Individualistic Language and the People of God
by James Love

At theological school, the importance of inclusive worship language was drummed into us on a weekly basis. Using solely male language for God causes us to think that God is male and eventually, according to feminist theology, that males are God. They have a point. As is often the case, however, I think many theology schools fight the empty battles of the last generation. This is not to say that the Church still doesn’t have much to consider regarding the merits or folly of inclusive language. There is, though, a much larger issue regarding language for Missional Churches in western society to consider.

In the early 90's, while doing census work for the City of Calgary, I chanced across an American Demographic article called something like "Master Trend: Hyper-individualism". The gist of the article was that, in North America at least, people were rapidly viewing all life from an individualistic perspective. This is nothing new for western culture watchers, however the authors concluded that, increasingly, people's worlds would become exclusively individualistic or hyper-individualistic. All of life would be viewed in terms of whether it served the self or did not. That which served the self was good, that which hindered the self was bad; and of course, it was the self that determined what was good or bad. I had experienced enough Christian formation to recognize that such a worldview would lead to personal and collective cultural misery. Community, in Christ, is the centre of Christian experience, not the self.

Many people are surprised to find out that most often when Jesus says "you", he is speaking to a group of people, not specifically to individuals. Much of the New Testament uses the second person plural address which is problematic in many forms of English. Southern Americans use "y'all y'all" and in the north the cumbersome "you guys" is sometimes used. It is easy to understand that for English purists "Seek and you guys will find, knock and y'all y'all will enter" sends chills up the spine. Language is indeed important, yet more importantly the individualism inherent in English can contribute to the misery of a hyper-individualistic culture.

Often, as a preacher, I have encountered people who express the sentiments, "I come to get my battery charged for the week.", "I come to be inspired.", "I come to be close to God.", or other impoverished reasons for worship. It should be no surprise that persons formed in an increasingly individualistic culture will see the church as just another resource to serve their "self" and only the "self". Indeed, some churches have adapted fairly well to this new cultural reality, with upbeat worship, sermons evoking personal inspiration, and even theology focusing solely on the eternal rewards to persons who identify with Jesus. While some might say, "What's wrong with this?", I would reply, "Nothing, except for what is missing." What is missing is God's mission for the world. Gone is the mutuality of a community loving each other as Jesus loved. Worst of all, gone is any sense that persons are called to follow a crucified Lord beyond the self and selfishness. The Good New of God's mission to and for the world is reduced to individualistic spiritual therapy. It seems self-evident these days to point out that we are awash in therapudic spiritual self help sermons which rarely focus on community or the crucified mission of God.

In light of how language forms us and the increasingly self-centredness of western culture, might we consider a drastic reduction in the use of "I" language in worship? Worship is the most highly formational activity of the week, and, within worship, hymns sung often contain large amounts of "I" language. A congregation seeking to become more missionally focused would be wise to begin shifting from individualistic language, which can re-enforce our culture's focus on the self, to hymns or praise songs that focus on being a community of called persons on a mission.

Of course there is a place for a personal connection with God and a place for individual devotion and experience; we need not fear in our culture that people will be able to experience God individually. The danger is that people will fail to be formed beyond individualism and be able to see the face of Christ in the other or experience the deepness of a community united in the Spirit of Christ.

while it may seem like a small, or even petty thing, I propose that worship leaders change their music to the communal perspective. "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so ...". becomes "Jesus loves us, this we know, for the Bible tells us so...". Certainly some hymns would be butchered by doing this (I can't imagine changing "I come to the garden alone"), however you might be surprised how easily some of these hymns can be altered to a richer form. More importantly, you might be surprised that people who came to "get something for myself out of worship," might indeed experience a deepness of community that is such a rarity in western society. In losing our self, we then come to find our lives being experienced out of a group on a mission led by the Crucified One, the Ruler of the Universe, who lives among us and washes our feet, then calls us to journey with him.