(Verse 1) In four thousand tongues, the Word has been written down, In the quiet of the pages, in every city and town. But a question lingers like a mist upon the shore: Does the Church need worship songs in a thousand languages more? We’ve seen the ancient icons and the dancers in the light, But how many voices are singing through the night? (Chorus: Call and Response) (Call): Do we need a thousand more? (Response): A thousand more! (Call): To bring the song to every floor? (Response): To every floor! (Call): From the heart of man to the heart of God, (Response): The heart of God! (Call): In every language where the faithful trod. (Verse 2) We look back through the years at the hymns we used to bring, Translated from a distance for the local folk to sing. But the era is shifting from the borrowed to the known, To Ethnodoxology, where the seeds of praise are sown. It’s not just about the words that we find upon the shelf, But the local musical styles that express a people’s self. (Bridge: Call and Response - The Factors of Vitality) (Call): Is the language strong? (Response): Vitality! (Call): Can they read the Word? (Response): Literacy! (Call): Is it used in the church? (Response): Regularity! (Call): Does it sound like home? (Response): Appropriateness! (Call): Evidence of existence is not evidence of use, (Response): Not evidence of use! (Verse 3) Some say use the national tongue for the sake of being one, But the deepest work of worship has only just begun When a person hears the Spirit in the language of their birth— "God speaks our language," the greatest news on earth. It ignites the oral churches, it bridges every gap, Putting every hidden tribe upon the worship map. (Chorus: Call and Response) (Call): Do we need a thousand more? (Response): A thousand more! (Call): To open up the Spirit’s door? (Response): The Spirit’s door! (Call): From the heart of man to the heart of God, (Response): The heart of God! (Call): On every path that the faithful trod. (Outro: Ballad Style) So we search the archives and we listen for the strain, Of the songs that bring the healing and the falling of the rain. Let us fill the gap together, let the silence be no more, Until a thousand different languages are singing to the Lord.
