From the Shepherd’s Nook: The Pastor’s Language

Last updated on: October 19, 2012 at 5:08 am by Scot McKnight

From the Shepherd’s Nook: The Pastor’s Language 2012-10-17T17:33:47-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Our Shepherd’s Nook column is by John Frye, who again takes us to someone many consider America’s pastor to pastors, Eugene Peterson. I agree.

When Eugene H. Peterson gave a keynote address that I heard at a writers’ conference at Spring Arbor College, he said, “Writers must be shepherds of words.” That stuck with me. EHP reverences words because he reverences both the sacred Text and the Living Word. In what Henri J. M. Nouwen calls our “wordy, wordy world,” we need voices that make us stop dead in our tracks and recall the wonder of the ability to speak, to converse. As we have seen, EHP suggests that the pastor’s two primary tools are prayer and parable, both essentially word-based.

How do you work on your pastoral task with words? What have you learned? How is Peterson’s three-fold breakdown of languages useful for the church?

EHP in several of his books describes three types of language in our verbal world. He simply labels them languages I, II, and III. Let’s begin with language III. This is the language of description, the language of education. We begin to learn it early as we vocalize “mama,” “dog,” “rock,” “tree,” etc. Language III is the language of nouns to help us identify and negotiate with the things in our world. It orients us to reality. Language II is the language of motivation, the language of commerce and politics. It is a language of verbs—“buy,” “vote,” “stop,” act,” “stand up,” etc. Language II gets things done. Those in advertising have turned this language into a science. The advertisers know how to get money out of your hands and into the profit margins of products and services. EHP has nothing against these two necessary languages, yet he laments that these two language types have swarmed into pastoral ministry like a plague of locusts. Pastoral ministry has become all about description and education, about motivation and activity. The poster pastor is “Larry the Cable Guy” blabbing, “Git ‘er done!” Is there a place for languages II and III in pastoral work? Of course. People do need education and motivation. EHP writes, “Indispensable as these uses of language are, there is another language more essential to our humanity and far more basic to the life of faith.” EHP presses for language I.

Language I is personal language. It is primal language. This language uses words to express one’s self, to converse, to be in relationship. “This is language to and with.” This is the language of communion, not just communication. In this language, love is offered and received, ideas are articulated and expanded, feelings are voiced and respected, and silences are honored and interpreted with reverence. EHP writes that this “is the language we speak spontaneously as children, as lovers, as poets—and when we pray.” I recall this illustration from one of EHP books: EHP describes a new parent leaning over the crib side staring into the face of a baby. The baby makes cooing, gurgling nonsense sounds and the parent responds with similar nonsense articulations. No content is shared, no education offered. No imperative is voiced, no action demanded. Languages II and III are irrelevant. In this nonsensical exchange of sounds between baby and parent a relationship of love and trust is being established that will shape a life. “The pastoral task is to use the language appropriate in this basic aspect of our humanity—not language that describes, not language that motivates, but spontaneous language: cries and exclamations, confessions and appreciations, words the heart speaks.”

To deftly describe a broken heart does not cure it. To compel a broken heart to just get better is cruel. As we noted in the last post, pastors walk the way of the Galilean who was “a man of sorrows and filled with grief.” Education plus motivation does not equal transformation, no matter how excellent the information and no matter how compelling the motivation. The cure of souls takes place in the language of prayer and leisured conversation. If a pastor simply wants “to run a church,” she will lean heavily on languages II and III. If he wants “to cure souls,” he will (re)learn and become competent in the language of prayer, the language of love.

Pastoring and Leading

Pastoring and Preaching

Previous Post

October 19, 2012

Assumption, Identify Yourself!

Next Post

October 19, 2012 Fare Thee Well, Betty

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king of Judah destroyed Nehushtan, the bronze serpent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Josiah Hezekiah Uzziah Manasseh