Outside the church environment, our Christian language can bring a response like a German nodding to someone speaking Chinese. Herr Schultz might give a courteous smile, but he isn’t grasping the full meaning of words that aren’t part of his everyday speech.
When we speak Christianese, we express our convictions that mean everything to us. Our words are real to us because they support our individual relationships with God. But what about the outsiders? If we really want to be understood by others, we should address the other guy’s concerns using his language.
Here are some religious words and phrases we might watch for:
| Anointed Armor of God Assurance Atonement Baptism Body of Christ Born Again Communion Confess Conversion Devotion Discipleship Eschatology Evangelical Evangelism Faith Fellowship Flaming Darts Flesh Found the Lord Fruit of the Spirit Get into God’s Word Gospel Grace Have a Burden” Heavenly Father |
Hedge of Protection Holy Holy Spirit Justification Kingdom of God Laid on My Heart Last Days Lift Up in Prayer Lord Lost Master Mission New Birth New Covenant New Wine Non-Christian Offering Old Man/New Man Omnipotent Omnipresent Omniscient Outreach Praise Prayer Warrior Purity Redeemed |
Redeemer Redemption Regeneration Repentance Reprobate Saint Salvation Sanctification Saved Savior Secular Seeker Sinner Spiritual Battle Spiritual Gift Sword of the Spirit Testimony Traveling Mercies Trinity Walk with God Washed in the blood Witness Word Worship |
These words are not necessarily wrong. We just need to be careful, making sure our audience understands what we’re saying. That’s because we have many hypocrites and unbelievers in our churches, who act like they believe but are actually still searching.