Back in February, I had the privilege of attending a conference hosted by Donald Miller and friends in San Diego, CA. There I met a man who had captivated me with his writings. Bob Goff, the author of the international best seller, Love Does, advocates for a life of adventure and availability through the sharing of his personal stories. So much does he belief in these things that he includes his personal phone number in his book, inviting people to call him to talk about what it means to love God and love people.
When I met Bob in CA, he mentioned that he would be speaking in Abilene in the coming months. I made it my personal goal to meet him again. Through exchanged tweets and a couple of phone calls, Bob graciously made time to meet with me in the hotel lobby for half an hour right before his engagement at ACU.
Amongst other things, we talked of the power of language. How the words that we so commonly use in the Christian tradition carry with them, the past. For example, gospel, is a term that possesses the potential to evoke the emotions and conjure up experiences that an individual has previously encountered. To any given person, this could mean the good news that bring joy, OR it could automatically remind them of a rigid structure that excludes and hurts. With this in mind, Bob challenged me to be creative in my language when working to empower others.
Working within the context of our own experiences, alongside others is both a beautiful and intimidating challenge. A challenge that Bob encouraged me to forge with creativity. Not to mention, if this best selling author and international lawyer can make himself available to meet with an overzealous seminary student, I can certainly create more margin in my life to engage with others.
When I met Bob in CA, he mentioned that he would be speaking in Abilene in the coming months. I made it my personal goal to meet him again. Through exchanged tweets and a couple of phone calls, Bob graciously made time to meet with me in the hotel lobby for half an hour right before his engagement at ACU.
Amongst other things, we talked of the power of language. How the words that we so commonly use in the Christian tradition carry with them, the past. For example, gospel, is a term that possesses the potential to evoke the emotions and conjure up experiences that an individual has previously encountered. To any given person, this could mean the good news that bring joy, OR it could automatically remind them of a rigid structure that excludes and hurts. With this in mind, Bob challenged me to be creative in my language when working to empower others.
Working within the context of our own experiences, alongside others is both a beautiful and intimidating challenge. A challenge that Bob encouraged me to forge with creativity. Not to mention, if this best selling author and international lawyer can make himself available to meet with an overzealous seminary student, I can certainly create more margin in my life to engage with others.
I have been learning the good and bad that can come from the power of language these past few weeks. We are also studying James in my class right now and the idea that our words carry the ability to start fires seems clear to me. Knowing language is powerful is not enough for me. I have to learn how to bridle my words in a way that gently guides conversations toward solutions and peace.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing friend.