The foolish things…

Jit was invited to work at an international Christian organization in Bangkok. She spoke Central Thai yet much to her surprise other believers began making fun of her slight Isaan “twang”. Jit was shocked and deeply hurt. “Why do they treat me like this?” she lamented, “I am Christian like them and even have a masters degree. ” Shompu experienced the same negative attitudes at her factory job in Bangkok. To cope, whenever family members called she answered her mobile in Central Thai saying, “I’m busy now, call back later.” Later meant when others weren’t around to make fun of her speaking Isaan. A survey of Thai TV channels reveals multiple comedy shows featuring Isaan people doing and saying foolish things, some of which include just speaking their mother tongue.

Isaan is a dialect closely related to Central Thai yet it is looked down upon as “countrified”, unsophisticated and silly. Unfortunately Christians sometimes reflect these biases too such as a Central Thai believer who said in all innocence, “When I teach the Bible I always use Central Thai because the Isaan language is so imprecise.”

Is one language better than another? Is one people group smarter than another? People worldwide think so, but God doesn’t. When the Creator looks at Isaan people he sees men, women and children made in His image, speaking a language He created which is beautiful and fully capable of expressing His praise.

In the Scripture the Apostle Paul boldly proclaimed that God uses people whom others consider foolish, weak, and even despised to shame “the wise” so that God gets all the glory. What an amazing truth! There is no need for Isaan people to be ashamed- God is well pleased with their language and culture and wants them out sharing the gospel without apology.

* Isaan is in the North east of Thailand.