Kerux: a portfolio of Calvin Theological Seminary - Volume 44.2 - 16 Nov 2009

Learning “Liberaleese”

by Micah Schuurman

Many conservative Christians don’t know what to do with people who are members of mainstream society. What could you say to someone who probably doesn’t believe in absolute truth? Learning to speak the “language” of this part of culture is a step in the right direction.

One could refer to mainstream North American society as liberal, post-modern, relativistic, pluralistic and secular. While each of these words mean something different, I will use them interchangeably because the people who are described by these words tend to share a common way of speaking, a common language. What is the nature of this language? And, more importantly, how can we learn to communicate effectively with persons who speak it?

First, we should look to the Bible to pick up some principles for how to preach the gospel in a non-Christians society.

One of my favorite things about the gospel is the incarnation. I am constantly amazed by a God who comes down from heaven to become one of us. The eternal Word became flesh. The Way, the Truth, and the Life came to us and spoke our language. This process of speaking our language took place in both a literal way and in a more figurative way.

In terms of a literal understanding of language, imagine what would have happened if Jesus had not spoken to us in ways that we could understand. Imagine if he had spoken some heavenly language (speaking in the tongues of angels) instead of Aramaic. The gospel never would have made it into the heads of Christ’s disciples much less into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.

We see this principle in the words and deeds of the apostles as well. The New Testament was written in Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic. The gospel was spread by means of the language of the mainstream society.

The figurative way in which God spoke to us in our language is less apparent, but no less important. Christ’s parables are wonderful examples of God’s efforts to take divine truths and explain them with verbal pictures that move our hearts even to this day.

Similarly, when Paul spoke to the Areopagus in Athens, he used the altar TO AN UNKNOWN GOD as a device to reach his audience.

An even more profound example of this theme is from the apostle John. Tradition holds that John lived in Ephesus for some time and that he wrote his account of the Gospel as well as his three letters while living there. Another famous resident of Ephesus was Heraclitus, the pre-Socratic philosopher who lived and taught there 500 years before John. Heraclitus is remembered today for developing the Greek notion of logos, the overarching principle of all existence. It is no coincidence that John introduces his readers to Jesus by identifying him as the logos in the very first sentence.

Thus, we can see that Jesus and his followers were not afraid of borrowing words, images and concepts from the culture around them, but this does mean they altered the truth which they had recieved. The Gospel did not lose its essence when Christ taught it to his followers or when his the apostles explained it to the Greeks, the Romans or any other group. Rather, this process simply “translated” the Gospel into a form that connected well with the worldview of the people to whom the Gospel was being preached.

We see this principle at work at Calvin Seminary from time to time. The fact that our Seminary uses the TNIV reflects the Seminary’s desire to talk about God in a culturally astute way. In our culture, the words “he”, “him” and “his” no longer act gender neutrally as they once did. We see this as well in our syllabi. Every syllabus which I have received contains the reminder, “Please use inclusive language both in addressing the class and in your writings.” The seminary is wise to train us in the practice of using language that will not distract those who will listen to us in the future.

But, the language of our culture consists of much more than inclusivity. If we hope to reach out to people who live in a post-modern culture, we will need to learn about the worldview that shapes their beliefs and the way to articulate truth in such a way as to speak meaningfully to them.

When talking about truth, it is helpful to emphasize the beauty of your beliefs rather than the logic behind them. Postmodern people tend to value beauty over logic. This doesn’t mean that they do not use logic. Rather, it is that they have seen too many logical truth systems to find logic alone to be overwhelmingly convincing. Most worldviews are logical, but they can’t all be true. So, if you find yourself in a position where you need to explain Calvinism to a secular person, begin by talking of the beautiful aspects of your faith: perseverance of the saints and Q&A 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism are good places to start. In short, the best way to ensure that you will lose an argument with a relativist is to start one. So, don’t emphasize logic, emphasize beauty.

Another thing to keep in mind about the language of a postmodern culture is that questions speak louder than statements. In our culture, questions come across as humble and genuine while propositional truths seem arrogant and self-deceptively naive. The lesson here is that you don’t have to have an answer for everything. Honestly responding to a question with the words, “You know, I have always wondered about that myself,” will nearly always give you a boost in credibility.

However, there may be occasions where you will need to explain some aspect of doctrine in depth: TULIP or the doctrine of Original Sin. On such occasions, it can’t hurt to preface what you will say with the words, “This is my best guess at the truth, based on what God has revealed of himself in his Word.”

This phrase also serves well to tackle another aspect of postmodern language, the distrust of authority in the process of discerning truth. Avoid quoting your favorite theologian unless absolutely necessary. Secular people tend to dislike hearing hearing the thoughts of some “dead white guy.” They would much rather hear what you think. Personalizing your thoughts (“this is my best guess at the truth”) will help avoid the glazed look that will inevitably come from explaining your beliefs through a long series of quotes.

One final tip for communicating effectively with people in a post-modern society is that it is immeasurably helpful to get a basic understanding of post-modern philosophy. No seminary education can be called complete without a rudimentary grasp of Nietzsche and Derrida. A much more entertaining (but equally illuminating) read is the series His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman.

Speaking in a culturally conscious way has nothing to do with changing the truths that we believe and everything to do with articulating our beliefs in ways that do not distract listeners from the Gospel. If we can learn to speak truth effectively in this way, we will immediately gain a certain amount of respect in the eyes of the people we are trying to reach. Not only that, but our culture may begin to listen to us attentively for the first time in living memory.