Your Thoughts: The Language of Christianity, Part 3

For the past couple weeks, I've been writing about post-modernism's effect on the western conception of Christianity. We've talked about how the construction of binaries is problematic in its attempt to unravel the unity of Truth, and how these same binaries create a relationship where we come to see others in the world as different from us, moving away from the empathy and equality so prioritized in the teachings of Christ. If you missed them, you can find Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Today we're going to take these concepts and apply them on a more personal level. I think the majority of Christians would agree that truth, in order to be truth, must be absolute. And while we may slip into an "us" versus "them" mindset often, rarely is that our conscious intent.

But what of the battle going on in our own minds? What of the "you" versus "that person" relationship we create with our conception of ourselves? With what we are doing versus what we should be? With our "actual" potential versus our dreams?

1 Cor. 2:16 says believers of God have "the mind of Christ."

I truly believe that everything we are called to be, we are equipped to be in Christ.

So why are we not living that way? 

Well, as a guess, I'd say it has something to do with our perspective being off. We look to define ourselves by others around us. Even if we do have a strong sense of purpose, we go out into the world, and every day, a little bit of that is beaten out of us, until we stop believing in our calling because it's become too hard.

We believe in purpose, but we doubt our ability. We believe in change, but we doubt our role. We believe in God, but we doubt His care in our lives.

The key to changing this cycle lies in changing our thought lives. The Bible says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."


I believe this command is not a passive one, that there is all-out warfare going on inside our minds. What we choose to entertain in our thoughts shapes our attitudes, our values, our hearts, the core of who we are.

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What does your thought life look like? I'm not talking about sin here, although that also applies. I'm talking more about self-talk: the way we perceive who we are in Christ. Because if we really knew the depths of His love for us, His belief in us--that He would care enough to give His very life--how much different would our own lives look like?

How much of your time do you spend putting yourself down? Unravelling the truth God has spoken over your heart and your life? Is there something you (or others around you) have convinced yourself you absolutely cannot do or face, though you have a seed of a dream planted in your heart? How is that keeping you from the call of God upon your life?

Somewhere along the line, we've started believing that faith in God's ministry through our lives is equivalent with pride. That's a lie. There is nothing wrong with being confident in the person God has called us to be, so long as our confidence is in Him.

Putting yourself down, convincing yourself you're unworthy or unable again and again strips away the tools and gifts God has given you to fulfill your calling. This is not humility. True humility is full confidence in the proper source.

How do we escape these self-doubts? How do we know who we are in Christ? 

(NLT) Ephesians 1:9-11 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

God's plan is to unite us with Christ. He is our sufficiency. In Him, we have all that we need. The earth is broken and we will have struggles. We will fight against our frail nature and will struggle with pain until He takes us home. But the beautiful thing about Christianity is this: we are truly and fully, already His.

What role do you see thoughts as having? How do thoughts, which seem so internalized, affect our behavior? Why is a proper thought life so dependent upon the existence of truth?

The Language of Christianity

So, I have this deep interest in literary theory. Yes, I know, total nerd subject. I don't write about it much because I am aware that the general population is probably not as interested in linguistic graphs as I am. :) But today I thought I'd share something I've been thinking about this past week: the way we in the church use language.

Why is this an important topic? Well, I believe the way we use language says a lot about our perspective. It's that whole glass-half-empty/glass-half-full cliche in action. Have you ever thought about the implications of Christian lingo?  How often do we drive people away from Christianity, alienating them, without even realizing it? So much depends on the way we use discourse that I think we ought to be cognizant of what we're really saying.

Think about how many "spiritual" or even "conservative" terms are polarizing.

• Saved versus unsaved.
• Christian versus non-Christian.
• Believer versus unbeliever.
• Baptized versus sinner.
• Spiritual versus secular.

But what are these phrases really doing? They are creating an "us" versus "them" approach that does not support the Biblical teachings of equality. We are also playing into postmodern philosophy (and theology, really), which argues that everything can be categorized into sets of opposites, and we only know one thing in terms of its difference from something else.

The problem here is that these kinds of phrases, intentionally or not, undercut the necessity of the true presence of God.

God has said in no unclear terms, "I AM that I AM." He doesn't just possess truth. He doesn't just have a presence. He is truth. He is pure presence. Eternally.

This is powerful, because when we are called by His name, when the Holy Spirit inscribes that eternal relationship upon our hearts, we too have access to His truth, His nature. We are drawn into the center of all meaning, and in that moment, our lives themselves take on the purpose God created them for. We become whole because we are His.

We are not "saved" because we're no longer "unsaved." We don't know God or truth in their differences from deception. We know God, because God eternally is. 


Think of it this way. Darkness is not the opposite of light. It is the absence of light's presence. The same goes for heat and cold. What might seem like a slight variation is actually a very important theological principle.

Another example are the terms "pro-choice" and "pro-life." Have you ever heard the term "anti-choice"? If you're pro-life, how did that make you feel? Did you respect the pro-choice position more or less for undercutting the heart of what you believe and forcing your political position into a binary? Does "anti-choice" not imply a very different thing from "pro-life"?

The same goes for often-accepted "Christian" terms. How easy is it to categorize someone as "unsaved," when there's so much more to their story. Maybe they don't know God, and they want to, but they're afraid to come to church because they were sexually abused as a child. Maybe they're mad at God, and seem vindictive, but their mother, who was a devoted Christian, just died of breast cancer. Maybe their child has a handicap, or they live with chronic pain. These are the realities of peoples' lives. These are the complexities of their situations. It's so much easier to just call them "lost" than to ever get involved, isn't it?

The Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue, and out of the heart the mouth speaks. It's oh, so important that we pay attention to what we say and to the assumptions we're making.

Next week I'll be talking about how these concepts affect our perspective of our calling as believers, and how a healthy view of truth and God's presence can lead us to greater levels of assurance in grace. But for now, let's talk. Have you ever been subjected to a polarizing term? What happened? How does the use of these terms turn people away from Christ and potentially affect our ministry?