Death and the Language of Life

Unusually for stiff-upper-lipped, euphemistic Britain, lately our nation has been ringing with discussions of death. From our coffee shops right up to the corridors of power, the normally unspeakable is being spoken of. And how could it not be when everywhere you turn, it seems, there are headlines or photographs diligently documenting the latest stage of Jade Goody’s tragic terminal decline? As she herself acknowledges: ‘I’ve lived in front of the cameras. And maybe I’ll die in front of them. And I know some people don’t like what I’m doing but at this point I don’t really care… it’s about what I want.’ Love her or loath her, you have to admire the candid way she has unmasked a cultural taboo, stared it straight in the eye and forced us to do the same.

The media’s reporting of Jade’s plight has been increasingly permeated with religious language – double-page spreads containing references to Jesus, angels, heaven, new stars in the night sky, and the like. At first glance this may look like the best advert Christianity’s had in years; but it’s also an indication of the extent to which biblical theology has been usurped by a kind of ‘folk theology’ in our culture. Such language is, of course, the vocabulary of people’s best intentions; but all too often it’s a wholly inaccurate translation of Christian belief. And unless we can sensitively articulate a corrective when the opportunity arises, misinformation and misunderstanding will perpetuate.

Being disciples of Christ and his gospel, we have a mandate to probe through the haze of sentimental ‘folk-theology’ as we respond to the questions it provokes from our children, our colleagues and our friends. If we are too quick to welcome the naming of God in the public arena without due consideration to the context, we can become complicit in his domestication as an impotent spectator to the human predicament – a far cry from the suffering servant and risen Lord and King revealed in Scripture.

We must be prepared to unpack the glorious good news about Jesus with tact and integrity, lest the News of the World be taken as the gospel truth. When it comes to expressing our Christian faith, we rightly speak of the need to ‘walk the talk’, but sometimes it’s important to ‘talk the talk’. It is therefore imperative that we know who and what we’re talking about, in order that our language reveal truth and not conceal it.

Naomi Skinner (LICC)