Words of the Faith
This morning as I drove into work, I was listening to a podcast called “pray-as-you-go.” In the podcast, they asked the question, “What price have you paid for your discipleship?” As I was trying to wrap my brain around the question and ask it honestly of myself, I realized that I was having a hard time deciphering what they meant by the words, and that maybe I don’t always understand the Christian terminology that is often thrown my way.
I grew up in a small town in Southern Utah, and it’s likely that if I throw out the words “jockey box” most of you won’t have a clue about what I am talking about. I know that it’s a glove compartment, but you wouldn’t know that unless I had told you or you knew someone who lived in that area of the midwest. That’s sometimes the way I feel about Christian terminology.
The town that I grew up in was about 98% Mormon and my father was rabidly anti-institutional church. For that reason, we rarely went to church. Instead, my dad would take us and we would spend our Sundays in the open wilderness. He said that was our church. We would walk the sidehills of my mother’s hometown, a town of 500 population, or we would drive to the deserts or mountains that were only a short drive away and go exploring. Many times, we would go fishing and sit alongside a placid lake talking. (Perhaps that’s one reason that I have a hard time with fishing analogies. In the end, the fish have to die in order for us to have a good meal!) My growing up experience was very different from those who were raised inside the church, and so I am often struggling with the terminology.
When my husband and I first joined a local church, I sat through almost an entire sermon on stewardship without realizing that it was about tithing. I thought the pastor was calling us to be good stewards of our faith! I thought it was a great message until my husband started talking about it. I realized then that I have a serious communication problem with the Christian vernacular.
Last week, when I was talking about the word evangelist and the way I felt when I heard the word, it was just another example of how I respond to certain words that are thrown my way. My experience was that Mormons used all the same words like redemption, savior, and God, but what they meant by those words were not always the same. Even Mormon scholars and leaders will acknowledge that their use of those terms are unique. The underlayers of their doctrine rename the words to mean something that fits within the confines of their faith. I wonder how often we do the same thing with words.
That’s why, when I am talking to other people about matters of faith, I often don’t use the Christian words to get my point across. I don’t assume that when I say “redemptive” or “savior” that they are going to hear them in the way that I am trying to convey them, and I may not use those words at all if I think they are going to be offensive. Some folks would call that watering down the faith, but I don’t believe that. I want people to understand me. It’s a kindness to be aware of the possibility of misunderstandings. You can’t always avoid misunderstandings, but you can minimize them.
Jesus spoke in a different vernacular. He used terminology and analogies and parables to symbolize the ideals of God. He spoke about the “kingdom of God,” “bread of life,” and “living water.” Those were terms that He used in an effort to free the people of His day from their religious cages. We live in different cages, but cages all the same and we need to be freed from the bonds of our words so that we can move beyond them and introduce others to the God that we love.
June 30th, 2008 · 9 Comments
Categories: DE Thoughts
Pops said
am July 2 2008 @ 5:23 am
Funny, very funny!
I was in Ireland and some of the locals were talking about the ‘crack’ on a night out.
I thought they were talking about the powder stuff but to them the word crack is ‘fun’!
I also run into trouble talking on blogs with people in the USA because our words mean different things - so it would seem to be a common problem not just as far as religious things are concerned.
I hope you get it right because conversations can become very boring if we have to keep defining our words!
Helen said
am July 2 2008 @ 7:56 am
April I’m glad you have experiences of your own which remind you it can be hard for other people to understand ‘Christianese’ - and which hold you back from adopting it as your favorite language.
Pops, I saw in your feedback on Jim and Casper go to Church that you live in South Africa. What other word differences do you run into, talking to Americans on blogs?
Anyway I think the difference here is, Christianese is a language some Christians choose to embrace, which causes needless confusion. Whereas those of us who grow up in different countries speaking English, didn’t choose the small differences we grew up with. Maybe Christians like Christianese because it makes them feel more Christian, or they think it makes them sound more Christian. Whatever the reason, it’s a choice which doesn’t endear them to people who aren’t Christians.
Randy said
am July 3 2008 @ 7:40 pm
I have a friend who co-authored a book called “The Colours of God” in which they actually suggest dropping the word “sin” for the same reasons (totally misunderstood and carries a TON of baggage). They suggest using a framework of healthy and unhealthy instead (you need to read the whole book and this argument in particular before getting too worked up over this).
This is cross-cultural ministry 101. Learn the language, the culture, the value system of the people your are trying to reach. Translate the Gospel into that language and culture (so it’s ACCURATELY UNDERSTOOD). We assume because our hearers speak the same language as us that they know what we mean (and they know what WE mean) by certain words. They don’t. This is why saying that America has already heard the Gospel is so irritating to me. They’ve heard SOMETHING, for sure. The Gospel? Not so much.
Pops said
am July 4 2008 @ 6:47 pm
Hi Helen
Is that you , the almost atheist?
Well you guys also refer to things that you are familiar with in the States; might be a well known advert jingle, a song, a custom, a news headline etc. and to me when these things are mentioned they mean something totally different not beong aware of what is going on there.
Oh boy! The only example that comes to mind is that of Woody! Here it has to do with a tree!
Pops said
am July 4 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Ooops, sorry Helen I see you asked about other differences not just language.
(Please understand that I am generalising when I use the term “You” )
Well you guys seem to be a lot more ‘traditional’ and into the dress code thing?
You also seem to be stuck on ‘keeping up with the Jones’?
You seem to get stuck on cultural issues like smoking and drinking.
You also try justify plain old sin as ‘medical conditions’.
The one that really gets up my nose is that you guys seem to think that God only speaks from the USA and every one else better listen!
Lots of love!
Pops
Helen said
am July 4 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Pops, yes that’s me the almost-atheist. Thanks for your response!
Pops said
am July 5 2008 @ 3:10 am
Hi Helen!
Do you have an email I can contact you on please?
Your post about that fella doing transportation of Kids etc really struck a chord and I would like to ask you some questions.
Lots of love!
Pops
Helen said
am July 5 2008 @ 7:09 am
Hi Pops, that post is comments-enabled like this blog - you can post a comment right under the post saying why it struck a chord and what questions it caused you to want to ask.
Austin said
am July 6 2008 @ 11:10 am
I think that, as followers of Jesus, we need to be intentional about everything we say or do, since we are ambassadors for his kingdom, and anything we do will affect how people see, perceive, and interact with his kingdom and the form we’re giving it right now. As such, it’s important that we are always looking at new, fresh, relevant ways to communicate the ideas of Jesus and his followers accurately and in a way that leaves others curious and wanting to learn more and get involved, instead of in a way that polarizes and creates outsiders.
But, it’s also important that we don’t just give up or lose parts of our vocabulary simply because we’re trying to be new, or relevant, or refreshing.
It’s a fine line to walk, and as long as we’re attempting God will work through us and bless what we do. The message of Jesus is that everybody is welcome, including the outsiders, and we need to always be sure that the language and systems we are using (among other and amongst ourselves!) are above all else conducive to bringing those outsiders in and making them feel welcome, wanted, and loved…and many times this requires objective self-analysis of the words and tools we are using to communicate kingdom ideas.
Great post, April, I agree 100%.