The language we use, whether it's inside our head or heard from our lips, matters. All words are simply tools through which our minds paint pictures. So, when we hear words like "church" or "evangelism" or "disciple" or "pastor" or "leader", each of us paints a different picture in our minds based on how we've personally defined the word. Unless we have a common experience that shapes a common understanding of a word or idea, we can be speaking the same words to each other in the English language and still be worlds apart in what we mean. You don't have to go very far to illustrate this. Just take the word "gay" for example. Ask someone who fought in WW2 and someone in just entering middle school what that means and you will hear two very different pictures.
Well, I think it's time for a mind shift. Lots of the words we use need to be redefined. Take for instance our 5 Core Values. When you hear someone say Relational, Missional, Sustainable, Reproducing, and Global, what pictures do you paint in your mind? Even though we tried to illustrate these throughout 2009 in the Evangelist, many of us still struggle for common understanding.
Let me get to the point. I think it's time to stop talking about "us" or "we" or "me" versus "them" in our minds and in our congregations. We need to come to a shared understanding that, in the body of Christ, there is no "them" to point fingers at. There is no "them" whose job is to be the hands and feet of Christ. Your pastor is not a "them" who is supposed to care for everyone in the church at all times and in all ways. He or she is not a "them" who bears the responsibility to feed you pre-chewed spiritual pablum for 15-20 minutes on a Sunday morning and make you into a committed follower of Jesus. When you or I see a brother stumble and fall, there is no "them" whose job it is to come to that person's aid...there is only an "us" in that picture. We are the body of Christ. Together.
Let's shift our thinking a bit.
