the power of metaphor

I've been thinking lots about language lately, and the way that it shapes our experiences. In particular I've been thinking about the metaphors we use to describe the way we approach faith. The idea is that language is not just a tool, but also something that tells our brains how to interpret experiences. Confused? Let me explain a bit better.

The school system loves to teach you about metaphor. Sitting in a third from English class you get taught how to use a metaphor in your creative writing, and before you know it all the world is a stage, you have a heart of gold and you're walking through a blanket of snow. You begin to learn that a metaphor is simply a linguistic tool, a way to be a little bit more spicy with your words. The idea is that you use the metaphor, you are in charge. It is only a mode of expression. Metaphor is poetry. End of story.

But this is simply not the case. Metaphors actually structure our brain and have a significant influence on the way we operate in different situations and how we interpret experiences. Here are a few examples if I sound a bit nuts so far.

Have you noticed that we often use the metaphor of battle to describe arguments? An argument is seen in the category of fight, where you have a winner and a loser. One person beats another in an argument, and the point of the discussion is to have a victor. You can attack someone else's view point and get shot down by them. We consistently use this metaphor to describe arguments and it has ended up having a massive influence on the way we think about them. It becomes a form of conflict, and scares many people from entering into robust discussion for fear of losing. But what if we were to talk about arguments like a dance? Or an archeological dig? Or the sculpturing of a piece of art?

Again, have you noticed that we talk about love like a journey? We say things like "the relationship is moving fast" or "we're in a rocky patch" or "we're just no longer on the same path". We want to make sure that we are "going in the same direction" and sometimes want to "take things slow". Interesting. Is this a helpful way to talk about love? Does it put the idea of commitment into unhelpful categories?

When you start thinking like this it becomes clear that we need to have a good think about the metaphors we use when it comes to faith. I am often fairly confused by them. Often I hear "I'm really pumped on God at the moment!" and then worry that in people's minds God becomes merely a way to feel excited about things, and God is there to pump us up, to be life's prozac. God pumps us up. He is the heavenly protein shake. I find it confusing.

In some churches I've heard faith described as a battle. Unhelpful confusions with biblical imagery often serve to reinforce this, and because humans aren't the enemy, we are told to wage war on Satan and the powers of darkness. It isn't that this isn't appropriate sometimes, but that the metaphor is often badly used and the gospel can become about a victorious life, about being conquerers of sin, about winning all the time. A successful human is someone who crushes sin and walks in strength. I know Paul draws on this metaphor, but we have to be careful as to what extent we use it. The most worrying thing is that sometimes we forget the battle has already been won by the ultimate warrior. And it didn't look much like combat at all when he won the fight. No need to walk around the room stomping on the devil. I don't even know what to do with people who do that.

Probably the most common metaphor used at the moment is to describe faith or life as a journey. It seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon and it is something that Mark Sayers has touched on here. If life is a journey then we're always on the road. We have no real destination, living in incompleteness and always looking for the next experience that will add meaning to our lives. Maybe this is why we liked to get pumped? It's part of the journey, an experience that gives us meaning. Does anyone know where they're going though? Because what this metaphor does is to keep us in a dissatisfied state of mind and can give us an excuse to push accountability aside because "these decisions and consequences are all part of my journey". It can often serve as a barrier to rebuke because "everybody's journey is different". Despite its popularity, it is really helpful?

What are the good metaphors? And how do they structure our thinking? Do they have much in a say in how you approach life?



For more on the power of metaphor, check out 'Metaphors We Live By' by Lakoff and Johnson.