Words and Welcome

I have been reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s “When God is Silent”. In the first chapter she explores the power and our use of words, suggesting that we do not always take them as seriously as we should. She points to the eloquence of silence and how that can so easily be shattered by words. She talks of God as Logos, the Word, and how God speaks ‘things’ into being, going on to say “the most dangerous word God ever says is Adam”. Humans are in the ‘image’ of God and are given ‘dominion’ over creation. Those are two really important ideas. Taylor is talking with reference to preaching and emphasises that we need to take our words seriously.

She points out just how often we do not really do that. For example, she talks of how many churches describes themselves as welcoming to one and all. That is something I also hear. Many of the churches I visit are very welcoming, and that is great, but, like Taylor, I suspect that they do not absolutely live up to their claims. She comments: “No church I know is open to everyone. Whom do we think we are fooling? I would so much rather see a sign that says, “We do the best we can,” or better yet, “Christians meet here. Enter at your own risk.”

I think she makes a very good point.

She also talks about the importance of context, about how words change their meaning, about our expanding vocabulary. Let’s take seriously our use of words, but also the challenges of being really welcoming.