I’ve heard this term, Christianese, a lot more as I spend an increasing amount of time in the greater church community by listening to podcasts and sermons from some of the bigger, younger names out there. It’s a term more often used by the millennials than Gen X or Baby Boomers, but it’s relevant all the same.
Christianese is our own, believer-based language that we use frequently to communicate aspects of our belief and portions of God’s character because we’ve developed a vocabulary specific to these things. If you don’t really know what I mean by Christianese, think of it as our dialect, our jargon, our vernacular.
The thing about Christianese, and indeed, every other dialect of any language, is that only those who have the necessary living experience with the language can understand it. And that leads to my grievance against Christianese. In the church, it might be fine, but we cannot go about using it when we speak to nonbelievers.
The story behind this is more personal than my other articles, but I’m not writing this just because I don’t like it. I’m writing it because I think changing our language when we speak to nonbelievers will help us show Christ to that many more people.
I grew up in the church. I was there pretty much every Sunday, Wednesday, and any other day there happened to be something going on. I did all the activities: every Vacation Bible School, every youth event. I sang in the choir as a child, and I picked up jobs in the other churches I attended, too. But I went because that’s what my family did. I went because I thought that’s what I did. But my heart wasn’t in it.
I knew all the answers. I had all the lines down. The head knowledge was absolutely there. And I was a pretty dang good actor, too, if I do say so myself. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think too many people questioned me. But while I knew God, I didn’t know God. I didn’t have a relationship with Him. But I was always in the church, so I had a pretty good view and understanding of the church and how we did things.
I remember sitting in Sunday School and listening to my teachers. I would cringe when I heard them use certain words to describe the actions of God towards us, not because of the actions, but the way they were described. I thought they were childish, silly, and entirely nonsensical.
One of the phrases that always sets me off is, “You have to fear God.” Not because it’s not true. It is true. But the words don’t compute when you hear, “God loves you. Love God.” That’s because nobody really bothers to explain it. We all just assume everyone understands that when we say, “Fear God,” what we really mean is respect God. Respect His power, His ability, and His grace and mercy, knowing that it could be turned against you should you not accept Him into your heart. Although, what does that even mean to a nonbeliever? It doesn’t make sense unless you already know the Bible.
And listen, if I didn’t understand that as a teenager growing up in the church, nonbelievers and new converts have no chance of getting it. The knowledge and experience just isn’t there for them.
I was always confused by these lines, too, “I just had a feeling,” and, “I just heard God speaking to me so clearly.” I never understood those because I never audibly heard God speak to me, and I couldn’t separate my own feelings from whatever feelings these people were experiencing. These are phrases that create undue confusion for a lot of people.
So, we need to knock that off when we’re talking to nonbelievers and new believers alike. We’re feeding them phrases based on the meat of the Bible when they’re still struggling with the milk. It’s like trying to go to Russia and preach the Gospel in Portuguese. It just won’t work. If you want to speak to Russians about Christ, you have to speak Russian.
Similarly, if you want to talk to nonbelievers about Christ, you have to speak their language. We have to find a way to put our experiences with Christ into a tangible, understandable format for those who have no experience with Him. Otherwise, you’re going to get a lot of “Christians” who aren’t actually saved and don’t know how to pursue a relationship with Christ. And even worse, you’re going to create a lot of people who avoid Christianity because we sound like a bunch of loons.
Hey, in your midweek Bible study with your small group, or among friends you know have developed a deep relationship with Christ, use the Christianese. It works there. But keep it away when you’re talking to those who don’t know our language. It’s hard enough to show them who Christ is without adding a language barrier to the difficulty.