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Thanks for telling us, Yvonne; didn't even notice. I, for one, appreciate your reply and Domini's and I enjoyed the discussion; one can never learn enough =)
As the Q is indeed problematic without more context (and I also don't think we're going to get more), I'll bow out here too but not before wishing you both a sunny weekend!
I do agree with you re shame we didn't get more context. It's been useful thinking for me in any case as one forgets knowledge when it's not used! However, with more context, we might not have needed this length of discussion to try to work it out. I hope you are keeping well. :-)
Sorry life got busy and I've not received notifications for some reason. Without reading your links (just now), the Pentecostal folk I had on my team when I worked as a Chaplain did consider themselves a separate denomination, however it is possible it may vary. I'll do some digging when I get a chance as it is my field so I ought to tidy up my knowledge! (I went to theological college and have worked as an Anglican Chaplain in the past). Charismatic Christians tend to be found across denominations and really Charismatic Christianity is more of a 'movement' i.e. you can have Charismatic Catholics or Charismatic Anglicans, etc. It's based on a specific understanding/experience of the charismatic "gifts of the Spirit" mentioned by St Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians 12:8-10. This is usually a belief also held Pentecostal Christians, from memory at least. As said I must do some digging. Will make a note to read your links properly this week. This is all partly why I think the question somewhat problematic, especially without more context, as some of these aspects don't necessarily make sense without specific inside knowledge of Church matters. As with many fields, of course!
Asker couldn't be bothered to give any further context and just declined all so I stopped bothering as I was busy and apparently wasting my time, Though these discussions can be interesting sometimes there is little point when we are not given fiull context. @ Björn @ Domini I didn't mean to restrict it solely to the "congregation" though I think the message being imparted would be addressed not only to it but also to the culture of the wider community Anyway, thanks all for the discussion and shame the asker can't be bothered to give context or say thanks for our efforts.
Many thanks, both for your detailed responses and the links.
Theology isn't my field (haven't chimed in on many of the other religious Qs, just this one because of the potential political overtones) so I learned something new RE the use of prophecy.
If it were anything like the Catholic-Protestant ecumenical relations, my guess would have been that Pentecostal and Anglican must be two denominations.
But as one of the answerers said here: "'Pentecostal' is not as much of a denominational designation like the word 'Anglican' is. (Unless you are specifically referring to a denomination that uses the word Pentecostal in its name.) In fact, there is such a thing as 'Pentecostal Anglicans.'" https://www.quora.com/What-difference-is-there-between-Pente...
Yes, this does seem to fit a does your explanation. In which case, to my mind there is a sense of 'how do we engage with' (perhaps adding 'and affect'), providing it retains a sense of communicating God's word for 'the now' of the recipient culture (terrible English - sorry!) I purposely wrote word lower case w as though I agree that it may involve pointing out that the Bible has the answers, it may also refer to a prophetic message that aligns with the Bible but is expressed directly without referring to specific passages.
the use of the prophetic gift is communication of God's message and may influence by having a life changing impact on the recipient and/or by effecting transformation or change. But speaking prophetically in the general sense can have the sense of predicting the future. Prophets or those with prophetic gifts within the Church may have a 'picture' or 'vision' of what might happen in the future (as did some of the Old Testament prophets at times as well), but it's not always the case. They may just have a message to deliver without knowing why. Also cf. Jonah whose message to the Ninevites led them to repent and change. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah 3&version... So in the @Asker's context the Church may be being called to say something to the culture that leads it to change, or that could cause it to understand itself better. If it's purely in a wider sense it could be predicting its future, but that is unlikely given the way that 'speak into' is used in more Charismatic/Pentecostal settings). In any case, communicate is definitely part of it, but not enough or it would be the word used, or it would just say deliver a message from God.
Here's a link which gives an idea of how prophecy can have different meanings: https://www.davidmccracken.org/office-of-a-prophet/. The middle one "The Gift of Prophecy" description includes these words: "The gift of prophecy may include speaking out or writing God's "Now Word", the burden of His heart;" It doesn't use speak into but it is one of the ways in which the gift of prophecy would be communicating God's word to an individual or culture in their specific context, if the expression is being used in a narrower sense. This kind of prophetic gift tends to be referred to by Pentecostal or Charismatic Christians. @Bjorn that's what I had in mind when I mentioned denominational (though Charismatic Christians cross denominational divides). The Anglican Church includes different churchmanships as you no doubt know. I haven't read all your links yet, but will tomorrow or ff. Definitely not just US English though. I heard it on a UK English programme the other night and have heard it in church contexts in the UK, though usually lower church when used in the narrower sense: "Those who have the gift of prophecy are those who make known the mind, will and intention of God."
They believe that the culture war is almost lost because they've let the "left" gain an upper hand (don't speak to them about Hollywood and the like) by not engaging but leaving everyone to their own devices.
Stopping one side from obliterating the other (as dramatic as it may sound) will, of course, require a more aggressive approach so I believe the wider context, as you've mentioned, would be really important to know.
On a side note, "speak into" is also being used in combination with other nouns: "Here are some questions to ask yourself and perhaps ask others that you have given permission to speak into your leadership." https://churchexecutive.com/archives/shaping-culture
There's always a reference to Christianity in there somewhere, which means to me the phrase hasn't really gained general currency, but I'd say, in this kind of context, its meaning lies somewhere between "communicate" and "influence."
Best wishes and, to all of you, have a great weekend!
I'm fine with it being applied to a wider audience--after all, you do want to increase the size of your flock. One way to do this is to...
(a) try to understand where someone's coming from, what their life is like; (b) speak to them on their level, using their language; and (c) pointing out to them how the Bible provides answers to their questions.
That is roughly what I thought Yvonne meant (and what you echoed in your reply to my post) and it is pretty convincing--outside of conservative circles.
As for the orthodox or conservative interpretations of the phrase, especially in the US, I think the following sums them up pretty well: "The truth is our culture has been chipping away at the Judeo-Christian value system for decades. Increasingly, the Christian viewpoint is unwelcome in public settings...How do we live courageously in a culture that wants to silence us?...How do we speak into a culture where the person who shouts the loudest wins the argument?" https://jimdaly.focusonthefamily.com/engaging-the-culture-wi...
To conservatives, it's about the waning influence of religion; that's something most have in common on that side of the aisle.
So I may have guessed wrong about US churchgoers being the only ones using the term, though it comes up quite often on American websites.
As said elsewhere, I used to read a lot of news articles and blog posts published by conservatives in the US (being part of a German-American household, I just wanted to understand their perspective a bit better).
And while some of those articles were studded with religious references, I don't remember ever seeing "speak into" in print (or online) so Yvonne shouldn't feel bad about not having come across it either =)
Also, from what I've read (now), I do think Yvonne's communicate "(with people on their own level and within their own cultural norms)" is a good fit; not certain why she's limiting it to "congregation" in her replies to you and Daryo.
I hope all's well with you. Wanted to add a quick note to one of your comments below but couldn't, hence note here. I just wanted to say that I don't think "culture" refers specifically to a congregation. It may include a church congregation(s), which is inevitably related to the culture that corresponds to its time and place, but I think culture is wider. Again, it would be easier to answer this if we had a few more sentences/wider context.
I agree with some of what you say, but not that communication from the Church is unidirectional and that the outside culture is only to listen. It's about relationships and trying to connect culture with God and mediate His love (I know that is not always achieved, perceived or evident in practice, but that is the purpose). The Church is in a sort of sandwich trying to hold together/form a bridge with what it believes to be God's perspective and view as laid down in either Scripture, Church canons or both (emphasis dependent on churchmanship) and where people/culture are at. Historically church and culture have been more aligned or less so at different times. But Church training is to try to listen to God, culture and individuals whom, the Church believes, God knows and understands from the inside and more fully than any human can. Without listening to culture/individuals, Church communication is impossible, whether effective or not cf. for example https://www.thelisteningchurch.com/https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclair/t... I found the links quickly, so have not read them in their entirety. Just offering as egs. of "the listening church."
The context of the link in the reference entry is the kind of individual prophecy I alluded to previously in passing. However, it gives a definition of the prophetic that applies to the Church corporately as well. That the prophetic purpose is to deliver a message to the recipient (individual or corporate i.e. culture, institution, whatever) conveying a message from God to that recipient to connect that recipient to God and His perspective and, likely, have an effect on the recipient/change them. So the message is 'spoken into' the present specific context/time/culture, rather than randomly or irrelevantly. God speaking into the world is a recurrent Biblical theme. He spoke Creation into existence (Gn. 1., Ps. 33.9 etc); spoke through the Biblical prophets "into" the culture of the day, Jesus the Word of God (communication of the Father into the world), speaks through the Holy Spirit, etc. The Church is meant to be one of the vehicles through which God speaks His message to the world in which He is ever present and current. His purpose is always to connect with His world (individually and collectively) and to draw it back into relationship with Himself.
Your eden.co.uk does echo the sense of affecting/influencing culture (rather than mirroring it), which is what I think it probably means if general. (See my first discussion entry below). The Church is meant to set values, not just follow the non-Church values, habits, lifestyle, etc. To be 'in the world but not of the world'.
Would you be able to offer a little more context please? And are you actually asking for an alternative phrase/rendition, or just to understand the meaning? @discussion re American or not: it may also be denominational, i.e. Charismatic and/or Pentecostal. (cf. also @Bjorn's charsismanews link) In which case having more context might clarify whether it is a general comment re the (wider) church influenciing culture (which I suspect is more likely) or whether individuals within certain church settings or contexts might be being asked to "deliver" what would be considered a direct message from God. It does sound more general here, however certain church contexts do include modern-day 'prophetic ministry' (if that doesn't mean much in short hand, I can expand - but unnecessary unless the provision of more context makes it a likely explanation).
Yes, you're right. I Googled "speak into" meaning and got 3 Ghits. When I drop "meaning" (which was not within the original apostrophes BTW) I get more hits. I agree with you that it seems to be used in some American religious texts. I never saw it before :-(
And I'm pretty sure this is the source of the asker's quote: "'I told The New York Times that the church of Jesus Christ and culture have always been at odds, and that we need to understand that the church was never called to accommodate culture,' he says. 'The church was called to prophetically speak into culture.'" https://www.charismanews.com/marketplace/86772-megachurch-pa...
"Christ and Crisis" by Charles Malik, written in 1962. See below: https://www.paul-gould.com/2012/06/13/christianity-in-the-21... Malik believed that there was a crisis of his age that must be addressed so that there would be a viable Christian voice (to speak into culture) and Christian conscience (to give shape to culture). What was the crisis of the age, according to Malik (writing in 1962):[2]
That sentence is quite bizarre English and I really don't know what it means. Context?
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Answers
0 min confidence: peer agreement (net): -3
address
Explanation: In this context, "speak into" translates as "address" because it implies communicating directly and purposefully with the culture to deliver a prophetic message or guidance.
Example sentences: 1. The leader addressed the congregation, reminding them to speak into society's injustices with love and compassion. 2. As a writer, she aims to address pressing issues in her novels, speaking into the hearts and minds of her readers. 3. The activist group plans to speak into political debates, offering their perspective and urging for change.
This is an AI-generated answer.
| ChatGPT | Local time: 09:51 Native speaker of: English
peer agreement (net): -3
