One Language

A brief thought for the day that I recently shared at a friend's blog:

Years ago I became aware of the fact that I spoke two languages.. one with church folks and one with everyone else. I didn’t like it and began to try to speak one language.. it is still a journey because so many religious folks like the religious lingo (i.e. “saved and sanctified”).. and I am sometimes a bit guarded with folks who do not seem “Christian”. Amazingly though.. when I let down my guard.. some of these “unbelievers” say the most spiritual things.

I think that the issue with classifying the world into two camps is that we subtly create an adversarial system where it is really difficult to bear our hearts to each other.. the very thing that I think attracts people into considering the claims of the kingdom.

7 comments:

  1. "Christian-ese" has always made me a bit crazy. I sure don't think it gets us very far in this world but it can be a hard "habit' to break. I am guilty of doing the very thing that makes me a bit crazy sometimes.

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  2. I know exactly what you're talking about here, Bob. It feels awkward or risky somehow at times to speak "Christian-ese". But often taking the risk carries with it some surprising rewards.

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  3. I do find it a challenge to translate Christian-ese into something the hearer can actually understand.. finding a common language can be so difficult but it is so necessary.. and it can get those surprising rewards :)

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  4. It's a fine line isn't it. My wife and kids live in a virtual bubble of people that share similar beliefs, the only exception would be when we visit my family. Working, my world is much different. Sometimes I have to modify terms so that they are understood better. We are in the world not of it.

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  5. Even as a Christian, I find it uncomfortable to be around people that speak "Christian-ese."

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  7. I agree with you Bob. If we bear our hearts and confess Christ before men as we should do we can sometimes get some wonderful surprising results. Some will be attracted and others won't but how can we miss that opportunity to share about Our Lords goodness and if we do then the Lord has to find someone else to witness to that unsaved person.

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