Components of the Soil: Language
“Your children are always so good at saying ‘Thank you’. How to you get them to do it?”
The question caught the parents by surprise. “Other than a little prompting when they were very young,” their mother said, “our boys have always said ‘Thank you’ pretty regularly.”
“Surely there must be a trick, something that you do.”
“The parents thought for a moment and finally said, “I think the boys say ‘thank you,’ because that’s what they have grown up hearing from us. It’s a part of our everyday language with them, so that’s what they say to others.”
The words we use matter. They matter in our conversations with children and they matter in the life of a congregation.
Language is one component of your congregation’s soil. It is a window into your current culture and a way people express how they see your congregation’s ministry.
Imagine for a moment that each of the following statements was expressed by someone in your congregation. What could these statements teach you about the individual perceives your congregation and ministry?
- Sure it’s a risk, but we take risks to accomplish the ministry God is calling us to do.
- I remember when we had a huge Sunday School.
- That sounds like a good idea, but it needs to be approved by the committee and then the Council before you can give it a try.
- I love my congregation. They are always doing such good things.
- I love my congregation. We are always doing such good things.
Reflection by Pastor John Wertz, Jr.
Questions for Reflection:
As you prepare for our retreat, ask yourself these questions from the book “The Church as Movement”, pg. 163.
- What words are important in the culture of our missional community?
- What words do we want to leave behind?
- What words do we want to empty of meaning and fill with new meaning?
- What words are so familiar that they no longer have any power?