Catch Phrase

Recently my brother, an English teacher in St Louis, called my attention to a new catch word being used by teens. The word is  "Wait....".

"Wait, did you see what just happened?" "Wait, did you actually catch the ball?" "Wait, when is the test?"

It's a craze among pop culture like so many others in times gone by. We overuse words like "awesome!" and " cool!" We talk about "making connections" .....

I admit I'm at fault for falling for all of these catch phrases. My new favorite term is "salty" meaning annoyed or bothered. Sometimes it's just fun to say!

There are some catchphrases among Christian culture specifically that I try very hard to NOT say. I actually did some research on this and found the term "Christianese". Then I read this article my brother sent me on this very topic.

Wow, so I'm not alone in my thinking on this.

Here is one part of the article that makes my heart pound:

Someone is lonely; the Church says “get plugged in.” Someone is struggling, and it is shrugged off. “You should really get into the Word," we say.

These phrases are not the beginning of the discussion; they are the end of it. They are a reduction, a door closed, a bow tied neatly over the whole complicated thing.

But at the heart of the Christian faith is this: We were broken, and we couldn’t figure it out and, instead of sending us some tired cliché, God sent Christ. The Word, John called Him. He had hands and feet, dust-covered from all that walking.*

I think my entire family shares the sentiment that to be Christian does not mean isolating ourselves amongst other Christians. We talk about this often.  It means loving and caring about all people. It means recognizing that although we might strive to be like Jesus, the truth is that we are not nor can we ever be. And the fact is, Jesus would not speak a language that all couldn't understand.

So in our flesh and humanity, we try. We try to be like Him. For many of us that means conforming to a certain mold of what we think a Christian should be. And I get that...I really do!

When I am talking with another Christian sister I use Christian catch phrases. I know that she will know what I mean. Those phrases are a quicker, deeper way to get to the heart of the matter.

Maybe, just maybe, we can still love Jesus and be real people so we don't isolate ourselves into our own little clique. 

Because it's not just non-believers we might be putting off. It's other Christians; new Christians, young Christians. We need to speak their language. Jesus came to earth as man and situated himself amongst real people. He tried to fit in so he was relatable. I think we can do the same.

We can try to follow the example of my favorite pastor in England. We affectionately call him "The Rev".

He started his church with only a few and it grew to a small Sunday gathering of about 25. After services you would see him talking to the people he had invited to church; people he had met while gigging in pubs or possibly walking the streets.  The Rev found the people that needed Jesus most and invited them in without judgment. He was not afraid of what church members would say about being in bars playing bass. He was not scared of the homeless, the broken, the lost.  Isn't THAT what we need to try to be?

Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

When someone is hurting we say "I will pray for you"....but do we? Maybe we should say "I just prayed for you."

When someone is depressed or anxious, the first thing we do is throw out Bible verses saying to cast our anxieties on Him....but does that heal our anxiety or depression or make it worse for that person when they realize that no amount of "casting" is actually working?

And telling someone that it's all in God's plan is fine but the conversation should start there, not end.

But then, Jesus has never really been about what’s easy.

He’s walking that long dirt road with those road-worn travelers. He’s saying it fresh, cutting through the cliché, making it all new.

He’s talking, listening, explaining, discussing.He’s staying until the words add up.

Until they see that it was Jesus' Word all along.*

We have to find room for humanity amongst the divine. The Rev will tell you there is room for both.

Quoted material from : http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/features/28625-shoot-christians-say