When David Brainerd went to preach to the American Indians in 1744, he could not talk to them in their own language. He lived with them, ate the same food, and did his best to talk to them, but could not.
You might wonder how he could possibly tell them about God’s love if he didn’t know their language. He used an interpreter. An interpreter is someone who listens to what you say in your language and then tells it to others in the language they can understand. We read of Joseph speaking through an interpreter in Genesis 42:23. The Indians among whom David Brainerd worked had never heard of the “one true God.” They still worshipped many gods. They had learned very little except wickedness from their white neighbors in the Delaware Valley. The only Indian David could find who could speak English at all was Tinda Tautamy, a thief and drunk most of the time.
Tinda Tautamy did try to stay sober while he interpreted for David. However, he was not interested in the gospel of God’s grace which he heard and translated to his own people. He was not suitable for this work, and he took little interest in making the Indians understand God’s message to them.
One day David was speaking to an audience of English men and women. Tinda Tautamy was there but was not needed to translate, so he had nothing to do but sit and listen. And he did listen. The Holy Spirit used the message David was bringing to those unsaved English-speaking people to awaken the conscience of that poor Indian. He became deeply aware of his sin and its consequences. For many days he was greatly burdened, knowing that he needed to be saved from his sins.
One night in a fitful sleep he dreamed that he was trying to climb a steep mountain up to heaven. The way was covered with thorns, and he could not find a path. He tried climbing again and again, but he kept slipping back. He made no progress and there wasn’t anyone around to help him. He was ready to give up when he thought he heard a voice speaking to him quite plainly - “There is hope, there is hope, but you must come My way.” He woke up and knelt right down and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, confessing his sins, and the burden was lifted and he had peace. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9.
After that Tinda Tautamy was more than an interpreter. He was eager to tell others about his Saviour. When David Brainerd spoke to the Indians about salvation through Jesus Christ, Tinda Tautamy would put his own heart, his own faith and love that he now had, into the words. The Indians who listened, knowing what kind of sinful man he had been, knew now that Tinda was a new man in Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Each one of us, like Tinda Tautamy, is an interpreter. If we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, our lives as well as our mouths should be telling others about Him. Are we telling the story well, or do we sometimes cause others to misinterpret it? Does what we do each day tell others that we belong to Christ?
ML-05/22/1994