Over recent evenings, I’ve been watching some of the highlights from the Winter Olympics in Italy. Obviously, I’ve been hoping that Team GB competitors would do well, but it has been enjoyable watching people from every nation competing in a wide variety of extraordinary sports.
Listening to the commentary on the “Big Air” and “Half-Pipe” snowboarding competitions was an education. I had heard the word “gnarly” before and the context for the comment made it make sense, but to hear someone described as “Goofy” didn’t feel particularly positive to me (it turns out it’s just a snowboarder going downhill with their right foot first!). There were comments about different types of “Grab” and words like “Backside” followed by numbers – 720, 1080 and the like (different multiples of 180 referring to the amount of rotation in the trick). It does actually make sense, but when you hear someone described as a Goofy Hotdog making a Backside 1080 with a Stale-Fish Grab look steezy, it does leave you wondering what happened to the Queen’s English!
Of course, it’s the same with any specialism. Project managers talk about Kanban Boards, stockbrokers trade on Bull and Bear markets, and in the church, we have chalices, pattens, altars and fonts (cups, plates, tables and bowls). Specialist language is to be expected in specialist settings, but as I watched the Olympics, I felt a bit of an outsider because I didn’t know the lingo. It made me a little sad as I reflected that sometimes the church has made people feel this way for the same reason. By using words which are understood by those who are familiar with them but giving no thought to the curious outsider, “the church” has carelessly erected barriers to what is a treasure of greater value than an Olympic Gold Medal. In Christ Jesus, God came down from heaven that we might encounter him and be reconciled to him. And the church – made up, as it is, of ordinary people who like things the way they like them – has sometimes made that encounter harder than it should be. There are some things it would be wrong for the church to change, and people should surely expect new experiences to be a little bit odd, but there’s no reason for anyone to leave a gathering of the church feeling alienated by jargon or technical language.
In our churches we use modern English translations of the Bible and modern English in our prayers. Our services touch on matters of life and death, health and sickness, wealth and poverty. We consider relationships and individual responsibility. We critique our society, pray for our leaders and support one another through life. We look for wisdom and truth in an age where both are in short supply. If you haven’t been for a while, or if you have never been, why not come on a Sunday and see whether we speak your language?
Be a bit rad and join us. It’d be phat to see you!
Image by Pavel Šnajdr from Pixabay