Theological doctrines, plain speech and the public square

What basic Christian tenet, doctrine or word have you struggled to “translate” into plain speech? That question is part of an essay prompt I’m considering for a July writing workshop with Kathleen Norris at the Collegeville Institute at St. John’s Abbey and University in Minnesota. Can you help me think out loud on this one? I’d love to read your thoughts.

I recently hosted a Theology Pub on the topic “What Idols Do We Worship?” Those 20/30-somethings gathered enjoyed a raucous discussion of idolatry. I was struck by how easily the conversation progressed. Young adults didn’t need (or want) a definition of idolatry. They didn’t really care about its place in the ten commandments. They jumped into the discussion with both feet, I think, because they all knew idolatry. Some quite intimately. To speak about the classic Christian definition of idolatry with this group would require some fleshing-out, but the skeleton was already present.

We haven’t talked about sin directly at a Theology Pub in a while, but previous conversations have gone fairly similarly. Though those skeptical of God’s existence certainly questioned how sin relates to the divine, the basic idea that we humans are broken and prone to err is not difficult to communicate, superficially at least.