Christianese

In my last post I introduced my theory that all relgions are languages communicating parts of the same thing. Today I want to share my thoughts about the language used in Christianity.

There are many dialects of Christianese, the language spoken by Chrsitians. Some are shared by several denominations, and while some words and phrases are used more in one. There are many words used commonly in songs and sermons that don't mean much, or mean something slightly different to non-Christians, such as righteousness, mercy, majesty, and salvation. Then there is also a lot of ancient imagery used to communicate ideas, that we are still using today, when they are no longer culturally relevant. Shepherds and sheep, new wine in old wine skins, cups overflowing with oil or wine, and cities on hills are all examples of everyday images used in Biblical times to illustrate a spiritual concept. They are good metaphors, but they mean less today because they are not everyday images anymore. Even Lord as a name for God means less to us today because we do not have feudal lords of any kind, and the hierarchy suggested by the term is foreign to us. The idea of God being our king isn't as relevant in our democratic society, because we have no ultimate authority figure like that.

Some of the phrases used by Christians are not directly lifted from the Bible. People will say that something or someone "is really on my heart right now." When someone goes on a trip, they will pray for "travelling mercies" for that person. Some people will talk about being "on fire for God," and when something negative happens in their lives, they might say that they're experiencing "an attack."

I was brought up in a Protestant church, and I have spent time studying my Bible and the teachings of two denominations now. I am also good with words, so I understand the meaning behind most of the words and the phrases and metaphors and similes used in churches today. I understand what is being said, but I don't always want to say it. Sometimes when sitting in church or in conversation with Christians, the words I hear sound hollow to me, as though they are being said out of habit, and aren't really carrying all that much meaning anymore. I wonder if people think about what they are saying, or if the words just rise to the tongue easily without necessarily thinking about it. When I used to attend church regularily, I would sometimes stop singing because I felt that I didn't want to focus on the aspect that we were singing about, or that it wasn't exactly true for me in that moment. I noticed that sometimes the words didn't really mean anything. "Our God is a great God," is one example of this. Great is a relative term. Christians believe that God is the only God, and I believe that all the other gods that other religions worship are one and the same with my God, so who am I comparing God to, to determine that he's great?

I spent some time separating myself from Christianese. I stopped listening to the Vineyard music that I have so much of, because I felt like it was often written according to formula, the way a person can make a paint by numbers painting. Sometimes the same formulaic words and phrases from songs and psalms come to me and bring me comfort. Other times I feel like they aren't theologically on target with whatever situation I'm in. I found myself experiencing a lot of inner conflict at the Vineyard church I was going to, especially when listening to sermons. Finally I stopped going. When I didn't find new people to talk about spirituality, I distanced myself from dialogue about God whatsoever. God as I conceive him/her/it is very important to me. Now I want to return to conversation about God, but with a difference. With the distance that I established, I hope to be able to be more careful and discerning with the words that I participate in. I don't want to say things out of habit that I don't necessarily mean.

There are times when I am grateful to have the words of religion. When I am talking to non-Christians about something, I try to speak in terms that they are used to hearing. Sometimes though, I'll be trying to explain an idea, and I'll say, "I'm sorry, but I only know how to explain this in Christianese." When that happens, they are usually a little distanced from what I am saying because the words carry ideas that are foreign to them. It is nice when speaking to Christians, to slip into Christianese when talking about my life. It is easier for them to relate to what I'm talking about if I use religous words and phrases. Having been brought up in the church, but with many non-believing friends and influences, I feel bilingual in a way.

Language

One of the biggest reasons that evangelical people might question my “salvation” is that while I love the Gospel and feel that I have a personal relationship with God, I believe that most other religions lead to God too. I have always believed this, even as a child growing up in a Baptist church. I guess I inherited this heretical idea from my mother, but I’ve developed my own explanations for it as I’ve gotten older.

It starts with my concept of God. God is the all-powerful force that created the universe and everything in it. When I speak of God, I often say “he,” but I don’t think of God as a personality with gender so much as an all-encompassing spiritual being. I believe that God is all that is in the world. Love, joy, peace, beauty, creativity, etc are all facets of God to me. I believe that God is more than any human can fully understand. What I believe about God is probably at least partly wrong, because he’s bigger than my capacity to comprehend, but that’s all right with me.

I believe that all civilizations have sensed something greater than themselves, and sought that something out. First they created words and names to communicate the spiritual ideas and experiences. All religions are languages. They were developed to contain and communicate the ideas people had about spirituality. Some civilizations came up with different names for the many aspects of our existence. The Greeks, for example attributed wisdom, sexuality, victory, death, aggression, motherhood, etc to separate gods and goddesses. The stories of the relationships that these deities had with humans and each other explain dynamics between the various motivations and forces in human life. Other societies deemed that there was only one power greater than us, or perhaps two. They also had stories to explain our relationship to that one force. Christianity has one God with many attributes, including (among other things) love, wisdom, fatherhood, peace. It also has a negative force of death, disobedience, aggression, rebellion, etc., and this force is called Satan.

Years ago, when I was first questioning the beliefs that I was brought up with, my friend Linus told me his theory of jars. I don’t know if it he heard it or read it somewhere, and chances are I’ve changed it some in the eight years since I’ve adopted it. God is like the ocean. Each group of people has wanted to understand this ocean, so they have taken a jar, and collected some of the water from the ocean into the jar. It is the same water in each jar, but as we examine the water, we tend to confuse the properties of the container with the properties of the water. One group insists that God is green, while another, with a mason jar, perhaps, declares that God is square.

I believe that the power of love and creativity and joy in this world is such that it would manifest itself to every group of people alive. I know that at least one religion (Buddhism) doesn’t even believe in a supreme deity, but from what I’ve read, Christianity and Buddhism still share a lot of truths. I have not studied much about various religions. For a long time I thought it would make more sense to practice one religion deeply than to only have a shallow understanding of several religions and still miss experiencing God’s presence with any depth. I have found lately though, that I have too much anger and disagreement with the churches I have belonged to, to continue practicing there. Now I am trying to strip my words to communicate with and about God down to those that I feel are really true for me. I will write more about that next time. It’s possible that I will end up looking into other religions to seek God, but it’s more likely that I will return to Christianity. I don’t think it’s necessarily more true than the others, but it is closer to my cultural background, so it is easier for me to fully understand and appreciate.

Beginnings

Let me introduce myself. I'm a twenty-seven year old teacher in Canada, and I'm some sort of a Christian, I guess. I call myself Christian because I was brought up Baptist, and God is still very important to me. I don't have a traditional Christian concept of God anymore though, and I don't belong in churches. Churches frustrate and anger me, and I make my church friends uncomfortable. I joined a church that suited me in worship style, but it still had conservative theology. I tried to fit in there. I even became a youth leader, for a while. I stayed there for several years, and yet my heretical beliefs did not change. Some of my ideas are the same as they were when my rather open-minded parents shared them with me, and others I have developed into stronger, more controversial beliefs.

I understand why most people my age have grown up with no interest at all in religion. They learned about the wars and other horrors that have been committed in the name of God over the centuries, and they shake their heads. They see people judging others, and yet doing unloving and immoral things themselves, and they get disgusted. They see people living their lives according to strict religious morals and rules, and they know that they can get more out of life without such things. I understand. I have re-examined the rules and chosen which to keep myself. I have rejected the judgemental attitudes of church people and try to befriend people of many walks of life, not just righteous people. I don’t “witness” to anyone, or try to force my ideas on people. I don’t know that I am right about anything, and I have no right to preach to others.

I see why my generation has no time for religion, but I am not completely finished with it. I find myself in conflict because I have a connection to something that I think of as God, and I don’t want to let that go. I have always known that God is not limited to churches. Church leaders that forget that people could interact with God somewhere else, without their help, have often annoyed me. I know though, that it helps to have people to share faith and experiences with.

This past summer I was feeling the tug at war between needing to leave the church and needing to hang out with God. One of my friends suggested that I start my own religion. I laughed at him. Later I thought about it, and tried to start a group. I advertised in the local paper, and received emails from a number of interested people. Three times I have tried to meet with them, and three times no one has actually shown up. I am frustrated and sad, and still alone in my belief and interest in God. I will write here about my thoughts. I would love comments, but if you are a fundamentalist, please don’t bother trying to save me. I have grown up among fundamentalists, and their view of the world and God has not rubbed off on me. I don’t like to be absolutely sure of anything, but I’m reasonably sure that I’m never going to see the Bible as infallible.