Speaking Christian

Have you ever found yourself using a word that you have used much of your life with someone with a different background and suddenly realized you didn’t really know what it meant? You just assumed there was a shared understanding but---gulp--- perhaps you experienced an embarrassing gap and you both floundered around trying to make yourselves clear.

This happens to all of us, especially with BIG words like salvation, redemption, Bible, born again, ascension, believing...These are common Christian words but what do they really mean? According to Marcus Borg, author of our latest discussion book in our Tuesday Conversations group, we may think we are speaking these words in the way they’ve always been understood, but the concepts are so different now from what they meant historically, that we would have a lot of trouble just communicating with the authors of the past that we honor.

In “Speaking Christian”, published in 2011, Borg focuses on the way practitioners of the faith use the concepts and ideas from their religion as a lens through which they see the world. He defines Christian literacy as “not simply the ability to recognize biblical and Christian words, but also to understand them.”

And, as we go around circle, each taking our turn reading a short segment from the book, we are finding a LOT to talk about. Borg carefully takes us through what might be called “word/concept studies.” How was the word used in the bible? Was the meaning always the same, or are there differences depending on when it was used, in which book it appears, and in what context? How is it commonly understood today? Is there general agreement on the meaning, or wide differences of opinion?  According to Borg, his book’s purpose is to redeem or re-claim Christian language in all its richness and wisdom.

All this may sound a bit heavy and pedantic, but trust us, it’s really fascinating and quite fun to hear everyone’s ideas (sometimes quite surprising!!) and to open our eyes to what we perhaps have just taken for granted and need to re-visit. We meet every Tuesday at 11:00 am and we try to limit ourselves to an hour. Pastor Marilyn meets with us---a great way to get to know her better in an informal setting and to enjoy her keen insights.

Oh, did we mention there is NO homework? We simply show up enjoy a conversation in an open and accessible manner. We come when we can. The discussion is accessible to all levels of learning---no such thing as a dumb idea with us!

Sally and Skip recommended this book. I wonder what the next one will be and who will recommend it? So many great topics to explore...

So, now you know. If someone from Central Methodist uses a word and you wonder, "What is this person talking about?", why not ask? Get into a dialog? It doesn't have to be contentious---maybe it could even be fun! It's sort of neat to be a lifelong learner!