Words Really Do Matter

Since childhood I have observed that folks who attend church regularly tend to use a "normal" vocabulary throughout the week, but when we step foot on our church campus or attend a church function, we often resort to a specialized repertoire of words that are not easily understood by those outside the community of faith.  Because it seems abnormal to me for a person to utilize one vocabulary at work and leisure, and revert to another when in the presence of your church friends or minister, I have quietly loathed all varieties of hyper-spiritual dialects.  Across time I confess that I have cynically identified and labeled a few of those more frequently heard church dialects as "King James jargon," "lingo of Zion," "ecclesial English," and "pious pontification." 


Recently I came across an old clipping that identifies one of these more frequently employed dialects as Christianese:


Christianese is a language used in the Christian subculture and understood easily only by other practicing Christians. As Christian communicators it's important to avoid words in our writing that could be misunderstood or fail to communicate — terms that have meaning only in the Christian subculture.


As a public service, here are some common phrases used in the church, along with their English-language equivalents:


Christianese: "If it be God's will."
Translation: "I really don't think God is going to answer this one.


Christianese: "Let's have a word of prayer."
Translation: "I am going to pray for a long, long, long time."


Christianese: "That's not my spiritual gift."
Translation: "Find someone else."


Christianese: "Fellowship"
Translation: "Organized gluttony."


Christianese: "The Lord works in mysterious ways."
Translation: "I'm totally clueless."


Christianese: "Lord willing . . ."
Translation: "You may think I'll be there, but I won't."


Christianese: "I don't feel led."
Translation: "Can't make me."


Christianese: "God led me to do something else."
Translation: I slept in instead of going to church.


Christianese: "God really helped me with this test."
Translation: "I didn't study but I guessed good, so I'm giving God credit in the hope that He helps me again."


Christianese: "She has such a sweet spirit!"
Translation: "What an airhead!"


Christianese: "I have a 'check' in my spirit about him."
Translation: "I can't stand that jerk!"


Christianese: "I'll be praying for you."
Translation: "There's an outside chance I'll remember this conversation later today."


Christianese: "Prayer concerns"
Translation: "Gossip"


Christianese: "In conclusion . . . "
Translation: "I'll be done in another hour or so."


Christianese: "Let us pray"
Translation: "I'm going to pretend to talk to God now, but I'm really preaching at you."


Christianese: "You just have to put it in God's hands."
Translation: "Don't expect me to help you."


Christianese: "God wants to prosper you!"
Translation: "Give me all your money." (Author Unknown)


My point is that words really do matter.  The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek, the everyday language of ordinary people, which says to me that the greatest news in the world can be communicated without a specialized religious vocabulary.


The wisdom writer reminds us that, "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!" (Proverbs 15:23 NIV). This year, a part of my quest to be a better Christian and a more effective pastor, is to learn to be a better steward of my words and to be authentic in conversation.  And, of course, to avoid reverting to Christianese. "Carest thou to joineth me?"