· Leadership Development

They’re just words––or are they?

 

By Bishop Gary Mueller

 

It seems that almost every United Methodist meeting I attend these days includes the following words: “liminal,” “asynchronous,” “actionable,” “emotional intelligence,” nimble,” “new normal,” “transparent,” and “adaptive.”

I even use these words myself.

 

While they can be helpful in describing the world in which the church finds itself, I am convinced we also need to employ the language of faith.

 

The reason is simple: How we talk about something goes a long way in determining what we do about it.

It is time for those of us who love Jesus as Savior and Lord, and those who seek to live as his disciples, and who long for God’s will to be just as real on earth as it already is in heaven to inject the language of faith into our lives far more intentionally.

 

I realize this is a challenge for many of us because we tend to shy away from using faith language, often as a reaction against its frequent misuse.

 

But, if we don’t use the language of faith, we will soon discover our lives are being shaped primarily by things other than faith. That’s because faith impacts every single part of our lives all day long.

 

How often we talk about Jesus as Lord and Savior ––how often we mention the Kingdom of God, ––how frequently we speak about the fullness of grace ––how regularly we share our commitment to living out that discipleship ––speaks volumes.

 

If these things are an important part to us, they should be expressed in the words we use. Even more importantly, they help us live more fully into our true identity of whose we are.

 

May we choose words that remind us and others of what we believe about life––both now and for eternity to come

 

Bishop Gary Mueller, vice president

General Commission on UM Men

bishop@arumc.org

 

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