New, New Words for the Old, Old Story

(Ed. note: Ron Martoia pastors a postmodern congregation in Jackson, Michigan. He is among a number of emerging leaders who say Christians must change the language of faith to fit today’s audiences. They just don’t hear what we’re saying. We met Ron at a convention of young leaders, where he effectively used old language and new language to connect with his listeners.)

Leadership Weekly: You challenged people at an emerging leaders event in Atlanta to find a “quiet center.” You didn’t just define it, you demonstrated it (or its opposite) with TV monitors blaring and cell phones ringing. Why did you use that approach?

Ron Martoia: The online world numbs us with empty busyness. We can open windows on our computers, surf around, and feel busy, while accomplishing nothing. Modems snapping, cell phones ringing, palm pilots singing—is any of this constant activity kingdom productive?

The answer depends on the state of our interior life. Hence the need for a “quiet center”—a time to mentally and spiritually get offline with this world to recalibrate to kingdom priorities.

LW: The term “quiet center” comes from a contemplative tradition, but it was probably new to many people present in that meeting. Is there a place for old or unfamiliar terms in our teaching?

RM: I’m in the middle of an intentional “re-lexiconning” of Christianity. The well-worn categories and definitions of Christianity have been so diluted that they’ve lost their power. If you ask a hundred pastors, “What is the kingdom?” a hundred definitions emerge. If you ask people on the street, “What is the gospel?” you get even more varied definitions. We need to rework the language of Christianity to remain viable in our culture.

LW: Why doesn’t our usual terminology work?

RM: People outside the church associate many of the well-worn Christian words with all the wrong connotations. We don’t want to push those buttons. So we need to use terms that may be totally disorienting. The disorientation is good. That way we all begin a fresh discussion without the connotation baggage.

The phrase “quiet center” was meant to be new, to abruptly arrest people into thinking, What’s a quiet center? I haven’t thought of spiritual life in that category.

There are other ways we leverage the lexicon. Our evening worship is called “Encounter.” We have “Fusion” on Sunday mornings. We don’t talk about “getting saved;” we talk about the allegiance shift from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of God.

We don’t change the message. We change the language we use to communicate the message. It’s good missiology, frankly. Are we using words that trigger the connotations we want to trigger?

LW: How do you know which words need this treatment?

RM: We test it. For instance, when I’m talking to a man and he gets a glazed look in his eye, I ask, “When I say that word, what do you think of?” He gives me definitions, and it becomes obvious that term doesn’t compute in his world.

We also did an informal survey among non-churched people who were entering our congregation. We asked, “When you hear the word gospel, what do you think?”

They said, “Televangelism, shysters, and big hair.” So we knew we needed to change how we used the word gospel.

LW: Is there a danger in departing from the traditional language of the faith?

RM: Yes. So we continue to use the old words, but we consistently accompany them with our new definitions. For instance, Christians define the word gospel as “good news” all the time, but even “good news” triggers the kneeling, weeping, televangelism image—all the wrong buttons I don’t want to push. So I say, “The gospel, for those of you that are new, is like a positive news flash across the CNN screen.” I’m defining “gospel” the way evangelical tradition always has. But I’m pushing totally different buttons in my listeners when I say “positive news flash.”

And it’s not just for outsiders. Christians who have grown up in the church say to me, “Ron, I’ve heard about the kingdom my whole life, but never understood it in context until now.” For some people it’s not redefining the words, it’s simply defining them correctly the first time.

LW: If you’re employing new terminology in your congregation and other pastors are also using new words and definitions in their settings, how can the church at large come to a common understanding of our words?

RM: The only way is through dialogue. The emerging church will discover ways of defining things that people can grab on to, and then we’ll have to share what resonates.

I’ve found an interesting example of this in Eugene Peterson’s translation The Message. I’ve heard people quote Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden,” and then switch to Eugene Peterson’s phrase, “and experience the unforced rhythms of grace.” For whatever reason, “unforced rhythms of grace” gets at that issue in such a fresh way it’s impacting people. In time, those meaningful new expressions of Christianity’s traditional message will be adopted into a common lexicon.

What do you think of revising the “Christian lexicon”? Are there other words or phrases that you feel do not communicate effectively today? Respond to this newsletter by writing to