by Marva J. Dawn

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review by Arthur O. Roberts

THIS IS ONE intelligent, witty, prophetic book! And it's timely too. Marva Dawn speaks to the condition of church leaders tempted to assuage a culture grown careless about language—offering “whatever” lingo for traditionally named spiritual realities. As the arresting title to the book suggests, incarnational discipleship doesn't mean playing fast and loose with doctrinal language. It is, after all, the WORD that was made flesh, suggesting surely that intelligence (God's and, through creation bestowal, ours) marks the work of divine-human interaction. Astutely aware of theological trends, Dawn writes: “Maybe our modernist need to control everything by scientific explanation and our postmodern need to deconstruct dogma need to be exchanged for a more awed beholding, a more humble bowing before, and a more ardent and radiant knitting of our lives to, the God-Man, Jesus the Christ, the Lord” (p. 30).

This Mennonite theologian acknowledges various streams of Christian thought but insists there are “basic elements of that multifaceted legacy,” some of which “are in danger of being dammed by the debris of present theological jargon” (p. 14). As a philosopher, whose calling includes the protection of words, I concur!

So the book (with appended notes) deals with eighty-some “corrupted” words under three headings: “God,” “Why Do Human Beings and the World Need God?” and “The Action of God.” The first section includes words such as Messiah, Lord, Son of God, Trinity, and, with humorous jab at contemporary youth jargon, awesome. The second section deals with terms such as sin, guilt, confession, judgment (plus a withering diatribe about “self-esteem”). The third and longest section deals with the actions of God, e.g., creation, the commandments, the Incarnation, atonement, resurrection, ascension, etc. In that final section she offers her physically impaired body as a testimony to the healing power of Creation: “I am dazzled by the curative properties of blood and skin!” (p. 116). These are the words of a joyous overcomer!

Anyone who has heard Marva Dawn speak knows how effectively she uses language. Her metaphors are as striking as her logic is compelling. Here's what she writes about sanctification:

In the past I have thought about justification and sanctification primarily as a first and second step in God's work for and in us. Now, I see them more as two sides of the same coin, which landed first on the justification side as Christ accomplished the sacrifice of atonement that forgives us. Thereafter the coin keeps spinning as the two actions of God continually reinforce each other. We can't be open to God's renewing, sanctifying work within us if we don't know clearly that we are forgiven, but when we fail and think, say, or do things contrary to God's best way, the opulence of triune forgiveness widens us to receive more of God's sanctifying work. (p. 180)

Marva Dawn believes that the “fire of the Triune God” working in and through individual lives and through the Christian community is more important than “15-year plans.” She concludes with this question: “As God burns away the corruptions of language…how is the Trinity informing us to walk the talk?” It's a good question for pastors. An adult Sunday school class or local elders might well consider using Talk the Walk as a text.

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