Joel’s Jottings

Inclusive language is a way of speaking, writing and communicating that describes the world in a manner that aims at reducing the number of references to people or positions as defined by gender.  It has been part of an important conversation among people of faith within the Christian community. At points over past thirty years the conversation has been intense.

We know that God is not male. We know that the disciples who followed Jesus was not just a group of twelve men. We know that women were among the leaders of the early Christian communities described in the Acts of the Apostles and were specifically addressed by Paul in some of his letters.

Yet the history of language for much of Christianity has been dominated by male references and images. This is so despite other images of the scripture as a loving mother (Isaiah 49:15).

At North Decatur Presbyterian Church we have adopted the idea that when we speak of God or people we do so in such a way that is “inclusive.” That does not mean that gender is denied – rather it means that options are presented. Gender cannot be ignored. Though I don’t know if it is written down anywhere, I’m confident when I say that in this community gender is not thought to be determinative of what one does in life.

Still we live in a world that uses language that is not “inclusive.” Over the history of the Church this has certainly been true. A great effort is made in the hymns we use and the language of worship to use appropriate ways of inclusion of all people.

Sunday, August 23, we will be using some hymns in worship that came from a time when our concern for inclusive language was not present. Some of these words may seem strange. They are used to help us grow forward in our faith – not to look back.

One hymn we will use is I Love to Tell the Story. There is a verse in it that I think speaks to this tension:

I love to tell the story; for those who know it best are hungering and thirsting; to hear it like the rest. And when in scenes of glory we sing the new, new song, ’twill be the old, old story That I have loved so long.

At North Decatur Presbyterian, we don’t usually use this hymn – or even ones similar. We don’t have to embrace all the cultural baggage that goes with any of these hymns. But I wonder if we might not learn something from them – not just how we want to change from the times that they came from. And I wonder if it points to some strength in the story of faith that it can endure even as it changes in different circumstances and places.  May we be able to learn and grow in our day as well.