a sol cafe manifesto: we think churchenese should be a dead language

a sol café manifesto

This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close.

This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement.

This is a piece of our manifesto:

we think churchenese should be a dead language

For some very good reasons, specialized human groups -- colleagues in a given profession, members of a club, enthusiasts of a particular hobby, reality TV viewers -- develop an 'insider' language, a shared short-hand with certain words and phrases carrying with them very specific meanings developed over long periods of time. It can make it easier for people within the group to communicate but, intentionally or not, can leave those outside the group... well... outside.

Christians do it all the time. "Worship" to mean "music"... "spiritual formation"... "pre-millenial"... "forty days of purpose"... "born-again"...

Our language can be a barrier to some people getting to know God. We think churchenese should be a dead language. Or at the very least, we'll try and make sure we're translating as we go.

contributed by Black Riders

2 response(s):

steve the z says...: churchenese is one of my biggest concerns with the main stream Christian culture. I agree, it would be great if this was a language at the very least kept to a minumum, but I'd rather have it just die. Unfortunately the language is born out of a mindset, an approach to what there faith is and how they relate with it.

I believe most people are sincere in their Christian faith, that they want to do the "right" things. I also believe that there are a few misguided people that like to sell books and coin new terms, they mean well, trying to help and all that good stuff. But the unfortunate product is that the new terms eventually become used enough until they are the dreaded cliche, and in my opinion the Christian phrase only means something to the long term plugged in Christian.

What about the people that swear a lot? What if they knew nothing about the cliches of Christian life? What if all they knew was that God loves them enough to send his son as a sacrifice for there eternal soul? What if we never tell them they have to change the way they speak? what if they accept Jesus as saviour and then go and tell everyone that this Christian thing isn't full of "stuf" that it is the real "......." deal.

There is value in speaking without ofending people of course, just as there is value in choosing inviting language to people so they feel at home in a new group. My biggest concern with churchenese is that it is part of the dividing between the Christian and non. A further barrier to overcome.
Yogger says...: Churchenese. I think our language is partially ridiculous. However, no group in society is immune from using a type of language - jargon if you will - that helps define who they are.

I agree that language can be a barrier to understanding, but we all contribute to it. We refer to Jesus as the "Lamb," the bible as the "Word," or throw around terms like "transubstantiation" or "sanctification" that muddy understanding. Yet, we continue to use these words (perhaps transubstantiation is a stretch) because we so readily understand their meaning. There are some words that are part of us that are difficult to rid of.

I say this because I think churchenese runs deeper than we realize. We ALL use it... in the presence of non-Christians too! Perhaps a conscious effort will help eliminate most of our jargon, however, I can't foresee ridding of it completely.

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	antecedents we want to make the world a better place we see in colour, we see in greys, just not in bla... We question "leadership"... of the human variety We ask questions like... "am I the only lazy Chris... Church is not the building This is not the "right" way to do church, but it i... We don't give pat answers We operate on "Mexico" time We ask questions like... "how have I been shaped? ... symbols are powerful and necessary, but don't conf... more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 now			a sol café manifesto This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close. This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement. This is a piece of our manifesto: we think churchenese should be a dead language For some very good reasons, specialized human groups -- colleagues in a given profession, members of a club, enthusiasts of a particular hobby, reality TV viewers -- develop an 'insider' language, a shared short-hand with certain words and phrases carrying with them very specific meanings developed over long periods of time. It can make it easier for people within the group to communicate but, intentionally or not, can leave those outside the group... well... outside. Christians do it all the time. "Worship" to mean "music"... "spiritual formation"... "pre-millenial"... "forty days of purpose"... "born-again"... Our language can be a barrier to some people getting to know God. We think churchenese should be a dead language. Or at the very least, we'll try and make sure we're translating as we go. contributed by Black Riders 2 response(s): steve the z says... churchenese is one of my biggest concerns with the main stream Christian culture. I agree, it would be great if this was a language at the very least kept to a minumum, but I'd rather have it just die. Unfortunately the language is born out of a mindset, an approach to what there faith is and how they relate with it. I believe most people are sincere in their Christian faith, that they want to do the "right" things. I also believe that there are a few misguided people that like to sell books and coin new terms, they mean well, trying to help and all that good stuff. But the unfortunate product is that the new terms eventually become used enough until they are the dreaded cliche, and in my opinion the Christian phrase only means something to the long term plugged in Christian. What about the people that swear a lot? What if they knew nothing about the cliches of Christian life? What if all they knew was that God loves them enough to send his son as a sacrifice for there eternal soul? What if we never tell them they have to change the way they speak? what if they accept Jesus as saviour and then go and tell everyone that this Christian thing isn't full of "stuf" that it is the real "......." deal. There is value in speaking without ofending people of course, just as there is value in choosing inviting language to people so they feel at home in a new group. My biggest concern with churchenese is that it is part of the dividing between the Christian and non. A further barrier to overcome. Yogger says... Churchenese. I think our language is partially ridiculous. However, no group in society is immune from using a type of language - jargon if you will - that helps define who they are. I agree that language can be a barrier to understanding, but we all contribute to it. We refer to Jesus as the "Lamb," the bible as the "Word," or throw around terms like "transubstantiation" or "sanctification" that muddy understanding. Yet, we continue to use these words (perhaps transubstantiation is a stretch) because we so readily understand their meaning. There are some words that are part of us that are difficult to rid of. I say this because I think churchenese runs deeper than we realize. We ALL use it... in the presence of non-Christians too! Perhaps a conscious effort will help eliminate most of our jargon, however, I can't foresee ridding of it completely. Post a Comment Links to this post: <$BlogBacklinkTitle$> <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$> posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$> Create a Link more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 [back to the manifesto main page]