{"id":2303,"date":"2016-04-26T22:12:33","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2016-04-26T22:12:33","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:12:33","slug":"words-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2016\/04\/26\/words-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Words Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Liz\"<\/a>Rev. Elizabeth (Liz) Jensen is an ordained Covenant Pastor serving as the solo pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Venice Isle in Venice, FL. She serves as the treasurer of Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW). She recently completed 6 years serving on the Committee on Ministerial Standing (COMS) of the Southeast Conference (SEC) Ministerium; she chaired the committee the last three years. At their 2016 annual meeting she was elected President of the SEC Ministerium. She also serves as treasurer and chaplain for the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Venice Area Chapter; her husband is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Minnesota Army National Guard. <\/em><\/p>\n

Have you heard the song \u201cWords\u201d? The lyrics roughly declare that words can make people feel like prisoners or can set them free. Words can make people feel like criminals or kings. Words can lift hearts to new places and drag hearts back into a pit. Words can build up and break down. Words can start a fire in a heart or put it out.<\/p>\n

How do our words impact those who hear them? For those in ministry, how do the words of your preaching, teaching, singing and writing impact those who hear or sing or read them? We would never use derogatory language in reference to any group, yet I hear and read and sing words that ignore, diminish, overlook, and disregard half the population. Can you see it in these Scripture quotations?<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked<\/em>\u201d (Psalm 1:1).<\/p>\n

\u201cFollow Me, and I will make you fishers of men<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 4:19).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I speak in the tongues of men or of angels,<\/em>\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:1).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective<\/em>\u201d (James 5:16).<\/p>\n

If you do not see a problem with these words, read on. You see, words matter! Can you see (or hear) it in these lyrics from \u201cBe Thou My Vision\u201d? \u00a0Verse 2:<\/p>\n

\u201cThou my great Father, I Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.\u201d Verse 3: Riches I heed not, nor man\u2019s empty praise,\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you see (or hear) it in these lyrics from \u201cJoy to the World\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u201cJoy to the world! the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you hear it in these sermon declarations?<\/p>\n

\u201cMan has fallen. Jesus came to redeem man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you hear it in these illustrations?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pastor\u2026he. The Sunday school teacher\u2026she. The fireman\u2026he. The policeman\u2026he. The secretary\u2026she.”<\/p>\n

These are but a few examples of what I have seen and heard \u2013 some rather recently. What message do these words send? As a woman, when scripture quotes ignore me, when sermons disregard me, when illustrations diminish me, and when songs overlook me I am lost to their message. I should not have to \u201csuck it up\u201d to hear God\u2019s word and sing praises to Jesus. It is time to tune up our awareness of how the words we use in preaching, teaching, singing and writing impact half the people to whom we speak and to whom and with whom we minister. Words matter. Let\u2019s not just tune up our awareness, let\u2019s change our words so all are included.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are those who do<\/u> not walk in the counsel of the wicked<\/em>\u201d (Psalm 1:1).<\/p>\n

\u201cFollow Me, and I will make you fishers of people<\/u><\/em>\u201d (Matthew 4:19).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I speak in the tongues of humans<\/u> or of angels<\/em>\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:1).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prayers of the righteous<\/u> are powerful and effective<\/em>\u201d (James 5:16).<\/p>\n

\u201cBe Thou My Vision\u201d in the Covenant Hymnal a Book of Worship uses totally inclusive language. Here it is in case you don\u2019t have the book:<\/p>\n

Verse 2:<\/p>\n

\u201cThou my great Father, thy child shall I be<\/u>; Thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee<\/u>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiches I heed not, nor vain, empty<\/u> praise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoy to the World\u201d is easily changed to \u201cLet us, our<\/u> songs employ.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can change our sermons to declare: \u201cAll humanity has fallen. Jesus came to redeem us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can change our language to remove gender specific pronouns. Or we can regularly refer to \u201cThe pastor\u2026she. The Sunday school teacher\u2026he. The firefighter. The police officer. And even the secretary\u2026he.” Be bold. Be brave. My brothers and sisters in Christ, do as did Jesus. He reached out to women in ways that were counter to his culture. It suggests to me that Jesus would not want females ignored in our preaching, teaching, singing and writing today. Words matter!<\/p>\n

Let me ask a few questions using the song \u201cWords\u201d. Do your words make women feel like prisoners or help set them free? Do your words make women feel like criminals or help them feel like royalty? Do your words lift women\u2019s hearts to new places or drag them into a pit? Do your words build up women or break them down? Do your words start a fire in women\u2019s hearts or put fires out? Words matter!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rev. Elizabeth (Liz) Jensen is an ordained Covenant Pastor serving as the solo pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Venice Isle in Venice, FL. She serves as the treasurer of Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW). She recently completed 6 years serving on the Committee on Ministerial Standing (COMS) of the Southeast Conference (SEC) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testimoies-and-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nWords Matter - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2016\/04\/26\/words-matter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Words Matter - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rev. Elizabeth (Liz) Jensen is an ordained Covenant Pastor serving as the solo pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Venice Isle in Venice, FL. She serves as the treasurer of Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW). 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