Reading theologians and pastors of previous centuries, it is rare to find a bare reference to 'Jesus' or to 'the Trinity'. It is always 'the Lord Jesus'; it is always 'the Holy Trinity' or 'the Blessed Trinity'. These are not just decorative adjectives. They are, it seems to me, part of a whole way of using language to express reverence.
Problem: if I use language like that, I just sound pompous.
I think it's clear that linguistic usage has shifted, in the direction of more casual language, more off-hand use of words. I imagine that follows our culture in general, which has become much more casual - and presumably it circles around to reinforce that tendency. The question is: can we be reverent when our language no longer has the capacity to carry the weight of reverence?
I think the same probably applies to the use of (what seems to us) extravagant language of love to the Lord Jesus. Our cynical culture struggles to take this seriously; I find myself that reading Owen or Bernard on the Song of Songs is difficult. Our language doesn't seem to possess any longer the capacity for this sort of expression.
Resolved: in a casual, throw-away culture, in which language has become thin and diminished, to wrestle to use words with care, in order to preserve and perhaps restore their capacity to express and encourage great thoughts and emotions.
When people use that kind of language (outside of a sermon situation) I just assume that they are RC. Using Jesus' name seems to me to be offering the kind of intimacy with God which my RC family never, sadly, had. It still feels precious to me to not have to use the (Muslim)'blessings be upon him', deo volonte, kinds of additional language. It's all a balance, isn't it? And perhaps it depends on where we have come from.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - that's definitely an angle worth thinking through. We need to be careful that our language doesn't end up conveying distance from God, especially for folk coming from a 'religious' background. I think that's partly why the love stuff as well as the reverence stuff seems important to me. Biblical/apostolic usage must be a helpful template here: the apostles seem capable of using very exalted language about Christ without, presumably, diminishing their sense of relationship with him.
DeleteI've been pondering this. Chris usually says 'the Lord Jesus Christ' or 'Jesus Christ', very rarely if ever 'Jesus' because of how the epistles refer to him. I have to retrain myself.
ReplyDeleteYes. I don't want to overstate it, but I do believe shifting our language can help with shifting our perceptions and even our feelings towards the Lord.
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