Speaking Christian

Some thoughts after reading CNN's belief blog: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/31/do-you-speak-christian/

First, my disclaimer: I do occassionally drift through CNN's belief blog to read what other people are saying about religion. What I've learned not to do is read the comments because this blog has become a breeding ground for angry athiests. The belief blog is not a good forum for actual intelligent religiously-themed conversation. So I'm not advocating this blog: I'm merely presenting some of my thoughts on the issue of "speaking Christian."

It's an interesting point: that people who use "Christian terms" like rapture, born again, saved, salvation, justified, redeemed, etc. may not actually understand what they're saying. And I like the phrase at the end, "spiritual snobbery."

But the article got me thinking. Do I speak Christian?

I hope not. I know that probably sounds weird, coming from a pastor, but I hope you'll understand why I say "I hope not" by the time you're done reading this blog entry. So stay with me :)

A pastor friend and mentor of mine talked about the question of being saved once. He was being examined by his Presbytery pending his ordination and they asked him if he was saved and he said he didn't know. His point was that God knows and we don't, and this is true for good reason. We're not supposed to know if we're saved. If we have to worry about it, we're missing God's promise in election (a theological topic for another blog at another time). I've never said to anyone that I'm saved. At least I don't think I have. I'm pretty sure I haven't. I do remember being on a bus once and overhearing a conversation between two men in which one asked the other, "Are you saved?"

And I remember being uncomfortable. I don't remember how the other guy answered, but I remember the question. And I remember people asking me at one point or another, "Are you saved?" My answer is, "Jesus died for me because He loves me" because quite frankly, that's what really matters to me. Whether I'm saved or not is Jesus' business.

I try not to "speak Christian" for various reasons. One, I think it makes people uncomfortable. I do have a lot of non-Christian friends and once and a while I hear things like, "It's so cool that your a pastor." To some of my friends, I'm a novelty, which is weird to say, but I really am the closest they've ever come to interacting with a pastor. I try to speak the same to everyone. Obviously I talk to my congregation a little bit different from how I talk to my friends. But for the most part (and my friends and people in my congregation can attest to this), I try to speak in the same voice whether I'm at a church potluck or a Fourth of July party with my best friends.

Two, I don't see the real point to speaking Christian. My hope is that actions speak louder than words. My hope is that people see the way I live my life and how my interpersonal relations function and are able to see God working through me. Too often, language gets in the way of the Good News of the Gospel.

At the risk of ruffling feathers, the truth is that I actually flinch inside when someone talks about "when they were saved." I don't believe there is a moment where someone is actually saved. I believe the moment a person was saved was when Jesus died and was resurrected from the dead all because of how much He loves us. The moment people are talking about when they talk about being saved is the moment they first felt Christ really come alive in their own lives. It's not really being saved; it's being awakened. It's being renewed. I believe there is a difference.

What really stood out to me in the Belief Blog was this idea of using a "Christian vocabulary" and not knowing (or forgetting) what the words really mean. What does it mean to be justified? What does it mean to be saved or baptized or in communion with Christ and each other? What does any of it really mean? Religion is easy; theology is hard. I'm a pastor and there are still some theological terms that I'm not super comfortable with, and I think that's par for the course. If we pastors understood all of the theological terms we come across, there would be no room for learning. There always has to be room for learning. That's how we continue to stay real about our faith and how we believe.

We talk a lot about how we talk about our faith in contemporary times. How open should we be around our faith? I think the blog is right when it states that we are bilingual; we speak "social human being" and "religious human being." How can we marry the two so that our life outside of the church is not separated from our life inside of the church? How can we talk about our faith in a way that is accessible not just to the listeners, but to us as well?

A good place to start is with a self-assessment. What do you believe? If it helps, find out if your denomination has creeds or basic statements of faith. If you're Presbyterian, check out our Book of Confessions. That's a great place to go to find out what we believe and to what theology we subscribe. It might even help to write your own statement of faith. Put into words exactly what you believe.

Now think about what you've written (or read). What stands out to you? What aspects of that are more difficult than others? Are there things there that seem easy? Confusing? What words sound overly religious to you?

Read scripture and really think about your own theology. Is your theology rooted in scripture? Theology, by definition, ought to be rooted in scripture.

If we're going to talk about our faith, we have to be able to talk about why we believe certain things. We can't just say "It's in the Bible" or "because that's in the creed we say every Sunday." There has to be an aspect of it that you own.

I believe that God has a plan for me because scripture has a long history of people God taught to make lemonade from lemons. I believe that God has a plan for me because Christ died for me on the cross because he loves me, and why would he do that if he didn't have something awesome in mind for me? I believe that God has a plan for me because as a descendant of Abraham, I am a part of that covenant promise to be blessed to be a blessing others.

Speaking Christian becomes a dangerous thing when we use it to push theology that is not rooted in anything. Learning about our faith and learning why we believe in certain things is how we root our theology. Theology is hard; it doesn't have to be impossible.

I encourage you to write your own statement of faith and really get in touch with what you believe. Do your homework and root your beliefs in scripture. Talk to your pastor or seminary professors or other people in your church about certain concepts that you might be stuck on. Get away from "speaking Christian" and this concept of being "bilingual" and instead, focus on what it means to speak from your heart no matter what you're saying.

Wishing you peace,
Pastor Becki