The vanity of ‘god-talk’

Eugene Peterson, in his newest book, The Pastor, a Memoir, tells the story of little 5 year old Charity who went to visit her grandmother. The morning after she arrived, she crawled into bed, cuddled up, and said, “Grandmother, let’s not have any god-talk while you are here, OK? Let’s just keep it real.” Wow! Wisdom from the mouths of babes! Peterson observes, “She was onto the fact that life leaks out of what we say… teach and pray- especially when we are using the sterile life-less language that objectifies words like God, Jesus, prayer, believe – we are left with nothing but god-talk.”

God-talk keeps real life at arm’s length. Those engage in it wrap themselves in endless Bible quotations and stories they hear preachers tell. It is conversation about truth, but without personal engagement. Let’s talk about Jesus, in real terms, as we find His love and life in our daily journey. Do you know that He is just as much Lord of our broken, doubtful, insecure, neurotic, temptation filled days as He is of the days when we feel great, living on the “hallelujah side” of life? When I hear somebody desperately trying to out-talk their circumstances with blustery words of faith – “I just know God has a real purpose in this and I’m so excited to see how it all works out” - while I know they are deeply depressed and wishing to run away; it breaks my heart. They might find the support they need and certainly will connect with the Holy Spirit’s comfort if they will confess the truth about life as they know it, their emotions, and Who God is.

Job, a man of amazing faith who knew God deeply, came to the point that he cursed the day he was born. His struggle and pain became so intense, he gave up trying to argue with his self-righteous ‘comforters’ who were great at god-talk that explained it all. "Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble. “Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?" (Job 3:10-11, NLT)  Can you imagine hearing your Christian friend pray that way?  Would such honesty open your heart with love or cause you to recoil in disgust?  

Then, there is Jeremiah who had a tough ministry.  God told him to go and proclaim the impending judgment of God on Judah. His message was not subtle. “Death, murder, rape are going to befall you who ignore the living God,” he cried in loud voice! His sermons rubbed sores onto the national conscience. Did he love his ministry?  You be the judge after reading nthis lament. "When I speak, the words burst out. “Violence and destruction!” I shout. So these messages from the Lord have made me a household joke." (Jeremiah 20:8, NLT)

Those passage do not find much time in the pulpit, do they? On the surface, they are shocking, seemingly faithless statements of despair. Really, they are amazing indications of the intimacy these men enjoyed with God. They engaged with Him in authentic conversation, their prayers so much more than mere god-talk. And both of them found His Presence in the middle of their desperation.

Yes, we need to believe but get past happy, sappy, pious “everything is wonderful” platitudes. We need to believe deeply in a Person who loves us all of the time. Real faith hangs onto the fact that God is equally Lord when we are in the valley’s shadowy path or on the high bright peak of glorious triumph. Job recounted his sorrows and then declared: "Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life— and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth. And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!  (Job 19:25-26, The Message) His declaration does not mask his pain and sorrow; it is wrung from him like sweet juice squeezed from a grape!

Can people have a conversation with you without having to endure god-talk that blocks real communication? When someone begins to share their pain are you just ready to listen and slide a shoulder under the burden to help carry it; or are you quick to distance yourself, protecting yourself with a cliché - ‘just trust the Lord’ - as you pray a quick, insincere prayer?

In the Decalogue, the Lord forbade using His Name in vain. It applies to god-talk that is only lip deep, without heart or mind. Immerse yourself in worship. Make laughter and tears the language of your prayers. Confess His Glory with groans and shouts of joy. Push past the vanity of god-talk and get to know, really know, the One who is life.

Here’s word from the Word! It’s real. It’s blessed. It’s pregnant with promise. Live it "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children." (Romans 8:14-16, NIV)  "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." (Romans 8:24-27, NIV)