is essentially its only surviving literary trace. No substantial texts in Lycaonian have been recovered‚ so linguists classify it as unattested beyond a handful of place names and this verse.

Why did the Lystrans think Paul and Barnabas were gods?

Local legend held that Zeus and Hermes had once visited the region in human form and been turned away by everyone except one elderly couple; after the healing‚ the crowd assumed the gods had returned, addressing Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes (Acts 14:12).