Re-lexiconing the Christian Vocabulary
There’s a ton of words unique to the Christian community that carries negative baggage when heard outside the kingdom. It’s time to upgrade our Christian language.
Born-again/conversion—talk about definitional freight. What do you think the pre-Christian envisions when he hears these words/phrases? Fundamentalism to the nth degree.
Lost—how would you feel if someone called you LOST?
Evangelism—word with a good heart but a poor reputation
Membership—wow! Are we exclusive or what?
Enough! We’ve exploded a few theological expressions now let’s upgrade:
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Born-again/conversion—allegiance to God’s Life
Lost—missing or pre-Christian
Disciple—apprentice
Preacher—transformational architect
Evangelism—spiritual conversations/or as Jim Henderson of Off-the-Map says, “ordinary attempts.”
Membership—partnership
Seminar/workshop—Idealab
Programs—missions
New Words for an Old, Old Story [more]
posted by Fred Peatross @ 4:15 PM
1 Comments:
It's an old joke, I know, but a good one:
An evangelist went down a country road, saw a farmer over working in his field and hollered at him. "Are you a Christian?" the evangelist asked.
The farmer retorted, "A Christian? No, I'm a Ledbetter."
The evangelist shook his head, "No, no, Farmer Ledbetter. I'm trying to find out if you're lost!"
The farmer said, "Lost? No," and he pointed: "Right there is my house."
The evangelist sighed, "No, no; I'm trying to find out if you're saved and ready for the judgment day?"
The farmer answered, "Judgment day? When is it?"
The evangelst finally felt he was getting somewhere and told him: "Well, it might be today or it could be tomorrow."
The farmer frowned, "Well, don't tell my wife; she'll probably want to go both days."
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