Christianeze

 Chapter Six – Procla-Media


                                                    Their language it was new to me,

                                                    But Christianeze got through to me,

                                                    Now I can speak it fluently.

                                                    I want to be a clone. 1

Singer, Steve Taylor was a satirist. His target was often hypocrisy in the church. In a song called “I Want To Be A Clone”, he excoriates how many churches just produce clones rather than true Christians. Christianeze is a quasi-language that many church people use. It is the use of certain words and phrases that only other people like them know.

It’s natural for a smaller group within a culture to develop it’s own subculture. But while the Bible does call for Christians to separate themselves from the world, it is talking about not being involved in sin, not staying separate from non-Christians. In fact, Christians are supposed to be engaged in the wider culture in a winsome way in order to reach others. But too often, the Christian community ends up just talking amongst themselves. 

There is a false dichotomy of sacred versus secular that many Christians promote. They believe that things to do with church are sacred while everything else is secular. In reality, since God made everything, then everything is good except things that are sinful, which is the antithesis of God. The true dichotomy is good versus evil.

But those who believe in the sacred versus secular dichotomy create this “Christian” subculture. There is Christian music and Christian schools and Christian Television, et al. The only things truly Christian are people and churches. When people put the Christian label on something, certain expectations follow. When these expectations aren’t fulfilled, it reflects poorly on God.

For instance, when a school is called Christian, many people send their children there hoping the school will have a good influence on them. But many of these children are not Christians themselves and instead of being influenced for good, many influence others for evil. This spreads and the school gets a bad reputation, which reflects badly on Christianity and ultimately, God.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have these things as alternatives. I think it’s perfectly fine to listen to a singer who is a Christian, singing about good things as an alternative to listening to someone singing about evil. It’s just the labeling as Christian and the subculturalization in a way that segregates Christians that I object to. 

I was brought up to view the sacred versus secular as a fabrication and to resist talking in Christianeze. However, every once in a while, as a joke, my father and I would engage in hyper-Christianeze phrases to make a point. After my graduation, during our time in San Pedro, we came up with one.

Despite the privilege and benefits of a travelling childhood, it can be the cause of some instability. You never feel like you really belong anywhere in particular, which can create a lack of identity. But to a Christian, this can actually be a blessing in disguise as the Bible tells Christians that this world is just our temporary home. It says our actual citizenship is in heaven. So as my dad and I were discussing this, we came up with the Christianeze moniker for ourselves, CCCs - Citizens of the Celestial City (no doubt inspired by the book The Pilgrim’s Progress).

My dad loved jokes and quotes. The Reader’s Digest was his source for many of them. He used to say things like, 

“You’ve got a string hanging from your shorts. Oh no, that’s your leg.” 

“I made a mistake once. I thought I was wrong but I was really right.” 

“It’s not often you’re wrong but you’re right again.” 

As he got older, he started to get really deep and philosophical with quotes like, 

“If you run you get there faster.” 

“If you spend all your money, you’ve got none left.” 

“You’re a good boy, except when you’re bad.”

He was a good speaker. In his earlier days he would give messages that lasted two hours but they always kept my interest. He was funny and very real and had a great connection with people. Just about anybody who had any kind of interaction with him, be it through a message or counseling or just fun, still expresses admiration for him.


Dad and me in San Pedro


1. Copyright 1982 . UMG (on behalf of Sparrow); ASCAP, UBEM, Capitol CMG Publishing, Adorando Brazil

Comments

  1. Rhonda Somers-HarrisDecember 9, 2020 at 4:56 PM

    Yes, I admired your father very much. He never related to others from his role or position but from his own personal authority. He was down to earth and authentic. It was a privilege to have Alan for a leader.

    ReplyDelete

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