The Death of Christianese
We sat on couches in a room with green walls and prayed. Heaps of run-on sentences and scattered thoughts fell from gaping mouths. Pablo Neruda spoke and for a few small seconds I was Carl Jung. Snap, back to reality. The harder I listened the less I heard. The more I wanted to identify with what was being prayed, the less I understood. It was a bunch of jargon. Borrowed phrases and ambiguous terms filled the room.
“Chriastianese” as defined by Urban Dictionary: A communicable language within the Christian subculture with words and phrases created, redefined, and / or patented that applies only to the Christian sphere of influence.
Christianese: “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
Translation: “I’m totally clueless.”
“Applies only to the Christian sphere of influence.” The more I read that quote, the more I become unsettled with a vocabulary that only translates to a select group of people.
My friend Cole always talks about the idea that God wants people who are simply and honestly themselves before him. I get excited when I hear Cole say this because it’s such a necessary truth. God wants people who are honest before him and subsequently we want people who are honest before us.
John 4:23-24 says, “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
And so I must pose the question, when we pray how can we even attempt to be honest before God if we don’t even know what we’re saying? How can we come before him, expecting anything at all, unless we are raw and aware of the things coming out of us?
If we’re more interested in sounding awesome than being honest our words won’t matter too much. We’ve got to be mindful of what we’re praying. Leave behind the jargon and Christianese. Friends, refuse the appeal to put on a show.
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I asked her how she was doing. I could see it on her face and all over her eyes- that look girls get when they’ve had to reapply eye makeup because they’ve been crying. The mascara looks different after it’s been wet, a little sticky and less perfect, a little less volume on the lashes.
We stand towards the back of the room. I listen and she talks. Two people come close, wanting to join our conversation, in my daydreaming I throw up my arm so they can’t get in. In reality, we refuse to break eye contact and they get the hint. The only thing that counts is that I listen. All that I want to do is listen. She’s being forthright and more sincere than most people I’ve ever known. Her vulnerability in these moments leaves no trace of tension in my heart to walk away and not be with her. Her truthful words draw me in and help me know how to love her better.
I can’t help but consider maybe that’s how God feels. Though his love is perfect and he knows us more than we know ourselves- there is something profound that draws him to a genuine heart.
Brennan Manning says, “There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.” That’s what we’ve got to be after, that’s who we’ve got to decide to be; people who rid ourselves of the jargon we offer to God and those around us. Trade what you don’t really mean for the things that have been itching to come out.
A few nights ago I found myself uncertain of what to pray, but wanting to feel close to God. The most honest thing I could do was say, “God, I don’t know what to say or do but I know that I need you.” And then I was silent; for at least an hour, silent. That was what I needed to be, that was what God required of me- to simply “be” with him. I could have gone on for an hour in arbitrary monologue, and still my heart would have felt unsettled.
It takes deep inner awareness to know how to express ourselves to God and to others. That awareness and knowledge comes from slowing down and being still. Henri Nouwen writes, “As soon as we are alone…inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distraction manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This makes the discipline of solitude all the more important.”
The same is true in prayer, “just keep your mouth busy” goes the lie. Just keep talking and talking and talking- it’s our fears our worries and our desire to take it into our own hands that keeps us unable to listen.
It must be known that it takes wisdom and patience to resist the temptation to fill our prayers with random words that make random sentences supplied by random thoughts. It requires awareness to pray the words that are ours –that are dear to our hearts.
This isn’t a call to be concerned over the words you say as much as it is a challenge for you to actually speak for yourself. Rid yourself of the “Christianese” that doesn’t impress the Father. Go and listen. Be before God, that’s what he’s interested in. Then you will pray as a person who is connected to the heart and mind not to the language stolen from those who came before you.
