Nov 15
The sin of jargon, the jargon of sin
One exercise I have sometimes set both students and groups of adult learners is thinking what we mean by salvation. They have to say what we are saved from, but they are not allowed, initially, to use the answer “sin”. (At a later stage of the exercise we move on to allow the use of the word “sin” but then have to say what we think it means.)
People find this extraordinarily difficult, although eventually a whole range of answers emerge, including death, ignorance, ourselves, moral imperfection, injustice and oppression, estrangement from God, and more. Some of these include things we commonly mean by sin, others do not.
Apart from stimulating thinking about what on earth we mean when we speak of salvation, the exercise reveals exactly how much we not only depend on jargon in our faith, but how much that jargon holds us back from really working at our understanding of it.
I have nothing against using technical or specialist language, as readers of this blog well know, although I seek to avoid it in most of my daily pastoral contacts and preaching, except to help people explore the meaning of the terms as appropriate. However, I find, especially through exercises like this, how much our Christian language can represent the tribal symbolism of belonging, and prevents, instead of develops, people’s understanding.
November 15th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
“our faith” is also jargon.
How about our belief that we can’t help but believe? Unless you believe, you cannot be saved.
“sin” is laziness, says M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled.
“sin” is self-centered control and management and power, says J. Keith Miller in The Hunger for Healing.
“ἁμαρτία” is not sin to Aristotle in the Poetics.
Great post! (You make me start humming that hymn: “What language can I offer to Thee most precious Lord?”
November 16th, 2007 at 1:37 am
Doug,
As always, your thoughts are appreciated. I’ve tried to bite my tongue with the nit-picking spelling errors, but this one might actually cause some confusion “estrangement *form* God.”
-JAK
November 16th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Thanks Justin, but it’s not a spelling error, it’s a typing one! And it’s now corrected.