Thursday, April 26, 2007
Christian Speak
I just flat out loved this post at Jollyblogger Largely reprinting someone else's work, which David does his best job of crediting, the posts addresses "God-Talk." A few excerpts, but please, read it all:
This is the speech version of what goes on in your average Christian bookstore. If you fill your house with enough garbage that has Christian symbology and references on it, then it must be a "Christian" household, even if every one in it behaves in a somewhat contrary manner. And by the way, isn't that why we Protestants have so much trouble with our Orthodox and Roman Catholic brethren and their use of images and symbols?
Will a truly transformed Christian's speech change? Probably, but then some people don't have such bad speech to begin with. But what will change will not be that kind of phraseology. No, what will change will be the message that comes through the medium. Openness will replace caution. Grace will replace condemnation. Love will replace hatred.
It's not what you say that matters, it's your character when you say it, and only God can change that.
Related Tags: church, religion, speech, God-talk, transformation, character
On those occasions when he visits the twentieth century, this giant puts on a pious voice. Instead of reading his Bible prayerfully, he has a "quiet time". This is when he is "a prayer warrior", "wrestling with God", "waging spiritual warfare" (all very quietly of course!). Instead of "I'll carefully consider it" this giant says "I'll pray about it", as if the Bible doesn't tell him enough and God will send a telegram (extra revelation) to inform the giant about what to do in every decision.This last excerpt starts to strike at the heart of what I think is a very serious problem with "God-talk." You see much of what the modern form of God-talk does is it attempts to make the mundane sound highly spiritual, allowing us, I believe, to avoid the real, deep work God has set out for us. We don't actually change our lives, we just talk about them differently and think we have changed them.
[...]
When the giant has an idea, he never calls it an idea, or plan, or suggestion. No, much too normal, those words." he goes to his "God-Talk" dictionary and uses much holier words and phrases, like "I have a vision", "I have a burden", "The Lord laid it on my heart", "I felt led", "I feel called of God", or the very authoritative "God told me". That man has "words of knowledge". When he describes the nitty-gritty of daily life it is never as normal as 'acting according to Biblical principles': rather it si the highly mysterious "being open to the leading of the Spirit".
[...]
The 'God-Talk' dialect is well suited to guilt-tripping. Any believer contemplating a cigarette is told "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit". Strange thing that (quite apart from the complete misuse of I Cor. 3:16 & 6:19). Agreed that cigarettes don't help your health, what about living in Port Kembla or Dusseldorf or Chernobyl? The toxicity of the air breathed in those places makes cigarettes a preferred option. Should Christians get out of there? Is living there also defiling the 'temple of the Holy Spirit'?
This is the speech version of what goes on in your average Christian bookstore. If you fill your house with enough garbage that has Christian symbology and references on it, then it must be a "Christian" household, even if every one in it behaves in a somewhat contrary manner. And by the way, isn't that why we Protestants have so much trouble with our Orthodox and Roman Catholic brethren and their use of images and symbols?
Will a truly transformed Christian's speech change? Probably, but then some people don't have such bad speech to begin with. But what will change will not be that kind of phraseology. No, what will change will be the message that comes through the medium. Openness will replace caution. Grace will replace condemnation. Love will replace hatred.
It's not what you say that matters, it's your character when you say it, and only God can change that.
Related Tags: church, religion, speech, God-talk, transformation, character
