Do you get frustrated talking to Christians because they use such trite, flowery language? Does it bother you when fundamentalist Christians take over language that has such possibility? We’ve noticed the way that some Christians have hijacked certain words, making them lose their roots in a revolutionary movement. These words have been domesticated and made to be misleading.
Here at the Holy Craft, we hope that you feel permission to use whatever words you choose to craft your faith. It is important in crafting faith that we think about the ways in which others hear the words we say. One dynamic we’ve found challenging on a personal level is that progressive Christians have redefined and reframed words so much that they mean something completely different when they something than what people hear.
Take justice as an example. Progressive Christians are driven by seeking justice for all of God’s children. We seek to achieve justice and equality in this world. However, many other types of Christians view justice as a quality of God that insists upon payment for sin (i.e. the justice of God must be quenched). So you can imagine a progressive Christian talking about how central justice is to their faith, while a more conservative Christian listens on and nods with images of God sending Jesus to die for our sins. There is a clear disconnect.
In order to continue crafting meaningful faith, we need to spend some time talking about our words and how we use them.
Without further ado, here are 4 loaded religious words and phrases that may mean one thing to you and something else to others. How can we as progressive people of faith reclaim them and redefine them, not just for us, but for others?
Gospel
Once there was a pastor who was approached by a person in their congregation. In reference to their dying church, the person said, “All we have to do is preach the Gospel.” Curiously, the pastor asked, “Which Gospel,” to which the pastor could then see the Apple rainbow wheel of death spin on this person’s face.
This story is indicative of something greater going on in the religious world. There are people in the Christian community who think there is one Gospel: their gospel. And their gospel is that God sent Jesus to this earth to die for the sins of those who would one day believe in him. (For more, see 4 Toxic Theologies).
Gospel literally means “good news.” Does a bloodthirsty God who sends his* only son to die a brutal death on behalf of others sound like good news to you?
Progressives can do a better job of reclaiming the word Gospel by reflecting on what it is about the life of Jesus that is good news to us. Maybe it is that Jesus shows us a compelling way of living that puts us in touch with our humanity in a way that no other person can. Or perhaps the good news is that Jesus ushers in a new kind of hospitality that can change the world through inclusion and compassion. Whatever it is, it is important to recognize that good news comes in all shapes and sizes.
Forgiveness
We saw during the 2016 election, the cheapening of forgiveness. One candidate proudly claimed to have asked for forgiveness for his sins, thereby garnering the support of the Evangelical community. It was this same candidate who before and after this moment publicly ridiculed people with disabilities, his opponents, and anyone who disagreed with him. All of this combined with the toxic racism he spouted seemed to be the winning combination he needed and thus verified his approach.
Christians have made the word forgiveness irrelevant.
It has been Christians who have said some of the most horrible statements, only to ask forgiveness for them and never change their ways. It has been Christians who have advocated for those who are abused to forgive their abusers, thereby encouraging people to stay in harmful relationships. It has been Christians who have insisted that people who are on the LGBTQIA spectrum ask for forgiveness for their sins, and perpetuate a cycle of sexual denial. Forgiveness has been hijacked.
How can progressive people of faith embody a different type of forgiveness? How can we still incorporate the concept into our daily life without the baggage?
First, we must recognize the way that a vengeful God is intricately related to all of these ideas of forgiveness that have been hijacked. God is not vengeful, nor will God ever seek vengeance. We must understand God as gracious and loving at all times. If you struggle with that, check out Brian Zahnd’s Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God.
Theologian Marcus Borg says this: “A very powerful expression of this in modern times is in a book of sermons by Paul Tillich, one of the most influential mainline Protestant theologians of the twentieth century. The sermon’s title is ‘You Are Accepted.’ Its theme, sounded again and again is we are forgiven, accepted by God, in spite of all that we think separates us from God. God’s love, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, God’s acceptance of us is unconditional. Grace means that God’s love is a given.”
God’s love is a given. What if we lived as if that were true?
Forgiveness in relation to other human beings is almost more challenging. It is important for us to recognize that forgiveness is a personal process that takes time. It is not instantaneous.
Believe
If you have found your way here to The Holy Craft, you have probably been frustrated at a religious community. One of the most frustrating things we’ve found about more conservative religious communities (cranes neck at Evangelicals) is the insistence upon belief.
Christians get too caught up in making sure everyone believes the right things. In the process, people get excluded for having the wrong beliefs.
Belief is certainly a loaded term in the religious vocabulary today.
Some may have come from a creedal community where they state every week what they believe through the use of a creed (like Nicene Creed, Apostle’s Creed, etc). Creeds are almost like checklists for people. You must believe X, Y, and Z to be a part of this community. Some communities enforce it more strictly than others.
For many, belief can have nothing to do with doubt. But, doubt is not the opposite of belief. In fact, Frederich Buechner once said that “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.” Doubt is good.
What if belief were something different?
Marcus Borg, in Speaking Christian, says:
“The meaning of believe prior to about 1600 includes more. It comes from the Old English be loef, which means ‘to hold dear…’ To believe meant not only confidence and trust in a person, but also to hold that person dear—to belove that person.”
What if we talk more about the things we hold dear? That would expand our religious world beyond the life of Jesus to the wisdom that is in our world. We need that, friends.
Born Again
When Christians talk about being “born again,” they are alluding to the transformation and growth that has occurred in them through their experiences of God. Some will refer to this phrase in the same breath that they say they were “washed in the blood.” Save us from the bloody images, please.
Unfortunately, along with being born again, comes a list of beliefs one must hold. See above for the problems with that.
What is most interesting is the way Jesus talks about being born again in John’s Gospel. He says to Nicodemus that he must be “born from above” or “born again.” How does this happen? There is this interesting interchange between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus talks about actual childbirth. This phrase is pregnant with feminine imagery for God. In it, there is imagery of the waters of birth and the way God births us into the world. But Evangelicals who claim re-birth could never affirm a feminine side of God. What if Jesus was including this as a way to affirm God’s feminine aspects?
Ultimately, being born again is a reference to the changes and growth that a person experiences through nurture. How can we better talk about the changes and growth in our own lives? How can we encounter the nurturing side of the Divine that changes us? Maybe then, we will experience being born again.
In order to have more meaningful conversations with others, we have to recognize that many of our words that we hold dear are loaded. They are heard differently than we may intend them. As we craft our faith, it is important that we become clear and mindful about what we are believing and feeling.