CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

As I grew up in the arms of family and church, I was taught that the great Christian virtue was love. I was taught that I was to love God, love neighbor, love one another, and even love my enemies. Each had its own challenges, but the commands were clear. As a devout follower of Jesus from Nazareth, I had my orders for living. I was to be a lover.

My essential understanding of love was that it was not an emotion, but rather a commitment. Loving was a choice. God chose to love his/her creation. God’s love was not a mushy, quirky emotion. God’s love was a commitment that was irrevocable. I was taught that God loved me when I was at my worst. God gave himself to the world through Jesus from Nazareth. If God so loved me, the challenge for me was clear. If I were to be a Godly person, I was to be a lover.

America is a tough place to be a lover. Americans have confused the significance of the word. We Americans have expanded its possible meanings. Americans speak of sex as loving. We talk about loving country to the exclusion of other countries. In America today “America First” is not about Christian loving but about dominance and the exercise of power. We speak of loving food, baseball, and vacations. We speak of “falling in love” as though it is some mindless experience over which we have no control. Such uses of the word “love” is far, far away from the challenge of Christian behavior and commitments.

Dr. Dwayne Cole is a special friend. He is a retired college professor. He is a highly trained linguist. It is he, who taught me that “Words do not have meaning. Words have only uses.” American uses of the word “love” is a very good illustration of his point. Speaking of Christianity as a religion of love is no longer a simple task. The confusion is understandable.

What then are the words that can best be used to describe the essence of Christian belief and behavior? Inadequate as words are, we cannot avoid the use of them. In my ponderings I went on a search for more adequate words. I arrived at the word “peace.” I love the word. It has a long history in the theology of the Israelite/Christian religion. The Hebrew word that we translate into English is “shalom.” At first I found no negatives that compromises the word. Shalom is that experience, situation or state in which everything is the way it ought to be. When I greet a friend with a warm “shalom,” I am expressing a desire to have a relationship with my friend in which everything is the way it ought to be. When we part, my “shalom” is a prayer that God’s wholeness will continue into the future for my friend. I like the idea that Christianity in its essence is a religion of peace.

Then comes the world of politics and international relationships. We begin talking about “negotiated” peace. Suddenly peace is not a description of the world as it ought to be, but simply a cessation of hostilities enforced by superior armed might. Negotiation is not a part of Christian peace. Armed enforcement is even further from the peace of my Faith.

I have concluded that peace (shalom) is not the word for which I am looking. I have continued my search for a word (or words) that will communicate the essence of the life I am committed to living in my walk with Jesus from Nazareth. In the first sentence of this column I said that I grew up in the arms of family and church. My mother died at age 47 while I was serving in the U.S. Army in Korea. Her death was sudden and I did not have the privilege of attending her funeral. I have pondered what I might have said about my mother if I had been at her last remembrance. One word sums up my remembrance. My mother was kind.

I grew up in a house with four sisters and two brothers. The task of running the household fell to my mother. My father worked long hours during those depression years of the 1930s. Mom was in charge of the house. She was not a disciplinarian. There were no slaps or harsh words. There were few rules. There were lots of “please” and “thank you.” There were expectations and those expectations were clear. Enforcement was foreign to the house at 111 E. Walnut Street. My mother’s grand virtue was her kindness. It was powerful.

Paul names kindness as one of the fruits of the Spirit. I learned kindness from my mother. Paul endorses its practice, and I have long concluded that Jesus was a practitioner of abundant kindness. I cannot think of a single life experience that cannot be the setting for kindness. For now I am willing to say “Christianity is a kind religion that practices kindness in all of life.”

Kind regards to all!

The End

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.