Scheduled for Retirement?

Not talking about people here; instead, I thought we'd think in terms of words/concepts that may be ready to be retired (honorably or otherwise) from service. We've had some discussion already about whether "church" might fit into this category; "Christian" is another possibility, as is "patriarchy" (all for different reasons, however). Let's focus on important words within the context of the communities of Messiah's followers. Let's not chase words that we find merely annoying, but words which, whatever their past usefulness may have been, have now reached a place where they are actually counterproductive to the present progress of God's kingdom (as best we understand it).

So here's what you do: propose a word that you feel has outlived its usefulness. Briefly explain why you think this is the case, and, most importantly, propose/suggest a new word to take its place. Feel free to coin a new word altogether if you must!

You just don't get it!

Welcome! The idea here is some friendly-but-serious intergenerational conversation. If you're under, say age 32, you get to put to the, ahem, older folks a question or issue about which you suspect said older folks "just don't get it!" Same with the more mature crowd--you get to put to the rising/emerging generation a question about which you suspect said younger generation "just doesn't get it!" Several caveats:

We're interested in questions/issues of thological/spiritual substance/significance, OK? This isn't the place to work out your frustrations with your parents/kids, debate pop culture (unless you're making some spiritual connections to/from it)

We are NOT assuming the inevitability of conflict between/among persons of different ages. The goal of Covenant Thinklings is to learn to think together ("do theology") in a way that leads all of us into more faithful and fruitful lives as followers Jesus Christ. The title of this post is offered in good humor, not hostility!

You do not need any "credentials" to participate, only a desire to listen thoughtfully, participate respectfully, and push one another to (re)consider, (re)think through, and possibly revise (in the basic sense of "re-see") where and how we stand (or surf, for those preferring a more fluid metaphor) on important questions.

My hope is that this first post will simply generate/surface some interesting questions, which we can then tackle in subsequent posts.

Full disclosure: your host is 55. (I know that's hardly 'full disclosure,' but I'm not sure you're interested in any more at this point!)