I love making up words. Always have.
If I had to summarize my writing and preaching in a sentence it'd probably be this: I try to say old things in new ways.
Words get old. They get stale. They lose meaning over time.
We need new ways of talking about old experiences.
Seth Godin says, "Organizations change when you give something a name."
Here are some of the words we've made up.
I think we coined the word "dechurched." We did it to describe the 50% of NCCers who grew up in church but checked out for a while and end up finding NCC on the rebound. That word adds an important category to our thinking. It helps define our mission.
Evotional is devotional minus the "d." It's a devotional via email.
A few years ago I did my dissertation on a concept I call "soulprint." It's a play off of fingerprint, eye print, and voice print. It is our unique spiritual DNA. It is the place where our gifts, passions, history, and destiny intersect.
Churchprint is a similar concept.
I'm not sure who coined the phrase "Godcasting." But I love it. It redeems podcasting and puts it in spiritual terms.
I love new words. They give new meaning.
By the way, one of the greatest responsibilities given to humankind was the invitation to name the animals. Genesis 1:19 says, "So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them and Adam chose a name for each one."
It's almost like God is bursting with anticipation to see what Adam would name these animals. I'm sure God laughed and smiled and raised His "eyebrows" at some of the names. Rhinoceros? Hippopatomus? Porcupine? Those are hilarious names!
One of the most precious responsibilities of parents is to name their children. The Jewish people took naming seriously. Naming was prophesying. It was a sacred responsibility.
The ability to name and rename is a gift from God.
Is there something you need to name or rename?
If I had to summarize my writing and preaching in a sentence it'd probably be this: I try to say old things in new ways.
Words get old. They get stale. They lose meaning over time.
We need new ways of talking about old experiences.
Seth Godin says, "Organizations change when you give something a name."
Here are some of the words we've made up.
I think we coined the word "dechurched." We did it to describe the 50% of NCCers who grew up in church but checked out for a while and end up finding NCC on the rebound. That word adds an important category to our thinking. It helps define our mission.
Evotional is devotional minus the "d." It's a devotional via email.
A few years ago I did my dissertation on a concept I call "soulprint." It's a play off of fingerprint, eye print, and voice print. It is our unique spiritual DNA. It is the place where our gifts, passions, history, and destiny intersect.
Churchprint is a similar concept.
I'm not sure who coined the phrase "Godcasting." But I love it. It redeems podcasting and puts it in spiritual terms.
I love new words. They give new meaning.
By the way, one of the greatest responsibilities given to humankind was the invitation to name the animals. Genesis 1:19 says, "So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them and Adam chose a name for each one."
It's almost like God is bursting with anticipation to see what Adam would name these animals. I'm sure God laughed and smiled and raised His "eyebrows" at some of the names. Rhinoceros? Hippopatomus? Porcupine? Those are hilarious names!
One of the most precious responsibilities of parents is to name their children. The Jewish people took naming seriously. Naming was prophesying. It was a sacred responsibility.
The ability to name and rename is a gift from God.
Is there something you need to name or rename?
12 Comments:
We need a new word for neologism.
Could the same be said of nicknaming/renaming. For we do this constantly :-). Now you've made it biblical.
PA
how about a new name for church...most people have a warped concept anyway.
I love the word invented by Will Ferrell in the movie "Elf": GINORMOUS!
When I was a kid, I didn't like my name. I wanted to change my name to "Ashley." Ha ha! I don't know why that is so funny to me now.
Oh yeah, and remember when Summer was obsessed with the name Celinda? That was so great.
All right. Since we're talking about names, here's the assignment. We need a new name for "laymen." It needs to show that the people who are a part of the church body who don't happen to get paid are real ministers. We're all called to minister and serve.
Have you ever looked up what layman means? Check out the most recent entry here: http://lanceslide.typepad.com/
So Mark, there's your next assignment. It's time this word had a new meaning.
JS
http://www.glocal.net
Labels are an amazing thing :)
I've never really liked the dichotomies that come with labeling things.
I don't like the secular/sacred dichotomy. God wants to redeem everything. And I don't really like the clergy/laity dichotomy. God has a unique plan and ministry for all of us.
Maybe we throw it out all together :)
Maybe we should rename the name Jesus. Its old stale and since people have a warped concept of church they might also have a warped concept of Jesus as well???
Jesus is non-negotiable :)
But there are 400+ names for God in Scripture. Why? Because they reveal different dimensions of who God is. That's what words and names do.
I think we keep our theological lexicon, but we find news ways of talking about old things. That is what Jesus did with his parables. He used common, everyday metaphors to talk about ancient theological truths.
I did a message on sin during our Physics of Faith series last Spring where I likened sin to entropy. I think it was a fresh angle that gave people a greater understanding of that biblical concept.
It's all about juxtaposing the physical and spiritual realm in new ways.
Mark,
Entropy...interesting likeness for sin. Appreciate that.
Mark,
Just found this article on a similar topic. I think you and this guy would get along really well! :)
From "McJob" to "metrosexual," McFedries meticulously documents the latest words to enter the English lexicon.
(It's actually got some interesting thoughts on new words and the evolution of modern language>)
I have this unproven theory that Adam named the animals and then said, "Eve, I'm spent. You name the colors!"
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