Using Christian Jargon Online Confuses People
So just stop.
Save it for when you’re hanging out in your men’s bible studies or discipleship groups, because when you’re online there’s a good chance that the vast majority of the people who actually read your stuff have little to no context or understanding of what you just meant by “eschatology.”
In fact, most Christians don’t even know what “eschatology” even means.
This was a great reminder from Nick C. and his thoughts about “watching our mouths.”
Now it’s quite obvious that you can’t always watch whatever you say, but we can be aware of it, and I think that’s the first step to making one’s digital presence the most effective for the non-believing viewers you’ll ultimately have.
In addition, I understand that some of you don’t really care, or you’ve decided that you’re digital service and calling is to the already existing body of believers. That’s cool too. To each his own.
But perhaps a good review of “How to unlearn the Lingo” is in order?
OLD |
New |
| scripture or Bible verse | a place in the Bible where it says… |
| believe | trust, accept |
| born again, converted | changed, transformed |
| Christian | follower of Christ |
| confess | admit |
| found the Lord, get saved | accept Christ, make a decision to follow Christ |
| grace | Gods totally unearned forgiveness |
| gospel | God loves us and sent His Son so that we can find forgiveness and new life through Him |
| have a burden | be concerned |
| know | believe, trust, be certain |
| the Lord | God, Creator |
| the Holy Spirit | God the Spirit, the Spirit of God |
| praise | thanking God for His greatness |
| pray | talk with God, ask God |
| preach | talk about |
| repent | to be sorry about wrongs and to turn from them |
| salvation, saved | forgiven of wrongs and given eternal life |
| Savior | Jesus, Gods Son, who forgave my wrongs and gave me eternal life |
| share | discuss, explain |
| sin, sinner | acting against Gods will and offending Gods character |
| testimony | story |
| witness | tell, show |
| worship | giving honor and glory to God |
Buzz it!
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16 Responses to “Using Christian Jargon Online Confuses People”
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Lost In Translation « The Sweet Bi and Bi
[...] throws a link up in his google reader that I think is so awesome, so right on. So go, now–read and watch the 1 minute video–and then come [...]
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Check These Out [4/11/09] (GBrenna.com)
[...] Using Christian Jargon Online Confuses People – “So just stop.” [...]
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seems like the New versions are far more descriptive.
strange in a time where simplicity and 'less is more' are keywords
I think we need to assume that we need this inside the church as well. I read a book a while back "Religious Literacy", and his research showed a remarkable lack of basic scripture literacy. He was writing from a cultural perspective (that we have lost a shared understanding of scripture as a cultural reference point) but it is true just as much inside the church where knowledge of God should be increasing in order to build a relationship with God, even more than outside the church where we are just introducing God. (I am probably going to be strung up by the grammar police for writing that last convoluted sentence.)
I question whether or not Christianese even has a place in your men's Bible study. "Insider language" doesn't really help anyone. I find that many people "inside" don't really know what we mean by half this lingo either. They just nod and smile a lot.
I used to work in computer tech support. All of my peers had to use nerd acronyms for EVERYTHING and for the most part didn't care if "regular" people didn't understand what they were talking about. That always annoyed me because I always felt like it was a way for the geeks to say to the non-geeks "We're in the club, you're not in the club." I think it's the same way with Christianese.
… exactly like offline in real life.
Language is a vehicle of meaning. If the audience we are trying to reach doesn't know what the words mean, then they fail to do what we intended. We should just be honest in whatever we say, and maybe simplify our words so we can be clear.
I agree about language being understood. But at the same time words do have specific meanings. And some of the Christian "jargon" is actually highly specific meaning that just isn't communicated well with alternative words. So some of that really is necessary, but if it is necessary we need to figure out how to share the meaning and teach people the words so that they are understood. Josh is right, if we speak and are not understood, then we have not accomplished our task
Fighting jargonese is always an issue. Clarity should our goal. So how do you say "Invite Jesus into your heart" now?
I think a lot of it depends on your audience. The guy in the video was a knucklehead. I know I have to break it down every week into simple terms for me and for others. It doesn't look like the idiots in the video were interested in building relationships. If someone uses the word eschatology around me I usually hide.
Great post. Though I can't help but notice a lot of the alternatives take up more characters…making the Twitter thing harder… Hmmm
puaha. i suppose so… takes genius.
acronyms… omg… i've worked in some crazy places too…
Can't believe I never commented on this one! I thought the video was hilarious! The point is well taken. I actually try not to use "Christian Jargon" at all. It confuses ME! I'd much rather describe the bible in a way that is familiar to people. As you said in a more recent post I believe… people don't spend that many hours/week at church. Most of their lives are spent being bombarded by "non-Christian" messages… the church needs to come at them in the same way.
Wow. Some of the Christian jargon seems like common language to anyone who's ever read a newspaper or book. I totally get the point, but pray, praise, share are all pretty common words.
While that is all debatable, my real concern is the authors understanding (or explanation) of sin. Sin is not primarily 'wrongs' as in behavior, but a wrong heart. Sin is primarily a heart condition, not a behavior problem. I think I would expand on the fullness of the meaning. For me, the more critical thing is to explain to people what the terms mean. Don't assume they know 'jargon' (which has deep history in common language) but explain it so it deepens them. If we avoid those terms, they will be all the more confused when they see them in the scriptures for themselves.
Your overall point though is good for Christians to be aware of.