--Although it’s perfectly normal, there are loads of problems with having insider terminology.
--First, the basic idea of Christianity is to share our faith with other people.
--It’s also a problem to have insider lingo because outsiders feel excluded and don’t want to admit they don’t know what’s going on.
--In some social groups (academic disciplines, for instance), this can be used deliberately as a way to screen people or make them feel inferior or like outsiders (marginalized).
--But in Christianity, where the heart of our faith is to share it with others and include them in our thing, it’s really contrary to everything to have language exclude, especially since God so closely identifies Himself with language (The Word).
--Another problem with Christianese is that in replacing a complex idea with a term, you run the risk that subsequent users of the term may shade or distort its meaning. Once again, precisely the usefulness of the symbol or term (its simplicity) leads to its problem of vagueness. When you say less, you say less. Der.
--Yet a third problem with having insider terms is that the insiders themselves may not really understand them even though they are capable of using them fluently. And this is a barrier to their own understanding of the meaning and obviously of their ability to communicate it to non-members.
--First, the basic idea of Christianity is to share our faith with other people.
--It’s also a problem to have insider lingo because outsiders feel excluded and don’t want to admit they don’t know what’s going on.
--In some social groups (academic disciplines, for instance), this can be used deliberately as a way to screen people or make them feel inferior or like outsiders (marginalized).
--But in Christianity, where the heart of our faith is to share it with others and include them in our thing, it’s really contrary to everything to have language exclude, especially since God so closely identifies Himself with language (The Word).
--Another problem with Christianese is that in replacing a complex idea with a term, you run the risk that subsequent users of the term may shade or distort its meaning. Once again, precisely the usefulness of the symbol or term (its simplicity) leads to its problem of vagueness. When you say less, you say less. Der.
--Yet a third problem with having insider terms is that the insiders themselves may not really understand them even though they are capable of using them fluently. And this is a barrier to their own understanding of the meaning and obviously of their ability to communicate it to non-members.
No comments:
Post a Comment