Once at a church in New England, I asked a group of deaf adults: “Heart: what mean?” I asked this question after a Sunday school lesson in which the word heart was signed often. For them to have understood the lesson, understanding the spiritual dynamic of the word heart was necessary. What I learned shocked me.
Their answers were varied: some said, conviction or guilt; some, Holy Spirit; some, touched; and others Jesus. So obviously, I repeated my question: “No. Word H-E-A-R-T, heart [signed], what means?” Many responded with the same answers. Then I changed my approach: “Does heart mean *pat, pat on my chest* [then I opened and closed my fist like a beating heart]?” Their answer: Yes.
The Bill Rice Ranch has always been concerned that the gospel be presented clearly, and that deaf people especially understand how to be saved. This experience with deaf adults gave me a greater conviction that many deaf people do not understand the word heart in its spiritual context.
The word heart in the Bible refers to the mind, emotions, and will of a person. It is what a person actually is behind the facade of the physical body. Below is a sampling of uses that illustrate the diverse meanings of the word heart both in the Bible and in Christian circles:
Attitude – a servant’s heart
Passion/Desire – “my heart is fixed, O God”; a heart for God
Mind/Thoughts – “Keep thy heart”
Will – “with the heart man believeth”; “ye have obeyed from the heart”
Conscience – “create in me a clean heart”
Of course, the Bible also uses the word to mean the physical heart. But, because of the many different meanings of the word heart and a misunderstanding among deaf people about the spiritual meaning of the word, we do not use the phrase, “Ask Jesus to come into your heart” when explaining salvation. Some time ago, I had a conversation with a deaf man who taught a Sunday school class at a fundamental Baptist church. This man had undergone some heart procedures, and during our conversation, the subject of heart transplants came up. His comment to me was, “If I ever had a heart transplant, I would pray to be saved again because I wouldn’t know if the heart came from a saved person.” At first I thought he was joking, but I quickly realized he was not. His misunderstanding about the spiritual meaning of the word heart and the tendency of the Deaf to think literally led him to believe that Jesus actually lived inside his physical, blood-pumping heart!
The crux of the issue is simply this: the phrase “Ask Jesus into your heart” makes the decision of salvation unclear. The decision of salvation is not asking, but believing.
“But,” someone might say, “Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’?”
Yes, it does, right before it says, “How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed,” and right after it says “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”
“But,” someone else asks, “Doesn’t Jesus come to live in our hearts when we get saved?”
Yes (through the person of the Holy Spirit), but that’s what happens after a person makes the decision to be saved. And the decision for salvation is not asking, it’s believing. In fact, when presenting the Gospel, the decision for salvation does not even need to emphasize the heart. Think of the fundamentals of the Gospel: sin, punishment, Jesus, faith. Why does the word heart even need to be brought up when bringing someone to a decision about salvation?
“But the decision to trust Christ is a heart-decision, brother!”
The decision to be saved is a decision of the will (heart), yes. But the one decision that a person must willfully (heartfully?) make to be saved is faith in Jesus. Other words are synonymous with faith: believe, trust, depend; and even receive and accept are all words that the Bible uses to describe what the decision for salvation is. Those are the words we should emphasize. And aren’t they Bible words, after all?
How we explain salvation to a deaf person at the Bill Rice Ranch is the way I try to explain it to everyone. At the Ranch, we use the term place to describe a deaf person’s position before God. As he is, a person’s place (or, position) is sin, punishment, and hell forever. God will not accept him into Heaven as he is. In order to be saved he must have a new place. Jesus’ place, we explain, is perfection, peace, and Heaven forever. His place is the same as God’s! Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and then died on the cross for our place. A person must decide to accept Jesus for a new place. Jesus died for his place; now, if he will accept Jesus, he can have Jesus’ place. When he accepts (depends upon, trusts) Jesus, he has a new place and God accepts him into Heaven.
The point is: what is the one decision a person must make if he is to be assured of salvation? There is actually a very clear answer to this from the Bible. When the apostle Paul was confronted by an honest, seeking man about the way of salvation, Paul did not mention praying, asking, or even more than one step. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” the jailer asked. Paul’s response was, “Believe.” Nothing less and certainly nothing more was necessary.
The Gospel is the most important message God has ever given to mankind. Surely God intends that we be good stewards of the message He has given us in His Word. So let’s be clear when we present the Gospel, and be sure that our hearers understand the one decision they must make to have a place with God.