Me speaky Christianese

In the last edition of Joel News International I included two entries from Leadership Journal that, I believe, are right-on:

Bless this house?

Brian McLaren explains why efforts to renew the church are often misguided. "We overlook one small detail - whatever we change (style of music, style of preaching, use of art, candles, incense, etc.), we're not changing the thing that needs changing most.

"The greatest heresy of monotheism is cherishing Clause A of the Abrahamic call while conveniently suppressing, forgetting, or ignoring Clause B. So, we want to be blessed (big, exciting, vibrant, wealthy, healthy, wise). We want to be great (a great nation, a great denomination, a great congregation). To this end we pray and pay and read and plead and strive and strain and yearn and learn and groan and labor. And we give birth to wind. Meanwhile, might God be otherwise occupied, scanning the earth for people who will also cherish Clause B: to be made into a great blessing, so that all people on earth can be blessed through us."

The language of planet Zion

Ron Martoia explains why people today wonder what on earth we're talking about when we speak Christianese. "Words carry all sorts of definitional freight, and we can't assume our words conjure up the same images in everyone's minds. We need some dialogue on the Christian lexicon. Many of the words we use are words our people inside the church have only vague understandings of, and worse yet, those outside the church have little, if any, accurate reference point. Their minds will fill the gaps with explanations from People magazine or a rerun of Friends."

Therefore Martoia changed the lexicon in his local church. Sermon has been replaced by 'weekend talk', evangelism by 'spiritual conversations', discipleship by 'replication', gospel by 'breaking news flash', church membership by 'partnership' and conversion by 'allegiance to God's kingdom'.

Comments

[Arthur Klassen]

right on, Marc.

Taken a "Perspectives" course recently :)? 1st session is REALLY big on top-line vs. bottom-line of the Abrahamic covenant.

cheers from the Pacific Rim of Canuckistan...ank

[Gareth]

A rose by any other name smells as sweet. From Shakespear not the bible but you know what I mean...

Luv Gareth