Lose Your Christian Cliches and Jargon
Lose Your Christian Cliches, Jargon, and Innuendo
I recently spoke in church about seven ways to share your faith without ticking people off. One of my seven points was to "Lose your clichés, jargon and spiritual innuendos." Christian clichés, etc. are so easy to fall into, but they undermine your credibility causing people to question your sincerity.
Here's an excerpt from my message:
Christian Clichés
Christian clichés are when you over simplify complex matters with a pat answer. Rather than offering a thoughtful response, you quote a Bible verse, or say something like, “You just gotta let go and let God," as if that is the end of the discussion. No more needs to be said.
Clichés are often true. But that’s not the problem. The problem with clichés is that they trivialize what’s important by making it sound like once you know God you don’t have to think any more. You just have to pull out your list of Top 20 Christian clichés or Bible verses to answer any hard question that comes your way.
The truth is, we should learn to speak intelligently about the concerns that people have about faith without resorting to a cliché.
Christian Jargon
Jargon is the words or terminology that are unique to a subculture. A subculture is any smaller group of people, like medical workers, or athletes, or motorcycle riders, etc. You have medical jargon, and sports jargon. You’ve got biker jargon. Every hobby has its unique jargon. Churches are no different.
But jargon only makes sense to people in that subculture. For example, if a doctor uses medical jargon on me, I’m clueless. It’s not helpful. And it’s the same when you use Christian jargon with your friends and family. People don’t know what you are talking about. Church people say things like:
“I feel led to do this.”
“I feel a check in my spirit.”
“We need to bathe this in prayer.”
“Those are works of the flesh.”
“You need to be born again.”
“The blood of Jesus covers that.”
If you’ve been in the church a long time, you probably know what these mean. But if you aren’t a church person these phrases just sound silly, if not scary. Plus it’s rude to talk in code around people who don’t know the code.
I’m careful not to use jargon in church on Sunday. It’s tempting because it’s like shorthand for people in the know. But I understand that many people come to our church who didn’t grow up in church. Using jargon is confusing at best and offensive at worst.
Spiritual Innuendo
You probably know what sexual innuendo is. That’s when you say something that has a sexual undertone or implication. People often use it because they think it’s funny and clever.
Personally, I find it insulting to reduce everything to sex. I don’t mean it’s morally insulting (although that is true as well). I think it’s intellectually insulting. God gave us a creative brain to talk about interesting things, yet some people want to use that brain to talk about sex and they assume I want to do the same. That’s insulting to me.
People do this with spiritual matters too. They turn everything into an opportunity to work God into the conversation. They can’t talk about anything without it somehow how relating to God or the Bible in some subtle way. They think it’s clever and profound. It’s not clever. It’s awkward. And it’s just as intellectually insulting as sexual innuendo.
Make the Change, Please!
If you want people to treat you seriously, hear what you have to say, and not get mad at you, then please... lose your Christian clichés, jargon, and the innuendos. It's hard at first because it's a strong habit. But people will relate to you better if your faith doesn't drip from every word you speak.
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