Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-196 (Leadership Issues)

THE GOSPEL – GOOD NEWS OR JARGON?

(From Christian Quotation of the Day)

The defenders of the Jargon and phrases of the Church’s tradition hold that there must of necessity be a specialized vocabulary, just as there is in any other specialized form of human activity, whether it is music, architecture, or electronic engineering. To me, at least, this is a thoroughly unsound argument, for Christ did not come into the world to bring men “specialized activity,” but life, fuller and more satisfying than it had been ever before.

If the churches have made Christianity appear to be some kind of specialized spiritual performance so much the worse for them. The real purpose of Christ, the real relevance of the Gospel, is surely to enable men to live together as sons of God. Human beings, like children, love to have secrets, love to be “in the know.” But the Christian religion was never meant to be a secret recipe for living, held by a few. It is Good News for all mankind and, because it is that, the more clearly and intelligibly it can be presented, the more faithfully it is following its Master’s purpose.

… J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Is God at Home? _______________________________________________________________

CQOD Compilation Copyright 2002, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator Subscription info: http://www.gospelcom.net/cqod/cqodlist.htm